How to compartmentalize your emotions
My parents’ house has always given me the happiest filling. Growing up, I consistently felt immediately at peace walking into our house. My parents always happily greeted us after their long days at work — their warmth, concern and care wrapping us all up in a cozy embrace. As an adult, I still love walking into my parents house. I still get that same warm, cozy feeling which I welcome with so much appreciation.
As an adult, and as a parent, I can now truly appreciate what my parents had to do to create such a warm atmosphere on a daily basis. They had to compartmentalize their stresses and emotions so that they could be happily present for us. By compartmentalizing their emotions, they were able to be present without letting their stresses seep in and impact our evenings together.
As a parent, some days I feel like I’ve mastered the art of compartmentalizing my emotions and other days I feel like I’m poorly managing my emotions and letting them seep into my moments with my family. If you feel the same way, these 3 tips may help.
Schedule in time to process your emotions. It might sound strange, but sometimes it helps to make a date with yourself so that you can process your emotions. With this date and time scheduled, you can let your mind forget about any negativity until this time comes. This will allow you to be present in the moment while knowing that you’ll be able to deal with your emotions later.
Distract your mind with something that makes you feel good. Play your favourite song, watch your favourite show, go for a walk or get engrossed in an activity with your kids. Allow your mind to get absorbed in a distraction activity that shifts your focus and your energy.
Isolate the incident. It’s human nature for our minds to obsess over negativity. When one bad thing happens, it’s normal for our brains to think that everything is going wrong. This is where conflation happens and often where we fall into dwelling on the issue which makes it harder to pull ourselves back into enjoying the present moment. Thinking about the moment as an isolated event can prevent you from conflating and dwelling on the issue.
No one is able to get this right 100% of the time. But when we do, it enables us to feel so much more in control of our emotions. It also prevents us from feeling guilty knowing that we let our emotions and stresses impact our loved ones.
These strategies have worked for me, I hope they work for you as well! Follow me for more post-partum coaching support and confidence building strategies for moms