Knowing, Naming and Managing Feelings

           Have you ever felt silly, angry, HAPPY, worried or SAD  ? 

Do you wonder if you are the only one who has these feelings?

Well, you are NOT alone! Every one of us has big feeling sometimes: calm and happy feelings that are just right, excited feelings that make us wiggly, sad feelings that might make us want to hide or cry, angry feelings that we might want to shout out, and many more as you can imagine. There are MANY words for feelings, and most emotions can go into four categories, or zones:

Our emotions and feelings are one thing that makes us special. There are no bad feelings! It is important to pause, recognize and name your feelings. Then you can begin to understand what it is that makes you feel a certain way. 

When you want to feel more positive, happy and ready-to-learn, there are many strategies you can use! The easiest strategy is to focus on your breath: Slowly breath in as deeply as you can and fill your belly up, then slowly let your breath out and relax your belly too. You can also count up or count backwards, sign your favorite song,  practice your positive talk, and lots more! 

Remember, ALL of your emotions are important and make you, YOU.  

We learn to recognize, name and understand them 

so we can be our best self!

YOU are so important that there are LOTS of resources for you and your grown-ups to help you practice recognizing and managing your emotions and feelings:

Inside Out is a wonderful family movie to watch and talk about together.

Mind Yeti shares some wonderful research-based videos that help kids and their adults calm their minds and focus their attention. 

 

Cosmic Kids Yoga has fun yoga and breathing stories!

The Imagine Neighborhood is a wonderful podcast! Each episode tells a story that’s interesting, full of fun, and maybe even a little silly. The stories help us to understand the big feelings that come with growing up. They give us the words and the story, we LISTEN and build the pictures in our own minds. 

The Virtual Calm Down Room has some ideas for ways of calming down when you have BIG feelings.

In the Feelings Bitmoji Room you will find many different emotions and strategies to explore!

Do you want to make your own calm corner at home? Here you'll find a few ideas!