In our daily lives, we are constantly overwhelmed by a variety of activities and responsibilities that cause us to have little time to sit and think about what we are feeling. Especially if we are parents, caregivers or teachers who are in charge of other people. Among the avalanche of messages on WhatsApp, social media, emails, deadlines and tasks, it is common for us to lose sight of our own emotions.
In this scenario, while the question “How do you feel?” seems simple, it often proves difficult to answer because we are involved in a range of emotions that are felt at the same time and that can range from frustration to joy or sadness, so they turn out to be confusing.
This mixture of emotions causes us to sometimes be surprised by our own reactions or feel uncomfortable without understanding the reason. And despite the importance of the emotional needs we have as human beings, these are often relegated to the background. Nonetheless, it is crucial to pay attention to them, as they offer valuable insights into our internal state and how we handle the stress and demands of our daily lives.
What are emotions?
Emotions are like messengers that deliver signals to us about how we are experiencing the world that surrounds us. They tell us about what we like and what we dislike, about our energies and our calms. When we learn to listen for these cues, we open the door to greater self-knowledge and the ability to make more conscious decisions.
The emotional meter to help you understand your emotions
The Emotional Meter is a tool developed by the Yale University Center for Emotional Intelligence, created with the aim of offering people a tangible and visual way to understand and categorize their emotions. By considering two fundamental qualities of emotions, enjoyment and energy, the Emotional Meter allows people to explore and understand how they feel at any given moment.
Enjoyment tells us whether our predominant thoughts and feelings are pleasant or unpleasant, while energy reflects our physical and mental state. By crossing these two dimensions, the Emotional Meter creates four quadrants that represent different sets of emotions.
- Red: In this quadrant, we find emotions such as anger, fury and fear, characterized by high energy, but low enjoyment.
- Yellow: Here are emotions such as enthusiasm, happiness and exaltation, with high energy and high enjoyment.
- Blue: In this quadrant are emotions such as apathy, sadness and hopelessness, characterized by low energy and low enjoyment.
- Green: Finally, this quadrant contains emotions such as relaxation, serenity and gratitude, with low energy, but high enjoyment.
How can we use the emotional meter?
Here are the steps to use the emotional meter:
- Pause whatever you are doing, concentrate on yourself and your energy levels.
- Taking into account the next quadrant and the energy that you have identified in you, find it there (it is pleasant and high: yellow; if it is unpleasant and high: red, etc.).
- After you have found the quadrant according to the energy that you identified, find the word to define the emotion that you are feeling.
- Have you done it yet? Next, you have to ask yourself whether it is good or not for achieving the goals that you have set for yourself. If the answer is no, it is important that you develop regulation strategies that help you control that emotion, instead of it dominating you.
By using the meter, we can observe whether pleasant or unpleasant thoughts predominate, and also detect our physical and mental energy. Once we have identified in which quadrant of the Meter we are, we can name the emotion that we are experiencing.
By becoming aware, we are in a better position to make sound and healthy choices in our lives. If you liked the note, remember that we have premiered the 5th season of our series Strengthening Socio-Emotional Skills, where we address this and more topics. Watch the series here: https://www.fundacionwiese.org/en/educational-quality
