3 Ways to Manage Emotional Stress

Believe in the power of your emotions.

Being emotional is not inherently bad— you’re feeling everything for a reason. 

Approach your emotional stress with love and gentle acknowledgement. Never punish yourself for feeling what you feel. Life gets simpler the more you love and fully understand yourself. 

Here are 3 ways to manage emotional stress.

1. Find the root cause of your negative emotions.

Sometimes negative emotions have no rhyme or reason, and that’s why finding good solutions can feel so murky and confusing at times. But more often than not, the negativity in our lives is directly correlated to something we have the power to change. 

Building the self-awareness needed to understand what’s causing your pain is the first step to finding greater peace. Sift through your emotions and reflect. Write down what’s bothering you. Determine what you have the power to change and what you need to further reconsider. Take whatever action you feel moved to create.

 2. Make a list of things that bring you joy. Chase them.

What makes you feel good? What immediately makes all the stress and worry leave your body? Surround yourself with these things. Choose people, places, and activities that replenish your happiness. 

We invest plenty of time in worrying and stressing over things that don’t matter. Choose to spend more of your precious time chasing joy, in both big and small ways. 

All kinds of joy matter. Choose to enjoy yourself. Chase goodness. Joy transforms everything.

3. Be gentle with yourself for feeling what you feel.

Negative emotions are not inherently bad. And the fact that you feel them is normal. You know what would be abnormal? If you felt good all the time, always, no matter what. 

Experiencing lows is an important part of being human. The roadblocks are in place to teach us priceless lessons. We push our hearts through the muck to discover precious information about ourselves on the other side. We learn how to scrape ourselves up from beneath the dirt to stand up straight and tall again. 

Negative emotions, as painful as they may be, serve an imperative purpose in our lives. Where would we be today without the stress and hardship? You can’t have diamonds without pressure. As with any skill, practice makes perfect, and the more you intentionally try to manage your emotional stress, the better you’ll get at it.