Often we react to our own internal emotional state – this further leads to the sense of flight or fight. People who are surviving through difficult emotional phases are more prone to being emotionally reactive in nature. However, this can cause more harm to the emotional state that we can predict. People go through the cycle of emotional reactivity which starts with feeling a certain emotion, leading to a reaction. This further causes flight or fight, which leads to survival-based decision making. This continues with feeling another emotion. In order to break the cycle, we require a few practices. Addressing this, psychologist Nicole LePera wrote, “This practice can really help to re-wire the mind and body to respond in new ways. The ability to self-regulate is directly linked to self-confidence and self-trust.”
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Nicole noted down a few practices that can help us to stop being emotionally reactive:
Pause: Every time we feel intense emotions, we must take a pause and reflect on the way we are feeling, before reacting to the situation. This will help us to gather our thoughts and compose ourselves before reacting.
Sensations: in such cases, we usually feel a lot of sensations in the body, from clenching of the stomach to the heart racing. It is important to validate those sensations and be there.
Breathing: Deep steady breathing helps in making the body feel calm, and sends signals of safety to the body. When the body starts to feel tense, it is advised to practice deep steady breathing.
Release: In order to rebalance the nervous system, it is important to do the emotional release through crying, shaking or moving the body.
Respond: Instead of reacting to it, it is important to take a pause and then respond to it.