5 Ways To Let Go Of Emotions That Do Not Serve You

Are you suffering from negative self-talk? Constantly setting goals, only to continually doubt yourself and fail? Can’t figure out how to let go of the annoying negative thoughts lingering in your head? If this sounds like you, don’t worry, you are not alone! This easy five-step process will assist you in letting go of the negative emotions and unwanted thoughts that no longer serve you. Each of us has a greater power within us to change our thoughts and feelings. By the end of this article, you will learn how to find yourself in harmony with your emotions and authentic self.

1. Acknowledge your emotions

The most harmful way to deal with your emotions is to ignore them. Negative emotions and thoughts should be acknowledged. You need to take the time to feel and acknowledge your feelings, as uncomfortable as that may be. Don’t rush to get rid of them; instead, take a few minutes to understand why you are feeling the way you are. Some people even go to the extent of trying to hold back their tears, but if we want to get rid of our negative emotions, we must first acknowledge their existence.

2. Release and let go

After taking the time to acknowledge your emotions and why you are feeling the way you are, ask yourself, “Do the negative emotions I harbor serve my greater good?” The chances are that the answer to this question will be a no. If something does not serve you and your higher self, then we must let it go. This includes negative self-talk and emotions that put us in a low vibrational state. We are vibrational beings; holding onto negative thoughts and emotions will only distract us from our greater good, so let it go and release what does not serve you. If you still struggle with this process, go to a quiet place and take a few minutes to breathe deeply and slowly and repeat the following affirmation: “I acknowledge my negative emotions, but you no longer serve my greater good, and as such, I let you go and release you.” 

3. Practice gratitude

Gratitude is one of the most powerful tools in keeping negative thoughts away, and best of all, it only takes a few minutes of your day. Practicing gratitude on a daily basis will enable you to stay in a state of harmony while celebrating all the good around you. It is one of the most effective yet undervalued techniques used to deal with negative emotions. To do this exercise, each day when you wake, take time to list in your mind all the things you are grateful for. You will need to do this for five minutes each day. It is important you only focus on what you are grateful for and do not get distracted with other thoughts or tasks during this exercise. The idea of this exercise is to keep you in a state of positivity and enable you to celebrate the blessings in your life rather than the things that do not align with your higher self. After some time, you will realize that your body will gradually shift into a positive vibrational state and will no longer hold onto the negative emotions it once did.

4. Be kind to yourself

Often while we exercise kindness to others, we are the hardest on ourselves. We are quick to point the finger and look at finding every possible fault within ourselves. Unfortunately, we are our own worst critics, but it doesn’t have to be this way. When you find yourself passing judgment, repeat the following affirmation at least three times: “I am a unique being, filled with love, kindness, and strength. I am in harmony with myself.” Learning to be kind is essential in letting go of negative self-talk. Constantly finding fault with yourself only emphasizes negative self-talk and emotions. There is only one of you in this world, which makes you a special and unique being! So, be kind to yourself!

5. Don’t make it personal

When dealing with difficult situations involving others, whether work-related or personal, we often blame ourselves for how things turn out. The best way to deal with this is to take a moment to step outside the situation and look at it from the perspective of a third person. Take a few minutes to do some deep breathing and acknowledge that you are not the only one in this situation. You need to understand that you can only control your own emotions and the way you react. Do not take emotions that are not yours and make them personal or enable the negative emotions to consume you.

It is important to understand that you and only you can choose which vibrational state you are in. While there’s no doubt that we come across challenging situations that can increase our negative self-talk and emotions, it is up to us whether we stay stagnant in emotions that do not serve our higher self. This easy five-step process can be used in any situation, but remember, it is not something that you should only practice once. Getting rid of emotions that do more harm than good requires an ongoing commitment, which is why I suggest you practice the above steps anytime you are feeling down or overwhelmed. You have the choice to live your life the way you want, so choose what serves your higher self.

3 Profound Ways Our Emotional Wounds Actually Strengthen Us

Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.

Helen Keller

1. We learn to embrace and come to terms with pain.

Despite our intense emotional wounds, the hurt will pass and scars eventually heal. We learn, over time, that it is healthy to process our emotions rather than to cling to them.

As time moves on, so does the emotional strain, yet we needn’t clutch to our pain story. We can suffer or let go of what no longer serves us.

We must love and acknowledge our darker aspects like our pain and grief. If you appreciate the sun and wish away the darkness how would you see the stars at night?

Our emotional wounds lead us to the wholeness of ourselves. It is remiss to emphasize our darkness while identifying with our light since we encompass both parts.

Pain is a powerful teacher that connects us with our inner wisdom.

Without pain, how can we recognize the enduring self that lies beneath the rubble of suffering?

Without pain, we are powerless to embrace the entirety of who we are.

Our emotional wounds do not imply we are flawed, yet show our true character. They are our battle scars that show we have danced with life and lived to tell the tale. We communicate to others of the struggles that lie ahead, having traversed the path ourselves.

Our wounds lie fragmented deep within our psyche. If we have not reconciled them, they grow stronger until we address them. They are the imposing shadow, lurking in the darkness waiting to grab hold if we grow weary.

2. We learn the strength in returning back to love.

We can become our own healer in loving and nurturing declarations to ourselves. This reinforces how it is now safe to face these emotions with openness to heal.

Our emotional wounds call us to connect with our inner child instead of escaping when the pain intensifies. To run away from pain is the opposite of loving kindness because we neglect to honor our emotional well-being. We must love ourselves foremost as you would a friend or loved one who is hurt.

To demonstrate this commitment, consider the vows recited when two people marry: to honor one another through the good times and bad. So we ought to make the same commitment to ourselves. Irrespective of the emotions that arise, we will honor them.

Our emotional wounds strengthen us because they show we have lived a purposeful life.

There is a broader lesson contained within each emotional wound. If we penetrate through the pain, we realize it is a return to love.

When I stand before thee at the day’s end, thou shalt see my scars and know that I had my wounds and also my healing.

Rabindranath Tagore

This simple act of self-renewal permeates into our conscious, so regardless of the external conditions, our deepest wisdom leads us to connect with our heart.

To heal, we must de-clutter our lives and nurture the child within, while creating a secure environment for healing to occur.

3. We become transformed from the inside-out.

The transformation process evolves your consciousness from fear to love. That means you have to dissolve the fears and heal the emotional wounds that are in the way—by understanding them. And that means you have to face them, feel them, and decode them, which most of us dread,

Penney Pierce

The saying, time heals all wounds does not hold significance if we don’t make the time to face them. We may store away the emotional fragments of the past, only to have them reappear at a later stage.

To confront our emotional wounds means to honor ourselves foremost. No matter what emerges, we trust we will cope.

Everyone is bound to experience hurt and pain in their lives. Unless you’ve lived under a rock, we all carry emotional pain. It’s how we transform the pain to develop a deeper relationship with ourselves that leads to inner freedom.

Our wounds strengthen us because they invite us to be sensitive to our emotional life. We become inquisitive about our emotions and examine them with openness and equanimity.

To be curious fosters a balanced relationship with the wholeness of who we are, rather than dismiss the emotions as untoward. As we associate with our fractured parts, we strengthen our commitment to ourselves.

To accept and heal our emotional wounds, we release them to invite the power of love to occupy its space. We allow the experience to transform us into empowered beings.

Remember, forgiveness doesn’t necessarily mean forgetting. We may always have memories attached to some of our emotional wounds in much the same way we have scar tissue from a physical wound that happened long ago. That doesn’t mean you have to relive the pain that caused the scar.

Dennis Merritt Jones

Our childhood wounds are exposed through adult relationships and if we do little to confront them, they can ruin our lives. Therefore, they are a gift guiding us to heal within.
Through mindfulness, we learn to be grounded in the present moment and experience any emotions that emerge. This simple act cultivates true intimacy with ourselves.

So avoid holding on to your pain. There is no power gained from being a victim, other than to deflect your wounds onto others to appease your suffering.

If our heart has been closed and then begins to open, we often discover why our native sensitivity originally shut down. Old emotional wounds will surface and ask for our attention. Difficult feelings such as grief, shame, self-loathing, personal deficiency, despair, and fear can arise.

John Prendergast Ph.D.

This statement reaffirms the need to love ourselves completely, no matter the emotions.

Our responsibility is not to judge ourselves, but to reconcile the pain and integrate it into our experience toward oneness. 

If Anyone Has Told You Your Emotions Are ‘Too Much,’ They’re Wrong

Telling someone they are “overreacting” or they should “lighten up” disconnects them from their emotional experience.

For the majority of highly sensitive people, our experience includes having strong emotions. Indeed, a common trait among HSPs is our ability to feel deeply, as this is adjacent to sensitivity. Unfortunately, many non-HSPs don’t quite comprehend the depths of our emotions, which can result in feeling misunderstood. 

While growing up, I repeatedly received the message that my emotions were “too much” — from people telling me that I was “overreacting” or to “lighten up” to shaming me for expressing my emotions and informing me that my feelings were “wrong.” Unsurprisingly, this type of rhetoric disconnects people from their emotional experience, and ultimately, ourselves as a whole.

HSPs, we deserve better. It is all too easy to be labeled as “too emotional,” given that we live in a society that doesn’t value emotions. Instead, “rationality” is largely considered to be the antithesis of being emotional, and is valued and placed on a pedestal. I can’t help but wonder: Is it actually rational to deny something so inherent to the human experience? 

6 Reasons Why Your Emotions Are Not ‘Too Much’ 

1. “You can’t heal what you don’t feel.”

Despite the misconception that emotions are superfluous, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Indeed, emotions aren’t just normal, they’re also healthy. There’s a popular saying in the world of psychotherapy that “you can’t heal what you don’t feel.” Essentially, this means that in order to adequately process and heal from a difficult experience, we need to allow ourselves to name, express, and of course, feel any and all emotions associated with that experience. 

A great example of this is from the Disney/Pixar movie Inside Out. At one point, Bing Bong, Riley’s former imaginary friend, becomes distraught after losing his rocket, prompting him to mourn his relationship with Riley. Once he’s able to reflect on why he’s feeling sad, express that sadness, and receive validation, his sadness begins to dissipate and he starts to feel better, allowing him to move on. Although a simplified example — we typically aren’t able to work through emotions quite this quickly — this does illustrate the importance of feeling our emotions in order to heal from life experiences. And since sensitive people feel on a deeper level than others, it may take us a bit longer to process things. 

2. Repressing emotions does not work.

The message we receive from society is, in order to prevent being seen as “too emotional,” we simply need to repress our emotions, as this is the “rational” approach to take. However, as you likely already know — either from personal experience or on an intuitive level — repressing our emotions doesn’t work. 

There’s a popular metaphor used in therapy: think of a beach ball floating on the surface of the water. What happens when you try to submerge the beach ball into the water? It doesn’t want to go down or stay down. Perhaps you’re able to keep it submerged for a bit, but it takes a lot of effort and struggle. Plus, the harder you try to keep the beach ball submerged, the greater force it’ll have when popping back up. This is the same for our emotions: we can try to repress them, but the more we do, the more we will struggle, and the more force they will reappear with. So it helps to avoid that struggle and simply allow your emotions to be.

Similarly, sometimes HSPs will try to numb their feelings through emotional buffering  — they’ll mask them through things like shopping, food, or even substance use. But this, too, is just trying to submerge the beach ball instead of dealing with it.

3. For better or worse, emotions help guide us.

As alluded to previously, the common argument against displaying emotions is that they can be considered to be the opposite of rationality. That is a grave misunderstanding of emotions and the benefits they bring us. 

You can think of emotions like signals we can use to navigate the roads of life. Firstly, we need to identify what the signal actually is. When we are able to recognize and label the emotion we are feeling, we can then process our emotions with more efficiency. Secondly, our emotions have purpose; each one has useful information we can use to help guide us. 

For example, sadness can mean that a need of ours is not being met; anger can indicate that our boundaries are being violated; fear can warn us against a potentially dangerous situation; guilt can help us learn from past mistakes and make amends; and happiness can keep us returning to something that promotes overall well-being. As a highly sensitive person, you may feel all these emotions more so than a non-HSP, which can add beauty and depth to your life. 

When we are connected to our emotional experience, we are better able to define our emotions. That way, we can then receive important knowledge about what steps to take in order to live our best possible lives.

4. Emotions allow us to be embodied.

Embodiment is the ability for us to fully feel into our bodies and be present with our experience. Embodiment also has many benefits, including better physical and mental health. Sounds simple, right? 

Unfortunately, we live in a world that frequently promotes the opposite of this. Feeling tired? You can sleep when you’re dead! Feeling hungry? Diet culture rewards you for that! Feeling pain during exercise? No pain, no gain! We receive messages that we are “weak” for listening to the important signals our bodies are trying to communicate to us: for getting enough sleep, eating when we’re hungry, and stopping exercise when we’re in pain.

It’s difficult, to say the least, to be embodied in a culture that tries to disconnect us from our bodies. Being with our emotions, however, can help bring us back to our bodies. Indeed, our emotions reside in our bodies. Have you noticed how your chest feels heavy when you’re sad? That your heart races when you’re scared? That you feel hot when you’re angry? Or even that you feel light when you’re happy? By recognizing our physical sensations, including those associated with our emotions, as they are happening, we are able to return to embodiment.

5. Emotions increase our self-knowledge.

As previously established, emotions are a basic component of the human experience. Therefore, when we deny our emotions, we in turn deny ourselves. Instead, when we can be with our emotions — something we HSPs are naturally good at anyway, given our intuitive abilities — we can better recognize them. And then, we can comprehend how to approach them healthfully, both within ourselves and others. This is what research psychologist Daniel Goleman defines as “emotional intelligence.” 

Although allowing yourself to feel your emotions does not automatically equate to emotional intelligence, it’s a step in the right direction. Conversely, we move further away from emotional intelligence when we attempt to repress our emotions. This not only makes the experience of being with our feelings less familiar, but it also sends the message that feeling our emotions is unsafe.   

6. Only you know your own experience.

The fact of the matter is — you are the only one living your life. Therefore, you are the only one who knows your experience. Only you can determine your emotional reality. Therefore, when others accuse you of being “too emotional,” this is gaslighting, which is when the other person uses a form of manipulation that makes you question your sanity or your version of things. In this particular situation, the gaslighting by the other person is typically rooted in an effort to make themselves feel more comfortable. 

However, dear reader, you do not have to censor yourself for the sake of others. It’s okay to have a lot of feelings and to express those feelings — don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. You are the author of your story and you alone are the expert on your experience.

A Note on Emotional Response vs. Reaction

When discussing our experience of emotions, it’s important to distinguish between an emotional response vs. an emotional reaction, in addition to the emotion itself. Emotions are a feeling and state of being (i.e., happiness, sadness, anger, jealousy, etc.). When we describe HSPs as “deep feelers,” this means we feel our emotions more strongly and more frequently than non-HSPs. There’s no action inherent in emotions. The proceeding action can be either a response or a reaction. A response is using data from the emotion to make an informed decision; a reaction, on the other hand, is being overtaken by that emotion. 

Let’s illustrate this with an example: You are having a conversation with someone, when all of a sudden it turns sour. The other individual turns to rudeness and insults you. Most likely, you would be experiencing the emotion of anger in this situation. An emotional response would be to inform that individual what they said was wrong and hurtful, and that you will not be engaging with them if they continue to treat you poorly, i.e., using the signal from your anger to rectify the situation thoughtfully.

Conversely, an emotional reaction might include insulting the other person back, storming out of the room and slamming the door, or turning to physical violence, i.e., being controlled by your anger. As we can see here, it’s not the emotion of anger that’s wrong, but rather, how that anger overtakes you. However, since we HSPs are deep processors, we are more likely to take our time to respond rather than react immediately (yet another benefit of being a sensitive person!).

Emotions are not only normal — they’re also important. Our society undervalues emotions and doesn’t understand that by feeling deeply, we are not “too emotional,” but in fact are experiencing an essential part of life. So, fellow HSP, I urge you to continue to feel your emotions, express your emotions, and be that deep feeler that you are. It’s a beautiful thing.

With love,

A Fellow HSP.

No Matter What Anyone Says, Your Feelings Matter

We’re always told not to feel. We’re convinced that we shouldn’t have emotions based off of what we see around us and the daily struggles and challenges we face throughout our lives, but it’s impossible not to have feelings. Others may be better at hiding them, but the truth is we all have them, whether we reveal them or not. Having emotions is not a bad thing.

You’ve probably been told that you’re too sensitive. You’ve probably been told that you feel too much and that you should feel a little less to avoid being hurt or taken advantage of. Some people may tell you not to cry or get upset over things that seem so small but may be bigger to you. Some people may ask why you’re so happy and cheerful all the time, wondering when you’ll ever get angry. Some people may advise you to calm down because you’re over exaggerating and doing more than you should, but sometimes you have to feel in every way.

Your emotions can teach you a lot about yourself and who you are as a person, and it can teach you a few things about other people’s emotions as well. You learn to understand human emotion.

There are eight core emotions, including hurt, shame, guilt, sadness, anger, fear, loneliness, and gladness. Behind all of these emotions reveal something greater and an even bigger idea.

On the other side of hurt is healing, so we must allow ourselves to feel hurt. We shouldn’t walk around bleeding continuously, telling other people we’re fine when we are not. We should freely express our emotions. On the other side of shame is humility. On the other side of guilt is forgiveness. On the other side of sadness is realization. On the other side of anger is determination and a hunger for life. On the other side of fear is courage. On the other side of loneliness is intimacy. You start to crave deeper relationships, and not just the ones on the surface, but the internal ones. On the other side of gladness is hope.

We live in a generation where having emotions is looked at as the worst thing in the world and we are continuously disguising our emotions and building up walls that imprison our natural feelings because we know that if we show the slightest bit of emotion, it may lead to heartbreak, betrayal, or suffering, but the outcomes of your life shouldn’t be a reason to not feel to the fullest.

We may even be looked at as soft and weak, but our human emotions are strong, and they give us strength every day when we use them.

Each emotion within your body signifies something, and it lets your mind and body know different things that you may or may not have been aware of before.

It teaches you things about yourself and gives you an understanding of areas you misunderstood.

Don’t stress about what the world is trying to tell you. Don’t go scrolling through social media looking for that one quote that tells you not to have emotions and to just stop caring. Listen to your body and those emotional sirens that are trying to tell you something. How do you actually feel? What are your emotions telling you today?

Feel and don’t stop feeling until you figure yourself out and understand who you are as a person. You may feel some emotions less and feel some emotions more, but just know that emotions aren’t a bad thing. You’re not a sensitive, crazy, emotional wreck. You are a human being. God created you to be an emotional person, not an emotionless one.

The way you feel is important, and you shouldn’t hide away your emotions because of what the world says.

Never be afraid to feel—after all, you are human.

I believe in you. Spread love and be great.

Read This When You Don’t Feel Good Enough

First of all, you are good enough. Life can be really tough at times and not only is it tremendously hard dealing with real-life problems but battling with your own mind is a challenge of its own too.

I really do believe it when people say you should feed your mind with positive thoughts because it works but it takes time. Think about those times where you looked at yourself in the mirror and you felt like demons inside your head were spitting words at you like ‘I don’t feel good enough, I’m stupid or I’m not special’.

Those aren’t demons talking. It’s just thoughts inside your head that your subconscious has been keeping note of. Every time you surround yourself with negativity your brain thinks that is how you are. Because the truth is, you really are what you think.

As soon as you start nourishing your brain with positive thoughts, you will find that your mind is helping you not tormenting you. When you are faced with a problematic situation or you are feeling low in yourself, your mind will start to guide you and it will start loving you back.

Think about the time you had braces or your leg was in a cast, you had no choice but to carry on, to survive. The times were tough, and you reached a low point in your life where you just wanted to be free again but things take time, you will heal, and you will rise again.

You survived because you had to, remember this applies to your mind too.

You should try and grab the bad days by the palms of your hands and try to understand why you feel this way. Identify your sadness, and if it’s just a feeling, then you must remember that feeling will pass. If it’s a real life problem you must figure out how to solve it, not dwell on it because dwelling only creates excuses, it does not solve the issue.

Even on your lowest days, you must remind yourself you are good enough. Say it to yourself every single day, and before you know it, your mind will be saying it back to you when you need it the most.

The Truth Is I’m Strong But I’m Tired

Strength is believing in love when you’ve only known heartbreak.

It’s drying your own tears that no one knew you cried.

Strength is overcoming your own demons or vices.

And looking at someone who completely broke you and you forgive them.

Strength is helping others even when it’s you that hasn’t quite figured it out yet.

It’s trusting everyone even though you have every reason not to.

Strength is biting your tongue when someone is unkind and realizing it’s a reflection of them and not you.

It’s holding on and believing in something you know you deserve but haven’t gotten yet.

Strength is when everyone doubts you but you believe in yourself anyway.

But the truth is I’m strong but I’m tired.

I’m tired of being hurt every time I get my hopes up.

I’m tired of anticipating the worst and watching it play out.

I’m tired of being let down.

And always blaming myself for things.

I’m tired of people telling me I need to change. Then every time I try to I lose myself in an attempt to make them happy.

I’m tired of constantly being challenged and always having to be the bigger person.

I’m tired of thinking too much about people who care too little.

I’m tired of overthinking.

I’m tired of spending 15 minutes of coming up with a text only to get an answer K.

I’m tired of trying so hard to please others when I don’t ask for much in return.

I’m tired of staying up at night as thoughts consume me and I can’t sleep.

I’m tired of carrying this weight on my shoulders from my past that haunts me.

I’m tired of being strong for everyone.

I’m tired of always figuring out the solutions when it isn’t even my problem, to begin with.

I’m tired of the explanations that came too late.

And people walking away with no reason when I’m the one holding the door saying, ‘I’ll miss you.’


The truth is caring as much as this hurts. It’s knowing pain at levels others never will. It’s knowing sadness and darkness the way others don’t. It’s experiencing heartbreak that hurts more than any physical amount of pain
.

But on the other end of such intense emotions is knowing a love so deep, it fills you despite their absence. Despite a sadness you can’t shake, on most days, you’ll experience the happiness that makes it worth it. Despite the pain of endings, you’ll look forward to new beginnings. Because you know when you get it right it’s worth it.

And the truth is if you ask any person who is like this, what they would choose, they wouldn’t change anything about themselves even if they are tired.

There is something rare about a person that strong. They are the healers of the world. They are the light for others in darkness. They are the hope when everyone has lost it and they end up being loved deeply by everyone for being exactly who they are and not changing when others allowed pain to change them.

The truth is though regardless of how tired or hurt or disappointed these people feel, the fact they haven’t changed is why they are different. Pain changes most people but for some they see pain simply as the other end of the same spectrum that love is on, so they stay the path and keep their heads high.

Please Don’t Numb Your Pain

Please don’t numb your pain.

When you numb your pain, you’re cutting yourself off to part of living. When you numb your pain, you’re not letting yourself be fully human. When you numb your pain, you’re not getting rid of it and you’re not wiping it away. You’re not making it disappear, either. You’re just burying it.

And then it’s only a matter of time before it resurfaces.

I hope you know it’s ok to not be ok.

I hope you stop pretending to be ok for the ones around you, too.

I hope you let yourself feel.

Are you sad? Let yourself feel that sadness. Recognize how it soaks into your bones, how it rests heavy on your heart. Let yourself drown in your tears until you have no more water within you, till it feels like you have nothing left to give and your bones are dry. Let yourself feel the rawness of the wound – where it hurts and where it’s hollow.

If you jump to numbness, how can you heal?

I hope you know it’s ok to not be ok.

I hope you stop pretending to be ok for the ones around you, too.

I hope you let yourself feel.

I hope you let yourself feel your pain. I hope you let it reach your heart, your mind, your soul. I hope you feel it from your fingers to your toes. I hope you recognize how your pain affects how you navigate through this world – how it bleeds into your work, into your relationships with others, into your relationship with your self.

I hope you feel it.

When you let yourself feel it, it becomes easier to work through it. When you let yourself feel it, you’re able to climb to the other side of pain. When you let yourself feel it, healing becomes tangible and feasible, and within your reach.

When you let yourself feel your pain, instead of numbing it, joy becomes the thing you hold onto and the thing you seek.

I hope you know it’s ok to not be ok.

I hope you stop pretending to be ok for the ones around you, too.

I hope you let yourself feel.

Please don’t numb your pain.

150+ List of Emotions, Feelings, and Moods

As human beings, we know that we all experience a range of emotions — that’s who we are, as social creatures. When we feel a strong emotion or a strong feeling, we tend to act on it, no matter what.

According to some scientists: “…emotions are judgments about the extent that the current situation meets your goals. Happiness is the evaluation that your goals are being satisfied, as when winning the lottery solves your financial problems and being asked out holds the promise of satisfying your romantic needs. Similarly, sadness is the evaluation that your goals are not being satisfied, and anger is the judgment aimed at whatever is blocking the accomplishment of your goals.”

Types of Emotions 

Well, we can identify them and place them into 8 different categories, based on Robert Plutchik’s theory. Robert Plutchik was an American Psychologist and Professor who studied human emotions. Plutchik’s theory was that there are 8 distinct, basic human emotions: happiness, sadness, fear, anger, disgust, surprise, acceptance, and anticipation. He figured this out by developing an emotion wheel. 

Although Plutchik’s wheel was (and is) one of the best-known concepts about our complex emotions, some people believe that there are only 2 or 3 basic emotions and everything else falls into a hierarchy of secondary emotions and tertiary emotions. For example, “love” can be broken down into secondary emotions—“affection” and “longing”—and even “affection” can be broken down into tertiary emotions of “liking,” “caring,” and “compassion.”

Along with emotions, we also have emotional responses. Psychologists who study emotional intelligence believe that when we feel either a negative or a positive emotion, we respond in 2 ways: psychological and behavioral.

When you experience fear, you know that there’s a lot more to it: your stomach turns, your heart races with anxiety, and you might even start sweating or getting full-body chills. This is your body’s fight or flight response, all controlled by within your nervous system. Therefore, this can be identified as a psychological response.

Now, because this is your body going into fight or flight mode, we tend to act out on these feelings. For example, if we are feeling fear or anxiety, we might start to cry. Or, if we experience feelings of relief after the fear or anxiety leaves our body, we might respond with facial experiences of a smile or raised eyebrows.

Combination of Emotions + Feelings 

Anticipation + Joy = Optimism (with its opposite being disapproval)

Joy + Trust = Love (with its opposite being remorse)

Trust + Fear = Submission (with its opposite being contempt)

Fear + Surprise = Awe (with its opposite being aggression)

Surprise + Sadness = Disapproval (with its opposite being optimism)

Sadness + Disgust = Remorse (with its opposite being love)

Disgust + Anger = Contempt (with its opposite being submission)

Anger + Anticipation = Aggressiveness (with its opposite being awe)

There are so many kinds of emotion we can feel on a daily basis, but everything we feel develops out from our core emotions.

So let’s develop these words and understand more about our emotional vocabulary. Let’s say you’re feeling happy. Your emotional experience is excitement, content, joy, satisfaction, and the physical sensations you act on are smiling, laughing, feeling your body at peace. Make sense?

List Of Emotions

Here is a short list of emotions and our responses:

  • Happiness:
  • A pleasant state of joy, contentment, satisfaction., and overall wellbeing.
  • We respond with facial experiences like smiling or maybe laughing and a relaxed body stance/demure.
  • Sadness:
  • State of grief, hopelessness, sorrow.
  • We respond by crying, staying quiet, or withdrawing from people/isolating ourselves.
  • Disgust:
  • Mainly a reaction to something that is bad or evil—can be something that is as simple as rotten food to as extreme as a dead body.
  • We respond by turning away, vomiting, wrinkling our nose.
  • Anger:
  • A powerful emotion that can also play a part in your fight or flight response.
  • We respond with frowning, glaring, a change in the tone of voice, turning red, sweating, or aggressively lashing out.

And now here’s a long list of emotions you might be feeling, including core emotions and secondary emotions and tertiary emotions:

  1. Happiness
  2. Pride
  3. Excitement
  4. Peace
  5. Satisfaction
  6. Acceptance
  7. Affection
  8. Joy
  9. Compassion
  10. Adoration
  11. Desire
  12. Grateful
  13. Love
  14. Humble
  15. Contentment
  16. Empathetic
  17. Amusement
  18. Appreciative
  19. Confident
  20. Optimistic
  21. Cheerful
  22. Carefree
  23. Sweet
  24. Kind
  25. Loyal
  26. Lust
  27. Gladsomeness
  28. Goofy
  29. Inspired
  30. Enchanted
  31. Funny
  32. Friendly
  33. Calm
  34. Sensual
  35. Awe
  36. Warm
  37. Romantic
  38. Aware
  39. Comfortable
  40. Free
  41. Courageous
  42. Hopeful
  43. Fascinated
  44. Tender
  45. Proud
  46. Relief
  47. Eager
  48. Sexy
  49. Understanding
  50. Patient
  51. Surprised
  52. Craving
  53. Wonder
  54. Amazed
  55. Sentimental
  56. Focused
  57. Determined
  58. Fearful
  59. Grieved
  60. Distracted
  61. Baffled
  62. Needy
  63. Lost
  64. Self-pity
  65. Pessimistic
  66. Hysteria
  67. Withdrawal
  68. Worried
  69. Doubtful
  70. Frazzled
  71. Sorrow
  72. Curious
  73. Guilt
  74. Apologetic
  75. Horrified
  76. Overwhelmed
  77. Nervous
  78. Anxious
  79. Terrified
  80. Cautious
  81. Panicked
  82. Alienated
  83. Challenged
  84. Jealous
  85. Fraud (feeling like a)
  86. Stressed
  87. Agony
  88. Empty
  89. Shock
  90. Desperate
  91. Confused
  92. Alone
  93. Tense
  94. Curious
  95. Suspicious
  96. Paranoid
  97. Reluctant
  98. Skeptical
  99. Sulkiness
  100. Horror
  101. Sadness
  102. Unhappy
  103. Emptiness
  104. Misery
  105. Aching
  106. Insecure
  107. Apathetic
  108. Defeated
  109. Pity
  110. Submissive
  111. Lonely
  112. Melancholy
  113. Heartbroken
  114. Depressed
  115. Worn out
  116. Glum
  117. Cowardly
  118. Gloomy
  119. Hurting
  120. Disappointed
  121. Tired
  122. Lovesick
  123. Left out
  124. Resigned
  125. Miserable
  126. Shy
  127. Vulnerable
  128. Yearning
  129. Nostalgia
  130. Remorse
  131. Pensive
  132. Protective
  133. Dismay
  134. Distress
  135. Wanderlust
  136. Anger
  137. Annoyed
  138. Bitter
  139. Frustrated
  140. Dislike
  141. Spite
  142. Uncomfortable
  143. Offended
  144. Bitter
  145. Infuriated
  146. Rage
  147. Cheated
  148. Vengeful
  149. Impatient
  150. Disgust
  151. Animosity
  152. Insulted
  153. Cold
  154. Envy
  155. Uneasy
  156. Loathe
  157. Hopeless
  158. Troubled
  159. Embarrassed
  160. Boredom
  161. Wrath
  162. Disapproval
  163. Craving
  164. Outrage
  165. Awkward
  166. Hatred
  167. Resentment
  168. Lazy
  169. Mean
  170. Hatred
  171. Cranky
  172. Aggressive
  173. Horror
  174. Vigilant
  175. Pity
  176. Cruel
  177. Resentful
  178. Disgust
  179. Delirious
  180. Denial
  181. Obsessed
  182. Defensive
  183. Destructive

Understanding your feelings can be really hard. Psychologist Dacher Keltner even worked with Pixar to develop the children’s movie Inside Out where every character is a different emotion, to help viewers (children) recognize their feelings. With characters Joy, Disgust, Anger, Fear, and Sadness, this story allows us to understand that it’s okay to be emotional and to have feelings because that’s what makes you human.

Emotions FAQ:

What’s the difference between feeling emotional and feeling moody?

“Emotions” are intense but short-lived, while “moods” are milder yet long-lasting. Emotions are also caused by something specific: if someone does something to anger or disgust you, you might act out on that feeling. Moods happen randomly, aren’t triggered by anyone or anything, and typically have no real reason for their existence. For example, people who have diagnosed anxiety, depression, or bipolar disorder experience unexplainable moods frequently.

Where is shame located on the emotional wheel?

In the categories of emotion, shame could be recognized as an emotional experience to sadness or disgust. It can often be confused with guilt. Shame is a self-conscious feeling we get when our positive state is interrupted and we feel unworthy and inadequate. “Feeling embarrassed” is also considered to be “feeling ashamed.”

How does someone respond to shame?

A person can act on their feeling of shame by becoming more emotional and developing feelings of anger and blame. For example, someone who is feeling ashamed for something—maybe they feel ugly or believe they aren’t smart enough—they will start to feel anger and will lash out on someone else and make them feel about something instead. It’s a classic case of bullying if you think about it: using someone else as a scapegoat for feelings.

What’s the difference between emotions and feelings? 

According to iMotions, “Feelings are sparked by emotions and shaped by personal beliefs or memories.” So, emotions are something that is felt and manifested in the unconscious mind, while feelings are both emotional experiences and physical sensations that tend to linger and “soak in.” So, for example, if you have a fear of ghosts or the dark, you might also have an underlying fear of death. This feeling of fear lingersand can cause you to respond in an emotional (anxiety) and physical way (crying, heart racing). Feelings are a conscious response to emotional reactions.