There are two kinds of emotions: the good emotions or positive feelings, and the bad emotions or the negative feelings. Our emotions are designed to allow us to express what we feel. Without feelings, you can only imagine the people appearing like robots that just do things without feeling happy or getting hurt. We prefer the positive emotions because it is euphoric. When we feel elated and ecstatic, life is just so wonderful.

However, when negative emotions are built up inside, the heart feels so heavy. Bad feelings are triggered by people or situations that have not been in favor of your desire or how you want it to turn out.

For example, when your work is becoming a burden to you and what you really wanted was a lighter load at work, you get disappointed. If you broke up with your partner because things did not turn out fine when you actually wanted a happy relationship, you become depressed. And because of these negative feelings, we become emotionally stressed and feel pressured.

Emotional stress is a very difficult kind of pressure to manage. It is because our emotions sometimes become unbearable when heightened, especially the negative emotions like anger, fear, frustration, disappointment, and the like.

Usually, emotional stress is a self-generated stress caused by a traumatic or dramatic event and situation in a person’s life. These causes could be a death of someone really close to the heart, relationship issues, and a life-threatening experience. What are ways to cope with emotional stress? Here are simple techniques to manage this kind of stress.

Manage Your Emotions

You have to learn how to take charge of your feelings. When you are able to manage them well, it is easier to slowly let the stress go away from your system. It is said that we can control and choose our mood. If you choose to be happy throughout the day, you should not let anyone or anything get in the way with that goal. Unavoidable circumstances happen sometimes, but it is just a matter of not getting too carried away with what you feel.

We should be the ones manipulating and taking control of our life, not the people or the things around us. Would you allow someone to ruin your day at work just because the person was downright annoying? If you do, then you are allowing the person to take control of you instead of the other way around. You should never allow a person or a situation to ruin your day or make you unhappy because in the scheme of things, no one is important enough to control your life but you.

Create a More Favorable Situation

When you notice that things have not been favorable lately, you should heed that warning. It may be telling you to take a break from these undesirable circumstances. This means eliminating the stressors or just distancing yourself away from your emotional stress triggers.

If it is a person that makes you feel uncomfortable, allow yourself some space from that person for a while. It could be a friend or an office colleague who is causing you this kind of stress. Sometimes, it could also be an event or a situation such as a toxic day in your office. Try to get away from it for the meantime. You can go on leave and take a short but relaxing vacation somewhere.

Find an Outlet for Your Emotions

Here is what some of us fail to do which is actually a very helpful step in managing emotional stress. When we are taught to acknowledge the presence of the negative emotion in us, we also have to know how to let go of it. Some are good at venting out whatever negative feelings they have inside; some keep it to themselves until the emotion mounts up and then it would turn out to become stress.

If you feel so pressured at work, let go of that negative feeling at the end of the day by treating yourself to a sumptuous dinner or shopping. Relaxation exercises like yoga sessions and meditation are also effective outlets for these bad feelings. If you feel sad and lonely, grab your friends and invite them to an enjoyable evening or fun activity.