Emotional First Aid

With the busyness of Christmas, this is a good time to talk about Emotional First Aid. I first heard of Emotional First Aid in a TED talk by Guy Winch. Emotional First Aid is having the skills to take care of our mental and emotional health as easily as we put a plaster on a cut. Christmas can present a lot of financial, health and relationship challenges, and it’s good to have an emotional first aid kit to turn to.
Pay attention to emotional pain — recognise it when it happens and work to treat it before it feels all-encompassing. Redirect your gut reaction when you fail. Instead of focusing on the failure, examine how you could have improved the process to create success. Monitor and protect your self-esteem. When you feel like putting yourself down, take a moment to be compassionate to yourself. When negative thoughts are taking over, disrupt them with positive distraction. Find meaning in loss. Consider how you might gain or help others gain a new appreciation for life, or imagine the changes you could make that will help you live a life more aligned with your values and purpose. Don’t let excessive guilt linger by offering an apology or finding a way to make amends. Learn what treatments for emotional wounds work for you to build emotional resilience.
Wishing you a very Merry Christmas!
For help relaxing from stress contact Tracy from Relax From Stress Holistic Centre on 086-2202734 or visit www.relaxfromstress.ie.
Published in the Connaught Telegraph newspaper on 19 December 2017