PART 15 | EMOTIONAL EXPOSURE Rumination is a form of cognitive avoidance. You are trying to intellectualize your emotions instead of feeling them and it’s creating an obsessive pattern of thinking. This is where emotional exposure comes in. Emotional exposure is an emotional regulation skill that allows you to ride the wave of your emotions instead of drowning in them. Emotional exposure is about starting small, and then slowly building the emotional tolerance to feel your emotions in its entirety. Remember these are SKILLS. Anybody can do this! How do you do it? Step 1: Identify Your Chronic Emotion Think about the situations and experience you are ruminating about and pinpoint the emotions that continue to come up for you. Think about the emotion you find the most challenging to endure. Journaling might be a great way to get your thoughts on paper and get a clearer picture of what is going on inside you. Step 2: Observe The Emotion Over the next few days, when this emotion comes up in you - take note of it in the Notes App on your phone. Step 3: Emotional Exposure Once you’ve pinpointed the emotion you’re working through, find a safe place to allow yourself to just feel it. Give yourself 20 minutes to work through this exercise and give yourself permission to feel your feelings instead of trying to logic your way out of it. Take a few deep breaths. (Let yourself cry if needed) Take out your journal and explore the emotion further. Here are some journal prompts: - What am I feeling? - How intense is this feeling and where do you feel it in your body? - How has this emotion been affecting your day-to-day life? - Write a letter expressing all your feelings and emotions (but don’t send it) Step 4: Emotions Without Avoidance Congratulations! You just practiced emotional exposure. This practice will help you build the skill of riding the wave of your emotions. It takes time and consistency to see the full benefits but this skill cannot be understated! Emotional regulation never gets easier, we just build the skills to better handle them! You got this. #HealingJourney #becomingunrecognizable #walkaway #nocontactrule - @anxiouslyalej