How to recognize the emotions? 6 useful tips
The process of recognizing emotions is of great importance to ensure a healthy quality of life, especially in terms of mental health. When we are able to recognize the emotions of others and our own, we are less distressed.
There are people who are good at the process of recognizing emotions. Others, on the other hand, need to learn to do it by working harder on it; but that does not mean that they are incapable of mastering this psychological ability.
In this article we will see several tips and recommendations that can be very useful for all those who seek to know how to recognize emotions , as well as some considerations to consider.
How to recognize one’s emotions?
Recognizing emotions is the ability of a person to identify and accept emotions, their own and those of others.
It’s basically like speaking a language. At first it is confusing and we may not understand the meaning of some things well, but then, as we handle this language on a daily basis, it becomes more understandable and we become able to handle it fluently.
To recognize our own emotions we need to be able to bring to the conscious part of our mind some aspects of our person that we often overlook or avoid thinking about. That is fundamental to develop Emotional Intelligence.
There are always issues concerning ourselves that we prefer to leave forgotten. However, the sooner we dare to review these aspects with objective criteria, the closer we will be to understand how we feel.
How to recognize the emotions of others?
At the moment of recognizing the emotions of others it is necessary to understand to a certain extent how body language works ; This is an aspect that is intrinsically related to emotionality.
When we feel sad, our face expresses it by means of gestures and movements of the small muscles distributed throughout the face, and although we try to hide it, the nonverbal language responds to a great extent to unconscious aspects of our personality ; therefore one could note the sadness despite the effort to hide it. The same happens with other emotions and feelings: happiness, nostalgia, euphoria, etc.
In this way, when we are able to relate the body language of a person with their emotions, we are closer to understanding how they feel.
Another essential aspect to identify the emotions of others is to know how to properly interpret their speech .
A person can appear to be well, and at the same time when talking to her when we talk to her, she gives us signs that something is wrong, if we listen carefully and interpret what she says between the lines.
Tips to understand our emotional side
Now we will see some ways in which we can be more accurate at the moment of recognizing emotions, both our own and those of others.
1. Accept the real motive of emotions
All emotion responds to motives that for us have a particular meaning, capable of altering our levels of consciousness.
If we accept the situation and are able to confront it, however irrational the cause may seem , then we will likewise recognize the emotion we are experiencing at that particular moment.
2. Recognize your environment
The environment greatly influences our emotionality , the situations that develop around us are able to make us feel in many ways. That’s why when we have a better domain and recognition of the place that surrounds us, we can recognize what exactly triggers the emotions we feel.
3. Be consistent with your actions
To be able to adequately recognize our emotions, we must try to be as consistent as possible with our actions.
This means that to the extent that our thinking and our actions go the same way, we can recognize our emotions in a clearer way, without falling into cognitive dissonance .
For example, inaction in the face of certain problems that we have in our lives will also possibly cause us difficulties when analyzing how that makes us feel , through self-deception.
4. Prevention of negative emotions
When we have the capacity to recognize the factors that generate anguish, we may be able to prevent coming into contact with these factors (as far as possible).
By doing this we are decreasing the probability of presenting very intense negative emotions that block our ability to analyze . Therefore, the process of recognizing our emotions will be favored, since we will not have to deal with extremely unpleasant emotions.
5. Understand situations as they are really happening
This point refers to the capacity of cognition that all human beings have. Cognition involves using higher mental processes (analysis, logical thinking, interpretation, conflict resolution, memory, etc.).
In order to be able to understand situations as they really are happening, and not as we would like them to be, by using this type of thinking we are already recognizing emotions in a very real way and we can look for the best alternatives to our situation.
6. Accept that some things are out of your control
At certain times you will encounter situations in which you will not be able to intervene to alter your result in the way you would like to do it. It is important that you keep this limitation in mind.
Sometimes you just have to accept that things are happening in a certain way, and face it. Understanding that makes us more sensible people and able to recognize our emotions in all its amplitude, assuming we can not handle them at our whim.