Emotional Literacy: What is it?

Recently I've been pondering; what does it mean to be emotionally literate and how do I know If I am?

What is it like to feel all my emotions, letting them flow through my body like colors on a canvas? Can I sit with each sensation long enough to translate it into words; naming what I feel and telling its story? Or how quickly can that translation happen - is it seconds, days or months?

To begin to answer these questions first I had to revisit the blueprint - the foundations laid out for me by my caregivers.  I began to inspect the environment that informed my relationship with myself and the expression of my emotions.  

You see, our bodies already know how to regulate. It cycles sensations through the nervous system, sending messages to the brain so we can name and express these emotions like joy, anger, sadness, and everything in between. But many of us lose touch with this natural rhythm for a multitude of reasons.  Often times our family culture, societal norms, or even where we are in the world can disrupt the process and as a result, we can learn to distrust what we feel, picking up habits of ignoring ourselves to the point where we are left feeling numb or cut off from ourselves.

This disconnection can be wrapped in stories shared to us from our experiences in childhood - from that time we wanted to express anger but quelched it out of fear of being reprimanded.  Or the time(s) when we were bursting with excitement and we were asked to quiet down because it seemed disruptive.  Whatever the story, when we learn to stifle the emotion in childhood, when we become adults, those same stories play true unless its confronted. 

When those stories play too often, we develop a distrust of our own feelings, we hold them in, shut them down, or dissociate from them. Anodea Judith 

I'll ask a simple question; What stories do you need to rewrite and how can you make room to honor your body's nervous system regulation cycle?  Because to be emotionally literate is to read and communicate not just our own emotions, but the emotions of others.

On the days when you feel distant from your emotions, here are few affirmations you can repeat to invite your mind-body connection.

• I absorb information from my feelings. I move easily and effortlessly.
• When guilt creeps in, remind yourself: I deserve pleasure.  Life is pleasurable.

Needing a little more support, check out our 7-Day Reset filled with prompts, worksheets and visual aids to help you tap into the sensate.