Reflective Experiences by Fatima Shahzad

Oftentimes in life we can go about our days and feel a range of different emotions everyday.

Sometimes, we don't actually stop to think about all the emotions we feel and why we feel them. Therefore, the next day, we often feel the same emotions. Without acknowledging and understanding our emotions, it can be quite draining and difficult to understand ourselves.

Taking some time to understand ourselves each day (week or month, whatever suits you best), leads us to understand, ourselves, leading us to become more aware of our feelings.

I have actively taken part in a reflective experience first-hand where when i went to therapy, my therapist encouraged me to understand my feelings and emotions.

They encouraged me to log my everyday activities in a weekly grid that she printed out for me. She then got me to write my activities down and encouraged me to write the emotion down next to the activity. I wrote about each activity that I did and the feeling it gave me for example ‘eating - joy’. This allowed me to understand which activities allowed me to feel at my best and which activities I needed to slightly change to lead a more.

I took on board her activity and completed it. Engaging in this activity, really helped me to understand what activities were beneficial for me. This lead to me have more awareness of my feelings and lead to a better understanding of them which allowed me to actively work towards achieving a more peaceful self and doing the things that made me happier. Being in tune and aware of your emotions and knowing what makes you happy / sad can change your days and make them that bit more happier and enjoyable

TRY THIS …

-       Write down your activities each day

-       Write down the emotions that those activities brought you

-       Then reflect on it at the end of the week / day letting yourself understand yourself better - asking yourself questions like ‘what could I do to improve?’ ‘which activities bring me joy/sadness?’

This is a task that requires some effort and reflective work on your part but once it is done, it is the kind of work that will only ever result in self-care and self-understanding, which will ultimately lead you to a more peaceful self, being in tune with your body and feelings.