expressing emotions through actions

tips on how to cope: dealing with your feelings, dealing with the consequences of self-harm in your life. share your ideas and maybe pick up some new skills, too. you don't have to want to stop to learn something new here.

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expressing emotions through actions

Post by littlethings » Tue Aug 03, 2004 9:12 am

One of the books I'm reading suggested making a list of emotions & ways to express them (non-si ways). I like the idea of matching emotions with actions before urges, as a natural thing to do, not just an SI alternative. SI gave me a general way out, so the more specific I get with *what* emotion I'm feeling, the more likely I am not to need SI as a blanket.

So, anyway, I made my list and I thought I would post it, this being coping and all...there were a lot of emotions I still couldn't quite figure out. I would like to hear what other people do :)

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Anger – Write/Rant in big letters on poster board with a marker
Aggravation – Cooking
Agitation – Exercising
Agony – Kicking & screaming on bed
Alienation – Coming to BUS
Angst – Writing
Anguish - Crying
Annoyance – Meditation
Apathy - Reading
Apprehension – Jump around & dance to music
Anxiety – Organizing something
Bitterness – Petting my cat
Boredom – Go to a bookstore
Contempt – Writing it out
Defeat – Hug a pillow, or soft toy
Depression - Writing
Despair – Punching a bed
Destructiveness – Rip up cardboard or an old sheet
Disappointment – Start a collection/continue one
Discomposure- Alphabetize/Color-code something
Discontentment – Dying my hair
Dismay – Research something
Dissatisfaction – Bake bread
Distraught – Yoga
Distress – Meditation
Dread – Washing my face
Edginess – Knitting
Ennui – Grocery shopping
Exasperation – Taking a shower
Fidgetiness – Memorize something (poem, or vocabulary)
Fragility – Building something
Frustration – Exercising
Gloom – Write a ‘just because’ card
Grief - Painting
Grouchiness – Stretching
Guilt – Write an apology- to yourself, or someone else. You don’t have to send it.
Hate – Screaming/yelling
Hopelessness – Reading
Hostility – Scrubbing something/Cleaning something tough
Hurt – Listen to music, sleep
Impatience – Count things (number of tiles in kitchen, number of books on shelf…etc.)
Insecurity - Cleaning
Invalidation – Scrap-booking
Irritation – Building houses of cards
Isolation – Go to the library
Jealousy – Writing out a list of positives
Listlessness – Jump Rope
Loneliness –Listening to music
Meanspiritedness – Playing with my dog (it’s impossible to feel meanspirited around him…)
Melancholy – Go see a movie
Misery – Knitting, or creating something out of soft fabrics
Neglect – Get a massage
Nervousness – Tie knots in a piece of yarn
Overwhelmed – Make a To Do list, break it down into parts
Panic – Deep breathing
Pity – Helping someone else
Rejection – Make a collage
Resentment – Hit the wall with a pillow
Revulsion – Play with clay
Sadness – Calligraphy
Shame – Pamper myself in a small way (like buying a small present)
Shock – Play with a soft toy while talking to myself
Sorrow – Painting or Drawing
Suffering – Cuddling up under the covers of my bed
Tenseness – Rub good smelling lotion on arms and legs
Uneasiness – Write yourself a letter to open later
Weariness - Sleep

-----

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Post by nirvana » Wed Aug 04, 2004 4:07 am

wow. i don't have the energy to list mine right now, and i don't know what half of those emotions even feel like. but i want to thank you for posting that; it's amazing, and i'll post another reply when i can think more clearly. i think this is a great idea. :D

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Post by (*Haven*) » Sat Aug 07, 2004 8:25 pm

That list is awesome! I'll have to make one for myself....When I can.

Thanks for posting that!
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Post by Glitter_fairy » Sat Aug 07, 2004 11:38 pm

thats totaly an amazing distraction, *reaches for pen and paper* thankeroos

xx :wink:

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Post by Proximity » Tue Aug 17, 2004 1:23 am

wow. This was a totally excellent post.
I'm serious, I have just been thinking about trying to match some actions that I can do to feelings that I am having, and I have a hard time naming feelings, and then even harder time expressing them sometimes, so this is really helpful.

It would be nice to try to convert some behaviour.

and mostly I'm just bumping this so that more people see it and it doesn't get burried.


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