Key Takeaways
- Emotional wellness is an awareness, understanding, and acceptance of our feelings and the ability to manage effectively through challenges and change.
- Cultivating positive emotional wellness boosts mental health, strengthens relationships, improves physical health, and builds resilience.
- Prioritizing emotional wellness is important because it impacts every aspect of our lives, including our relationships, work, and overall health. By creating intentional habits and working with a therapist, you can learn healthier ways to cope with stress and improve your emotional well-being.
When we think of well-being, we may envision eating a healthy diet, exercising regularly, and getting annual medical checkups. Yet, well-being goes beyond physical health. It also means caring for your mental and emotional wellness by recognizing, understanding, and managing your feelings.
Unfortunately, we aren’t born knowing how to manage our emotions. Rather, it’s something we develop over time through co-regulating with caregivers, developing self-awareness, seeking help when needed, and building healthy habits. For those looking to improve their emotional wellness, incorporating self-care strategies into daily life and working with a therapist can provide valuable guidance and support.
What emotional wellness looks like
Experts say that people who are emotionally well have fewer negative emotions and can more quickly bounce back from difficulties. They often are able to manage their feelings effectively and navigate life’s challenges with strength and balance.
Some key signs of emotional wellness include:
- Resilience: Bouncing back from setbacks and adapting to challenges with ease
- Positive outlook: Maintaining optimism and focusing on solutions rather than dwelling on problems
- Self-acceptance: Feeling good about who you are and content most of the time
- Self-awareness: Understanding your emotions and recognizing how they influence your thoughts and actions
- Effective stress management: Coping with stress in healthy ways, like exercising, practicing mindfulness, and seeking support when needed
- Open-mindedness: Being willing to learn, grow, and adapt to new experiences or changes
- Emotional balance: Expressing and managing emotions in healthy, constructive ways without feeling overwhelmed
- Healthy relationships: Building and maintaining supportive relationships; being able to talk about emotional concerns and share your feelings openly
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What can get in the way of emotional well-being?
Achieving emotional wellness can be challenging due to a number of reasons. Overcoming these barriers requires building strong support systems, developing healthy habits, and seeking help from a therapist when needed.
Common barriers to emotional well-being
- Chronic stress: Ongoing stress from work, relationships, or life events can make it hard to manage your emotions and prioritize self-care. Reducing your environmental stressors and practicing stress-management techniques can help.
- Lack of self-care: Ignoring your physical, mental, and emotional needs can lead to exhaustion and emotional imbalance. Prioritizing self-care by eating healthy, exercising regularly, and making time to relax can all boost your emotional wellness.
- Social isolation: A lack of close relationships or a supportive community can make it difficult to navigate emotional struggles. Building meaningful connections with others is key.
- Unresolved trauma: Past abuse, loss, or traumatic events can cause anxiety, numbness, or depression, even years later. Therapy can help you address and process these unresolved issues.
- Poor work-life balance: Establishing healthy boundaries, learning to say no instead of overcommitting, and making time for yourself, friends, and loved ones can improve balance.
- Financial stress: Money worries or job dissatisfaction can lead to emotional distress. Talking to a career counselor or a financial professional can help resolve your concerns.
- Health issues: Physical illness or chronic health conditions can affect emotional wellness. Managing health with medical support and self-care practices can offer relief.
- Toxic positivity: Being told to always “look on the bright side” can dismiss real feelings like sadness or grief. Instead, practice authentic positivity, accepting both positive and negative emotions, giving them attention, and creating a safe space to share openly.
- Overdependence on technology: Spending too much time online, comparing your life to curated social media posts, or constantly consuming negative or distressing news can leave you feeling anxious and overwhelmed. Limit screen time, follow content that leaves you feeling neutral or good, and focus on offline activities.
Practical ways to improve emotional wellness
While we can’t always control the challenges life throws our way, we do have the power to shape our response. By focusing on your physical and mental well-being, you can also boost your emotional wellness.
Here are some practical tips to help you get started:
- Set boundaries: Protect your emotional wellness by setting appropriate boundaries. Prioritize your own needs and learn to say “no” to avoid overcommitting.
- Get quality sleep: Maintain a consistent sleep schedule, even on weekends, and aim for seven to nine hours of sleep each night.
- Develop coping strategies: Practice stress-relief techniques like deep breathing, meditation, or progressive muscle relaxation.
- Strengthen social connections: Join a support group to share experiences, exchange encouragement, and learn helpful strategies from others with similar challenges.
- Get outside: Spending time outside in diverse, natural settings can have a profound impact on our overall well-being. Studies show that spending as little as 10 minutes per day outdoors in nature can reduce stress and improve mental health.
If you’ve tried these strategies and still find it difficult to cope with life changes or have persistent feelings of sadness, stress, or anxiety, therapy can provide additional support. Several forms of talk therapy have been shown to help boost emotional wellness, including:
- Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT): Helps identify and change negative thought patterns and behaviors
- Mindfulness-based therapy (MBT): Teaches mindfulness techniques to stay grounded in the present and manage overwhelming emotions
- Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT): Focuses on balancing acceptance and change while teaching how to manage emotions and improve communication
- Psychodynamic therapy: Explores unresolved past issues and processes deep emotional pain to begin healing
There’s a common misconception that we should always be happy or never feel ‘negative’ emotions. That’s simply unrealistic. The sooner we can accept our feelings and understand that they’re a normal part of responding to thoughts and events, the more comfortable we can be overall.
Find care with Rula
Building emotional wellness is a journey that takes time, self-awareness, and consistent effort, but it’s not something you have to face alone. A therapist can help you identify and understand your emotions, develop coping strategies, teach you how to adapt to change, and manage strong emotions in a healthy way.
At Rula, we believe everyone deserves timely and affordable access to specialized mental healthcare. Using our streamlined therapist-matching program, you can review our network of over 10,000 providers to find a therapist who accepts your insurance and is accepting new clients. In just a few clicks, you can schedule an appointment and meet with a therapist via live video as soon as tomorrow.
About the author
Linda Childers
Linda is an award-winning medical writer with experience writing for major media outlets, health companies, hospitals, and both consumer and trade print and digital outlets.
Her articles have appeared in the Washington Post, USA Today, WebMD, AARP, Brain+Life, HealthyWomen.org, The Rheumatologist, California Health Report, Everyday Health, HealthCentral, and many other media outlets.
While juggling the responsibilities of being part of the “sandwich generation” and caring for both her toddler son and terminally ill mother, a nurse friend encouraged her to seek therapy, which helped her to learn coping strategies and manage her depression. Linda hopes her work will help to destigmatize mental health conditions and encourage others to get the help they need.
Rula's editorial process
Rula's editorial team is on a mission to make science-backed mental health insights accessible and practical for every person seeking to better understand or improve mental wellness.
Members of Rula’s clinical leadership team and other expert providers contribute to all published content, offering guidance on themes and insights based on their firsthand experience in the field. Every piece of content is thoroughly reviewed by a clinician before publishing.
