Emotions
States of Mind
Reasonable Mind
(Left Brain)
Facts
Information
Other people’s opinions
Emotional Mind
(Right Brain)
Your own emotions
and reactions.
Wise Mind
Using both
reason (fact)
and
emotion.
Emotions
Emotions are neither good or bad, right or wrong. Feelings just
ARE. They exist.
There is a difference between having an emotion and doing
something or acting on the emotion.
Emotions don't last forever. No matter what you're feeling,
eventually, it will lift and another emotion will take it's place.
When a strong emotion comes, you do not have to act on your
feeling. All you need to do is recognize the emotion and feel it.
Emotions are not facts.
Emotions have 3 "jobs".
1. Communication to you and to others.
Emotions are communicated most powerfully by our faces, our
voice tone and volume, our posture, and our gestures. Often
other people can tell what we are feeling, even if we try to hide
it.
2. Motivation or self-protection.
Emotions tell us to "ACT NOW!" or "STAY FOCUSED". They
give us motivation to change a situation. Emotions save us
time in important situations. We don't have to think
everything through (You don't want to spend time thinking
about running away from a snapping, growling dog!)
Strong emotions help us overcome obstacles in our mind
and in the environment. (Giving a speech in front a group
of people or being able to break the car window when
trapped in a car accident.)
3. Validation.
Emotions can give us information about a situation- they
can be your "gut instinct". (But remember emotions are
not facts. That 's when you must use your logical mind to
determine the healthy response.)
There are 8 core emotions. You are born with these
emotions wired into your brain. That wiring causes your
body to react in certain ways and for you to have certain
urges when the emotion arises.
8 core emotions:
Anger
Sorrow
Joy
Fear
Disgust
Guilt
Interest
Surprise
All other emotions are made up by combining these basic
8 emotions. Sometimes we have secondary emotions, an
emotional reaction to an emotion.
Examples of secondary emotions:
Feeling guilty when you get angry.
Feeling angry when someone hurts your feelings (sorrow).
Feeling anxious when receiving an award.
Secondary emotions are not wired into our bodies and
brains, but are learned from our families, our culture, and
others.
Example: You see your mom/dad become angry when
another family member hurts their feelings, so you learn
that if someone hurts your feelings, you should be angry.
Another example would be seeing your friends laugh and
jump up and down when they receive a gift. You learn that
when you receive a gift you should laugh and jump up and
down.
When you have a secondary emotion, the key is to figure
out what the core emotion is, so that you can demonstrate
healthy skills to feel and then relieve your body of the
emotion.
Naming Emotions Worksheet
How Emotions Feel
In your body when you experience an emotion, chemical
changes happen in your brain. These chemicals change
how your body feels. (You sense an emotion.) You show
these changes (or your emotions) in your face, posture,
and gestures (body language).
How Emotions Feel Worksheet
Activities
Breathing
Notice how your body feels
Emotions
Our Unique Emotional Responses
Research shows us that the 8 core emotions cause a common
reaction in all human beings! All human beings are the same
in the way they feel and show these core emotions.
However, every person is also unique. When you feel an
emotion like anger, everyone feels tension in part of their
body. But where you feel the most tension and exactly how
you express anger is unique to you. (Example: Some people
feel anger in their chest, others in their stomachs.)
Urges to do something are a natural part of having any
emotion. For example , if you are bored, you may restlessly
seek out something to interest you (perhaps annoying your
sibling). Your urges may be different than another person's
urges when they experience the same emotion. (For example,
one person may want to avoid others when he/she is angry
and another person may want to yell someone when they are
angry.)
In this unit, we will be emotions detectives, exploring how you
feel in your body when you have an emotion, what your body
tells others when you feel an emotion, what your urges are
when strong emotions happen, and how to use healthy skills
when experiencing emotions.
What’s the Difference Worksheet
Observing and Describing Emotions Worksheet
STRONG
Healthy habits are an important part of managing emotions.
Keeping yourself healthy means you have more mental strength to
manage your emotions.
S
T
R
O
N
G
sleep as much as you need- not too much, not too little.
take care of yourself. When you are sick, go to the doctor, rest.
resist drugs and alcohol.
once a day do something you enjoy.
nutrition- eat a variety of foods everyday.
get exercise. Try to do 20 min. of exercise a day.
STRONG Goals Worksheet
Activities
Breathing
Notice how your body feels
Emotions
Pleasant events list
Some emotions that we feel are painful or
uncomfortable (anger, sorrow, fear, guilt). After
identifying and feeling an unpleasant emotion, we may
need to help our body and mind to "heal" from that
emotion by doing a pleasant activity.
Meditating
Talking with a friend
Reading a magazine
Watching TV
Sitting/Lying in the sun
Drawing
Listening to others
Playing an instrument
Looking outside
Watching a movie
Repairing something
Building something
Taking care of plants
Thinking “I’m a good person.”
Writing a letter
Cooking
Sleeping
Daydreaming
Watching sports
Writing in a journal
Reading a letter.
Reading a book
Eat lunch with a friend
Solving puzzles
Looking at/sharing photos
Taking a warm bath/shower
Playing a board game/card game
Laughing out loud
Painting
Singing
Watching the birds
Gardening
Doodling
Going for a walk
Making a gift for someone
Listening to music
Acting
Dancing
Emotions Toolbox
Create an emotions toolbox that has activities that help
relieve an unpleasant mood. Think of "tools" that can
calm each of your senses. You can put each of these
“tools” in a box or certain place in your house so when
you are feeling an unpleasant emotion, you can go to your
“toolbox”.
Example:
Touch =
silly putty
knitting
Hear = playlist on your IPOD
sheet music for an instrument you play
Sight = book
movie
puzzle
drawing/art supplies
journal
Taste/Smell = mints
fun flavored gum
scented candle
cookie cutters to bake cookies