A Way Out Addiction Treatment Center Newsletter #3 03/2013 | Page 11

Developing Emotional Awareness
Recognizing and Harnessing the Power of Your
Emotions
Emotional Awareness
Emotions are the glue that connects you to other
people and gives meaning to life. They are the
foundation of your ability to understand yourself and
relate to others.
When you are aware and in control of your emotions,
you can think clearly and creatively; manage stress
and challenges; communicate well with others; and
display trust, empathy, and confidence. But lose
control of your emotions, and you‘ll spin into
confusion, isolation, and negativity. By recognizing
and harnessing your emotions you can gain control
over the way you react to challenges, improve your
communication skills, and enjoy more fulfilling
relationships. This is the power of developing
emotional awareness.
Whether we‘re aware of them or not, emotions are a
constant presence in our lives, influencing everything
we do.
Emotional awareness means knowing what you are
feeling and why. It‘s the ability to identify and express
what you are feeling from moment to moment and to
understand the connection between your feelings and
your actions.
Emotional awareness also allows you to understand
what others are feeling and to empathize with them.
Emotional awareness involves the ability to:
? Recognize your moment-to-moment
emotional experience
? Handle all of your emotions without becoming
overwhelmed
?
Why emotional awareness matters
Have you ever felt like depression, anxiety, or anger
was controlling you? Do you often act impulsively,
doing or saying things you know you shouldn‘t, only to
regret it later? Do you feel disconnected from your
feelings or emotionally numb? Do you have a hard
time communicating with others and forming
meaningful connections? Do you feel like your life is
an emotional rollercoaster—all extremes and no
balance? All of these challenges are related to a
breakdown in emotional awareness.

Our emotions, not our thoughts, motivate us. Without an
awareness of what you‘re feeling, it‘s impossible to fully
understand your own behavior, appropriately manage
your emotions and actions, and accurately ?read? the
wants and needs of others.
Emotional awareness helps you:
? Recognize who you are: what you like, what you
don‘t like, and what you need
? Understand and empathize with others
? Communicate clearly and effectively
? Make wise decisions based on the things that
are most important to you
? Get motivated and take action to meet goals
? Build strong, healthy, and rewarding
relationships
How developing emotional awareness can bring
your life into balance
? “My life is an emotional rollercoaster!”
Life doesn‘t have to be about high highs and low lows.
Becoming more in touch with your emotions can help
moderate the extreme up and down swings.
? “I often regret what I say or do.”
If you often wish you could press an ?undo? button—or
you simply have a short fuse—you can gain emotional
awareness by learning to prolong patience during times
of stress.