Positive Education

I recently had the pleasure of marking a class of junior essays on mental health.  I was impressed by the boys’ honesty and insight.  A common theme that came through was the importance of distraction when dealing with difficult situations and emotions.  Many of the boys commented on the value of sport and entertainment in taking our minds off what is troubling us.  And this is true!  When we’re going through a hard time, it’s useful to have some hobbies and fun activities that make us feel good and help us to temporarily forget any challenges we might be facing.  The benefits of physical activity in this respect are also well known.

It did get me thinking, though, that there also needs to be a place for sitting with difficult emotions and processing them.  This is a good skill for teenagers (and adults!) to develop. Our emotions can give us useful information, and learning to work through these emotions can make us more resilient.  How can we do this?  Psychologists give the following recommendations:

• Give the emotion a name.  Identifying an emotion can be the first step in gaining some control over it.

• Locate the emotion in the body.  Do you have an increased heart rate?  Hunched shoulders?  A clenched jaw?

• Attempt to find the source of the emotion.  Ask yourself questions like: why do I feel this way?

• Decide if the emotion should be acted on.  Emotions can be a powerful motivator to complete a task, or initiate a difficult conversation.  If there is nothing to be done, you can decide to try to let the emotion go.

Source: https://www.psychologytoday.com/nz/blog/on-the-inside-looking-out/202304/how-to-sit-in-your-feelings