Emotional Wellness is the Gateway to Greater Daily Fulfillment

I'm not a scientist, doctor, or licensed clinical therapist. I am a college dropout, a single mom raising two little ones, building a startup, and living the best version of my emotional life. I experienced severe depression and anxiety most of my life in part due to childhood traumas from molestation and constant uprooting that landed me in 7 different elementary schools by the 3rd grade. But despite the emotional turbulence I experienced as a child, my imagination was full of magic and I had a dream. Since I was 6 years old, I knew I'd teach. It wasn't until after 27 years, several abusive relationships, losing myself, and finding myself again that I realized that teaching self-love through emotional wellness is exactly what I came here to do. Lucky for me, life has been and still is an invaluable institute of personalized education and experience.

Being human is infinitely complex. We are feeling creatures who think because 'go BIG or go home, right?'

But somewhere along the timeline of our evolution thinking became our prized differentiator among all feeling beings on this planet. So much so that our brain has been accepted as the exclusive source of our intelligence. But what if I told you that by accessing optimal emotional wellness, you tap into the vast intelligence of the entire body? Your self-awareness will improve significantly, you will realize personal and professional growth, and you will develop preventative and rehabilitative behaviors that support mental and physical health. It's true, that living emotionally well forges a deep and intimate connection with your whole being opening the gateway to greater daily fulfillment.

What does self-awareness mean to you?

Our emotions are mechanisms of expansion and evolution. This means they unlock opportunities for us to learn more about ourselves improving our self-awareness making self-mastery possible. With every emotion, this insight allows us to learn more about its associated thoughts, beliefs, and ultimately behaviors. When we create space to explore our emotions we uncover threatened belief systems, unmet needs, conditioned behaviors, triggers, and sometimes more emotions that have been suppressed. This empowers us to respond to ourselves with rationale, clarity, and direction. Self-awareness is a superpower and the most essential component of emotional wellness.

Creating a habit of noticing yourself is the first step and asking yourself questions to assess your emotional state takes you a step further. Stillness is a great way to position yourself to be present in your body. Becoming more familiar with the plethora of feelings that stem from our emotions by learning their names also encourages self-awareness bringing more clarity into this process. Because emotions restrict our perspective depending on the intensity and frequency, when we improve our self-awareness we broaden our view of ourselves and the possibilities to return to our wholeness by addressing our needs and adjusting our beliefs with compassion and strategy. Improving our self-awareness strengthens our intuition and enables stress relief. This can turn a good day into a day filled with fulfillment and gratitude. Or a bad day into a day of self-exploration and patience cultivation.

In what way do you see yourself growing from a recent emotion?

As you grow in emotional wellness you simultaneously grow in authenticity, confidence, creativity, acceptance, patience, mood stability, resilience, empathy, and self-advocacy to name a few. All of which encourage personal and professional development and growth. Emotional wellness brings harmony and a healthy interdependency between our internal and external environment allowing them to harmonize with and even mirror each other. Because of this:

-the healthy relationship that exists with ourselves is reflected in the relationships that surround us. Make no mistake, challenging threatened belief systems, unlearning behaviors, and taking accountability for unmet needs is no walk in the park. So in redefining the relationship with ourselves we must build trust with ourselves, be patient with ourselves, and learn to accept ourselves unconditionally. Understanding this process and what is required to exist in a healthy relationship with yourself enhances the relationships that surround you with strong and open communication, nonjudgement, compassion, space to heal and evolve, enforced boundaries, and fosters true connection.

-our natural gifts and talents drive our career choices and hobbies. Emotional wellness helps us to familiarize ourselves with the sense of alignment and because we are learning to channel the energy of our emotions in a healthy way, our natural gifts and talents begin to surface and/or are amplified. This goes back to learning more about ourselves by way of creating space for our emotions. We become more authentic and this gravitates us towards careers and hobbies that in some way allow us to develop and share our gifts promoting regular in-joyment.

-our routine (work-life schedule) rests on a foundation of balance. Processing our emotions (Keeping It R.E.A.L.) supports this balance. It helps us learn how to create balance with stillness, movement, solitude, community, release, replenishment, relaxation, and stimulation. To know what we need, we must make time to assess our needs in real-time throughout the day. Balance can look like taking intentional breaks, spending time in nature, taking your time, laughing often (mostly at ourselves), prioritizing sufficient rest, flowing with life and not resisting it, and knowing when enough is enough.

-and our living space is not only organized but bursting with love, inspiration, and security. It is the closest reflection of our internal experience in our external environment and this can be helpful when adjusting our mood. Studies show that organization in your living space invites mental clarity and confidence which can boost your mood.

When we are emotionally well, this doesn't mean you are happy all of the time, it means you are responding to your emotions in a healthy way.

With that being said, sometimes our emotions are intensly uncomfortable, difficult, and heavy, which can make us feel insecure. Having a living space that is secure and safe supports you as you create passage for these emotions to flow through you. With emotional wellness, we thrive.

What physical symptoms do you experience that accompany fear?

Emotional wellness contributes to the development of preventative and rehabilitative behaviors that support physical and mental health. Emotions are energy in motion however they can be trapped in the body for days or even decades. When we don't learn how to process our emotions and suppress them instead, this blocks the flow of energy through the body. The body is now tasked with the responsibility of storing this emotion (which requires more energy) and while a few days is not a problem, our body is designed to handle stress to a degree, when days turn into months, years, and decades, we begin to see the manifestation of these unprocessed emotions as:

• discomfort- aches, pains, tension, fatigue, stiffness, irregular bowels, irregular and/or painful periods, and inflammation

• dis-ease

• mental illness- depression and anxiety disorders

Suppressed emotions over an extended period can result in the graduation of acute stress to chronic stress in the body disrupting our natural alarm system and ability to function optimally on a high level. But when we create space for ourselves to process our emotions (Keep It R.E.A.L.), we develop habits such as reflecting, healthy expression, genuine acceptance, and letting go which allows for a regular flow of energy, reduced stress, a sense of wholeness, and a holistic approach to your overall well-being. This positions us to notice early symptoms of discomfort, anticipate and address our needs rather than waiting until physical signs and behaviors of deprevation arise, and leverage the intelligence of the entire body to help every organ including the brain maintain alignment with our highest good.

What does greater daily fulfillment look like for you?

Our innovative approach to emotional wellness and the foundation of the work here at SenterME stands on the shoulders of works by Daniel Goleman, Philip Shepard, Bessel van der Kolk, my ancestors, my elders, and those who have given their time, energy, efforts, and beliefs to see the manifestation of a 6-year-old's dream to change the world. SenterME is dedicated to emotional wellness and stress management education helping women professionals step confidently through the gateway to greater daily fulfillment.

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter, SenterME Sunday, to stay connected with our community, upcoming events, and updates on the development of our transformative new platform that allows you to grow in emotional wellness at your own pace in a community of like-minded women who desire a safe space for expansion.

Remember, wellness is your birthright and self-love is true freedom.