Emotional well-being is also known as emotional wellness or emotional health. It refers to how aware, understanding and accepting we are of our feelings and how we manage them through challenges and change.

The Global Wellness Institute brought the concept of public wellness into the public eye in the 1950s. However, the origins of wellness are far older, with Ayurveda being traced back to 3000-1500 B.C, ancient Greek medicine 500 B.C and traditional Chinese medicine 3000-2000 B.C.

How Poor Emotional Wellness Can Impact Lives

While you may not realize it, many areas of life are affected byemotional wellness. The ability to understand and manage emotions can have a huge impact. Some examples of how poor emotional health affects us include:

• Relationship issues
• Work difficulties
• Inability to concentrate
• Low immunity from stress
• Increased health problems
• High blood pressure caused by long term stress

The Benefits of Good Emotional Wellness

Good emotional wellness contributes to a happy, fulfilling life. The main benefits of strong emotional well-being are:

• Great relationships with people around you
• Increased immunity and a reduction in illness
• Positivity breeds productivity helping you get more done

How Do You Achieve Emotional Wellness?

Now you can see the impact that poor emotional wellness can have on everyday life. The good news is, there are many ways to promote a healthy emotional well-being. Try out these emotional wellness activities detailed below:

Learn to Manage Stress

Stress is a key factor in poor emotional wellness. Try various stress management activities such as taking a walk, meditation practice, yoga, deep breathing or gym workouts.

Practice Mindfulness

Mindfulness means being present in the moment, alongside sensing and feeling without judgement. It’s so easy to live on autopilot and not even be aware of what is going on around you. Mindfulness can be practiced at any time including during meditation, walking or eating.

Connect with Others

Bottling up emotions is a surefire way to lead to poor emotional health. Be brave enough to connect with others and talk about how you’re feeling. This can help to relieve any burdens and lead to an understanding of why you feel like that in the first place.

Improve Physical Wellness

Physical and emotional health is closely intertwined. If one is not being looked after, the other usually shows signs. Get fit by participating in activities such as dancing, running, weight training or group classes, all of which help to release endorphins, the feel good chemicals.

Get a Work-Life Balance

All work and no play can lead to poor emotional wellness. Fun, relaxation and personal relationships are needed for a happy, balanced life. Create firm boundaries with work and schedule time for recreation, meeting friends, family and getting creative.

Improve Sleep Hygiene

Quality sleep is needed to perform every day at your best. If you suffer from insomnia or disrupted sleep, your mental and physical health can decline. Improve sleep hygiene by setting a bedtime routine, putting screens away one hour before bed and creating custom sleep music on the BetterSleep app.