People often try to suppress or avoid difficult emotions, but this approach can intensify these feelings in the long run and lead to harmful coping strategies. An alternative suggested by Neff and Germer (2018) is to be curious and open to these emotions, learning to tolerate and sit with them.
This can be achieved by comforting oneself during emotional distress by focusing on the five senses. This could involve acknowledging the emotion, naming it, and then shifting attention to one of the senses. If the mind interferes with negative thoughts, one should try to allow the feeling to come and go, reassuring oneself that it will pass.
Specific ways to self-soothe include listening to soothing sounds or music, looking at calming images, using touch to evoke a sense of comfort, and utilizing smell and taste to elicit calmness. These strategies can help individuals manage difficult emotions more effectively and reduce reliance on harmful coping mechanisms.
Key Takeaways:
- Constantly avoiding difficult emotions can exacerbate those feelings in the long run and can lead to harmful coping strategies.
- Being open and curious about feelings, tolerating them, and using the five senses to distract oneself can help manage emotional distress.
- Sounds, sights, touch, and smells that induce calmness can be used to self-soothe during emotional distress.
“Understandably, we seek to move away from internal experiences that cause us suffering. After all, we are only human. However, living a life where we continually avoid difficult emotions tends to amplify those feelings in the long run and can lead to unhelpful coping strategies that cause further problems.”
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