True Emotional Intelligence

An important aspect of truly loving yourself

is to truly own all of your feelings.

Without judging yourself for having them.

Owning what you feel,

and completely loving yourself IN your feelings,

requires emotional intelligence.

It's easy to mistake the habit of intellectualizing our emotions

for emotional intelligence.

But using psychology-based terms to talk about our emotions

is different from actually feeling them.

I’m certainly guilty of falling into this trap.

It takes lots of awareness and practice

to be sure we’re truly feeling our feelings.

Oftentimes, what seems like emotional intelligence

is actually emotional avoidance or repression.

Someone who always seems calm when faced with difficulties

is most likely cut off from their emotions.

It’s a very appealing protective mechanism.

And some people are excellent at reading others, 

but have little insight or self-awareness

about what's actually going on inside of themselves.

✨ True emotional intelligence requires us to really sit in our feelings,

allow them to be present in our body,

and cultivate understanding from within.

When we're really present with what we're feeling,

we have the space to notice the nuances of our emotion.

Sadness at the deeper level might actually be disappointment.

Fear might actually be a sense of helplessness at its core.

Anger might actually be humiliation when you get down to it.

* I recommend the Feelings Wheel for uncovering the nuances of emotions.

When we're present and clear with what we’re feeling,

we can begin to develop understanding for why we feel the way we do.

And that understanding leads to greater levels of self-compassion.

And that compassion leads to less self-judgement...

Which paves the way for more Self-Love.

No matter what we might be feeling.

It can seem scary to be present with your feelings and process them,

but it's what allows them to really move through and out of you.

Emotional intelligence requires honesty and courage.

We can’t fully love parts of ourselves that we’re unwilling to own and feel.

But when we can feel and love all parts of ourselves,

then we’re able to grow through our experiences in a meaningful way.

By cultivating emotional intelligence,

we're better able to love ourselves exactly as we are.

"Emotions are not problems to be solved. They are signals to be felt and understood."

~ Susan David

🌿 Open to Understanding:

I invite you to put a hand on your heart,

take a slow, deep breath with a long exhale,

and gently ask yourself: “Is there a feeling I’m avoiding?”

If something arises, allow it to be present in your body.

Clearly name it and breathe into it.

What would this feeling like for you to understand about yourself?

If you'd like to receive these posts directly to your inbox,

please click this link or the button below to officially subscribe*.

I'm grateful that we're all becoming more emotionally intelligent.

If you have a friend who would like to love themselves more completely ~

please copy and share this link with them.

If you missed a previous post, you can read them all here, on my blog page.

I'd love to hear your thoughts. You can leave comments below,

or scroll down and submit a direct message via the "Connect With Me" form.

I look forward to welcoming you to this space again soon.

Let’s rise together ~ in Love & Light,

Jaime

Subscribe Here

>> Read the Previous Post >>

<< Read the Next Post <<

* It's my intention to keep this blog "light" in every sense ~

light in length (2-3 mins), light in energy, and a light in your life.

Your info is safe, I promise to never flood you with messages or sales gimmicks,

and it's easy to unsubscribe if you aren't enjoying the journey with me.

✨ PS) If you're curious about the deeper Self-Love journey as the path to optimum healing,

Or if you want to learn more about what I do as a Self-Love & Integrative Health Coach,

Check out my website. I'd love to welcome you there!