Emotional regulation

Emotional regulation essentially means being able to 'be with' our emotions. It's our ability to self soothe when we're upset, overwhelmed or frightened, or to say no when we're angry, to say yes when it genuinely feels good and we trust our response. But most important of all I think is the willingness and ability to feel what comes up, regardless of what it is, without distracting, avoiding and suppressing what essentially we might not want to feel. It can be difficult to do this if we haven't been taught or had it modelled for us, difficult but not impossible. I think being able to be with and feel our emotions is absolutely essential for our physical, mental and spiritual health in every way.