How emotional awareness helps, can be seen by comparing the reactions of different people, in an identical setting. It helps to understand why some panic, some get angry, and others handle things calmly. Let's use a car crash, a bystander, a first aider, and a paramedic as example.
Imagine three people at the scene of a car crash. Let's compare their emotional awareness and how each would react...
The First panics, as they have no training, don't know what to do and their emotions take over. Their heart beats fast, they feel overwhelmed, shaky, and stumble or shout down the phone to the emergency services.
The second steps forward nervously to help as they have first-aid training. The have a kit, they have practiced regularly, yet they still feel nervous. They will still feel many of the emotions from above, but they are able to put that into action to some degree. They can provide life saving skills while the bystander calls for help.
The third is a paramedic who arrives last, steps in calmly, is trained, equipped, and takes necessary action. The paramedic has extensive training, and practices on the job every day. They also tend to work in partnership with a colleague.
Thinking about these three people and why some can stay calmer than the others, it is about the training that each received. The practice they put in, and the resulting change to their emotional ability to handle the situations.
The same applies to many things in life. The first time you get behind a steering wheel, or take your driving test, compared to a few years after holding your license. It all has bearing on how you 'feel' and how you handle your emotions when driving. Knowledge, and practice.
Life is very much the same across the board when it comes to dealing with emotions. Training helps alleviate the overwhelm, by teaching you what to do for a positive outcome. What changes you need to make, or thoughts you need to accept, to create peace and happiness again.
Emotional Awareness helps all ages - children, teen and adults - to deal with many different circumstances. Like the first aid training, they also learn to assess situation, remain calm, ask for help where needed, and choose the right emotional tools for the job.
Learning Emotional Awareness with Kay Reeve, can be thought of like learning first aid when starting with the ABC (Airway, Breathing, Circulation). In this case, the core emotions of Happy, Sad, Angry, and Depressed help you start learning about the emotional cycle. Once you recognise and understand the vital signs of these emotions, you can start learning how to respond to them differently.
As you learn more, you begin to recognise the feelings that accompany moods and how to create a change in your response. You also start seeing your learnings through other people, or by reflecting on past experiences. That's and amazing feeling when it happens.
This is where my book Brain Unchained teaches emotional awareness in a 3 step process...
Once any child, teen or young adult begins this journey of learning, you will be amazed at how quickly they begin to change. How eager they are to feel better in themselves. How they will want to learn more once they see the benefits. You may even see them helping friends and leading the way.
There is also a 'Safe Space for Parenting Teens' course available on this site.
Adults and young adults benefits from learning Emotional Awareness too. To help you start learning today, I have created a free introductory course so you can see how the emotional diagram works.
Emotional Awareness for Beginners and
Safe Space for Talking to Teens
Follow the first link to get access to all three courses online, and more.
Summary
Emotional Awareness will not stop you having emotions, but it will certainly cut back those extreme reactions, help you process emotions more effectively, and give you a tool kit for talking. Either about your own emotions, or if you are helping a friend, or your own teenager - the tools to help them begin emotional awareness too.
