How to express your emotions: 8 tips

Virtually no interaction between human beings would make sense if we couldn't express our emotions. The most important thing in a dialogue, whether with words or without words, is to show desires, intentions, needs and, in general, our way of experiencing emotions. However, doing it the right way is not easy. Some people do it naturally without having to think too much about it, but for others it is more complicated.

In this article we will see a series of tips about how to express emotions in an appropriate way in our day-to-day personal relationships.

• Related article: "The 8 types of emotions (classification and description)"

How to express emotions in 8 steps

Showing what we feel is not only necessary to connect emotionally with other people. In addition, it is therapeutic, necessary. It is difficult to live keeping what we feel, especially if it has to do with experiences with a strong emotional charge.

But where there are conversations there are also certain dynamics of self-censorship. The fear of what they will say, of giving a bad image...

All this makes it not easy to open up to others. Taking this into account, expressing feelings is not easy, since it implies showing our most personal and, sometimes, even intimate side.

However, in the balance is virtue, and there is always a way to keep certain topics that are too intimate to share them in any way and express what can be revealed, without letting them emerge misunderstandings So, let's look at several tips on how to express emotions when interacting with others.

1. map your feelings

It is impossible to express an emotion if you don't have a rough idea about what that feeling is. For this reason, it is important to stop to reflect first or in the best possible way in which the words can be adjusted to that experience.

So, if necessary, write down on a piece of paper how you feel, in the most structured way possible. Of course, do not be obsessed with accuracy, because in the end feelings can never be reflected entirely by language: even when resorting to metaphors, there will always be facets of them that cannot be communicated. Try that the most important thing is translated into words.

This step is especially important at the beginning, not only because of the lack of practice that exists in this phase. Also, it is because If you don't go through this phase, it's easy to get stuck., and these situations are usually so unpleasant that they are capable of making us discouraged and stop trying to continue progressing in this regard.

2. Do not expect too much

This advice is derived from the previous one. Do not wait too long believing that the passage of time will give you tools to express yourself better. That will only cause you to constantly put off expressing yourself, and never leave your comfort zone.

• You may be interested in: "How to get out of your comfort zone? 7 keys to achieve it"

3. Choose the time and place well

Context also has communicative power. It is not the same to open up to someone during the course of a university class, than in ** a quiet and noiseless place **. Therefore, look for a context that adapts to the content you want to transmit and that does not lead to confusion.

4. Determine the purpose

What is the purpose you seek when expressing what you feel? ¿Do you just want to vent, or make sure the other person understands everything you say? and help you solve a problem? Based on this information, it will be easier for you to adapt to the following tips according to your needs.

5. Make sure you don't just rely on abstractions

To express feelings you have to use abstract concepts, such as "helplessness" or "fear", but it is It is important to complement this with other content that refers to more specific and easy-to-find elements. identify. that's why it's good use examples from concrete past experiences that give way to a description of objective facts. This way, the other person won't get lost.

6. create a narrative

Don't just describe what you feel in a static way, as if those emotions and feelings were something static. If you show her evolution over time, everything will be more understandable and the other person will be able to better identify with you. Explain why you feel this way and how your emotions arose.

7. Worry about knowing if he understands you

Give the other person the opportunity to ask you if they don't understand something, put yourself in their shoes, change the wording of your sentences if you are using references unknown to your interlocutor... In short, avoid this experience being a monologue.

8. Learn from your mistakes

Human relationships are always imperfect, and that is why there is always something to improve. Every time you decide to express your feelings, be sure to mentally review what happened, and take note of your mistakes to correct them and learn from them. Practice and repetition will lead you to improve in these types of skills, just as it happens in the rest.