Are You Emotionally Fit?

Today, a lot of people are obsessing over their physical appearance that they are even willing to invest on the latest skin care treatment, gym gadgets, or physical workout programs just to improve their body image some even going as far as taking steroids. They work hard to sculpt their bodies after the celebs they see all over instagram. There is nothing wrong with physical fitness and physical health. All of us want to feel good about ourselves not only inside but out as well.
But why do we forget about emotional fitness? Is there enough attention and effort given to a person’s emotional well being? Are anxiety attacks and depression a cause of not taking care of ourselves mentally?

We have been tought from young to be physical, from our first steps, learning balance, running freely truly exersising full range of motion, physically. But many of us were never taught to exercise our brain, to explore our emotional muscle and emotional experiences.

People who were raised to exersise their emotional muscles are highly in touch with their feelings and have the ability to express these feelings appropriately and without shyness. These people are considered to be emotionally intelligent.
Some people, and many of the older generations, have the notion that being outspoken, showing anger are disruptive behaviors and, thus, have to be discouraged. That is why people who grew up in restrictive environments tend to become timid and shy. They have difficulty expressing their emotions. They learn to bury their feelings and find it hard to build and maintain relationships which usually require emotional openness, honesty, and vulnerability.

Just like our physical muscles, emotional muscles can either be underdeveloped or overdeveloped. These distortions or imbalances may cause physical and even emotional fatigue, pain and inflexibility. It is possible that your anger muscle can be overdeveloped, while your happiness muscle is underdeveloped. This means that you may easily get irritated or angry, but may have difficulty expressing joy and happiness. People with overdeveloped sadness muscle may be prone to depression, compared to those with underdeveloped sadness muscle. To be emotionally fit, having awareness of your feelings is important, as well as finding healthy ways to express these feelings on a daily basis, or when the situation calls for it.
An effective emotional fitness program requires a sequence of strategies. According to Paulette Tomasson, a registered nurse with a masters in counseling psychology, you must be able to identify first where you are at in terms of emotional well being, and where you want to go. Ask yourself the following questions “What emotions do I experience throughout the day? Does one emotion override the rest? Is the quality of my life compromised by an unexpressed emotion? Why am I unwilling to express that emotion? How can I put that emotion to good use? How can I build emotional fitness to optimize my personal and professional lives?”
After identifying where you are at, talking with family and friends can be the next step. A good counseling can also help you exercise your emotional muscles and achieve emotional fitness. Meditation can be of big help too. Going within and finding balance.