By noticing your emotions, whatever you're feeling, and naming your emotions, start by just noticing different emotions as you feel them, for example, “I feel proud“ in the situation you're feeling proud. Notice where you are, who you’re with, and what you’re doing when that emotion is present. Note whether the emotion is mild, medium, or strong and if it has different intensities at different times. Even emotions we consider “negative” (like anger or sadness) can give us insight into ourselves and others. Emotional awareness is a skill you can practice and become more in touch with your emotions. You can keep a feelings journal. Take a few minutes each day to write about how you feel and why.
Journaling about your experiences and feelings builds emotional awareness, journaling about your feelings builds emotional awareness. You also can express emotion through art. Make art, write poetry, or anything creative you like, that captures a specific emotion you’re feeling. You can also listen to music and try to identify the emotions an artist is trying to convey as you listen to music, then recognize how you feel in response. The more you’re aware of your emotions, the more they’ll help you to know yourself. Emotional awareness will help you see multiple perspectives in a situation. This will help you control your emotions. If you focus on the positive aspects of a situation you will influence the subjective experience of your emotion, which will alleviate the intensity of the negative emotion. Being aware of your emotions is the first step in gaining more control over your emotions, it is especially true for negative emotions, as awareness enables you to change your behavior.
Emotional awareness is essentially being able to identify the emotions you're experiencing at any given time. (To manage your emotions effectively, particularly with PTSD, you first need to be as sure as possible of what you're feeling.)
