We last wrote about emotion in February 2021. When we explored how to get our mojo back. Now, we show you how to apply the emotion wheel to yourself.
Fairygodboss describes the wheel thusly:
The emotion wheel is a tool that enables people to describe and verbalize their emotions. As well as understand the relationship between and intensity of their feelings. The ability to articulate and identify emotions is an important component of emotional intelligence.
How You May Apply the Emotion Wheel to Yourself
If you conduct a Google search of “emotion wheel,” you will get back millions of links. And access to numerous images of the wheel.
For this post, we turn to observations from Abby Vanmuijen:
My goals for this wheel — to help you to: (1) Give yourself permission to feel any of the words on it (2) Build your emotional vocabulary and develop language to describe how you feel. (3) Slow down and notice how your emotions show up in and around your body.
To start: (1) Find a quiet moment. Take a breath — drink some water or tea. (2) Next, look at the wheel and follow your eye wherever it’s drawn. From there, make your way around the wheel. By reading or having someone else read each word. As you go through, write down any words that resonate with the experience you’re having in the current moment. (Write down at least 5-10 words instead of limiting the experience to one word.)
(3) Look up the definition of any words you don’t know. Also, you may draw/paint the colors associated with the words, circle the words if you have a wipeable version of the wheel, or use the clickable wheel at the bottom of this page. (4) Reflect on your visual representation of “how you’re feeling” — what do you notice? (5) Do a quick body scan. Can you notice where certain feelings show up in your body? If you feel comfortable, share what you made– with a loved one, a teacher or classmate, a mental health professional, or with your social media community.
Click the image to access an interactive wheel by Vanmuijen. And press “Go slice by slice.”
