One of my latest articles from Lotus Effect:

Feeling out-of-touch with our emotions is an all-to-common ailment among society today. Most of us are too busy fulfilling our obligations, taking care of other people’s needs, and simply surviving, that we forget to stop and listen to our own wants and needs. When we finally do check-in, we realize there is an avalanche of emotions, wounds, resentments, energetic cords attaching us to others, and trauma that has too often been left to fester and infect.

We would never ignore a broken leg or physical wound in the body, but most of us allow our emotional brokenness to go untended for years, and then wonder why we feel crippled. Exploring our own emotional worlds can be scary, yes, but ignoring them can be detrimental. By doing daily emotional check-ins, we can ease our way into the world of our (often confusing) emotions and learn how to become experts in our own self-care.

Daily emotional check-ins should be as natural to us as bushing our teeth.

Here’s how to do to it:

Put a notebook by your bed. Upon waking each morning ask yourself the following questions:

“How do I feel?”

“What do I need?”

Write whatever comes to you. If you can’t access your emotions right away, connect to your body first. What sensations do you feel in your body and where? Can you attach any emotion to those sensations? What might those emotions be connected to? Listen, honor, and respect these emotions. Our emotions are our guidance system. They are our compass to help us see WHERE WE ARE so we know how to get to WHERE WE WANT TO BE.

Once you’ve accessed what you feel (and write it down) ask yourself what you need. It is important to trust your first instinct and do your best to honor the answer you receive. If it’s chocolate, indulge. If it’s a walk, enjoy a stroll. If it’s support, call a friend. If it’s relaxation, take a warm bath. Your Higher Self always knows what you need on an emotional/energetic level, and your body is brilliant at communicating its necessities too. You need only ask. And listen. Your true, Higher Guidance won’t tell you to do things to simply numb or suppress your emotions, but it will always lead you in the direction of healthy relief.

The purpose of writing down your responses is so you can notice any patterns that may emerge. At the end of every week, look through your notebook and notice any consistent themes. Do this also at the end of every month, and even year. Not only will this give you intimate knowledge of your own emotional habits, you’ll also see patterns in specific seasons and times of year and learn to be preemptive for times you can predict you may be energetically or emotionally more vulnerable.

Doing daily emotional maintenance will cause you to be an expert in your own self-care and give you the tools you need to truly thrive.