Most of us are familiar with the term wellness. We associate wellness with lifestyle practices such as exercising, having a balanced diet, and taking care of our bodies. As significant as these practices are to live long, healthy lives, there’s a critical component of wellness that is often overlooked, emotional wellness.
The National Center for Emotional Wellness defines emotional wellness as, “An awareness, understanding and acceptance of our feelings, and our ability to effectively manage through challenges and change.” Maintaining a healthy emotional balance helps us form better relationships with peers, make healthier lifestyle choices, and empower people through life’s unexpected changes. October, Emotional Wellness Month, is the perfect reminder to take time out for your brain and make steps towards effectively managing your emotions.
Emotional wellness advocacy dates all the way back to 1946 when The National Mental Health Act created the National Institute of Mental Health to promote emotional well-being on a national level. In 2004, October was officially recognized as Emotional Wellness Month. Today, we continue the conversation around the importance of emotional wellness in both personal and professional life.
Practicing Emotional Wellness
The past few years have come with a rollercoaster of emotions, and many of us have reaped the whirlwind of unexpected change in the world. Learn how to give yourself a boost this month:
Identify your emotions. The only way to manage our feelings is to identify how our emotions present themselves. Identifying an emotion can help recognize when it occurs, why it occurs, and how to process it in a healthy, productive manner.
Work on building your emotional resilience. In order to build resilience, you have to face adversity. Even if you work your dream job and live a fulfilling life, obstacles are bound to appear along the way. One way to build emotional resilience in the workplace is when receiving constructive criticism. Criticism can oftentimes increase feelings of stress and anxiety. Being conscious and thoughtful of how you’re receiving criticism can enhance personal awareness and improve coping mechanisms to help handle stressful situations more effectively. Next time you’re in a position to receive stressful criticism, approach the conversation with optimism and look at things from a realistic point of view.
Practice mindfulness and meditation. These widely practiced tools are great ways to build emotional stamina and ease stress, anxiety, depression, and other negative feelings. Learn how you can experiment with incorporating mindfulness into your life in this blog post.
Strengthen your social network. We are all products of our environment, and one very influential component of a person’s environment is the surrounding people. These relationships contribute to overall social health and are indicative of emotional wellness. Building strong, healthy connections can drastically reduce stress levels and strengthen a person’s support system. Whether personal or professional, all relationships impact our emotional well-being.
Last, but not least, hold yourself accountable! Many of us hold ourselves accountable for healthy habits related to physical well-being, like diet and exercise. Improving our mental and emotional health requires the same effort and energy. Keeping feelings and emotions in check is essential to living happy, healthy lives. At the end of the day, you are the only person who has the power to act on managing your emotions and improving your emotional wellness.
For information on how Promega supports employee health and well-being, visit our People Care page.
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