A-Z Freelings Guide – feel it, free it.

This World Mental Health Day, Brightn launches Freelings – a campaign to shine a light on this misunderstood world of feelings, help us take control, and to regulate and manage these big feelings. 

To improve our awareness, acceptance and ability to manage our negative emotions and increase the range of positive emotions. A first of its kind beautifully illustrated guide on the secret world of feelings, how they impact us, and how to increase our emotional intelligence.

Emotions, feelings, moods – these mysterious creatures run our inner universe and play a big part of how the world works. They make us wake up in the morning with motivation, fuel our day to get work done, and let us sleep well at night with hope in our hearts.

All of us experience 400 feelings daily and 38,000 different emotions in our lifetime. Research shows that emotional intelligence or the ability to be aware, accept and regulate our feelings play a big role in life satisfaction, happiness, relationships, financial success and mental wellbeing.  Yet, only 10-15 percent of us understand how this impacts us. We have no control over our emotions, becoming a slave, reacting instead of responding, letting our actions and behaviours be dictated by their ebb and flow.

Behavioral responses are important to signal to others how we’re feeling, but research shows that they’re also vital to individuals’ well-being. A study in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology found that while watching negative and positive emotional films, suppression of behavioral responses to emotion had physical effects on the participants. The effects included elevated heart rates. Expressing behavioral responses to stimuli, both positive and negative, is better for your overall health than holding those responses inside. Thus, there are benefits of smiling, laughing and expressing negative emotions in a healthy way

Express, don’t suppress is the message.