Are you self-aware? Self-awareness is understanding how we feel, think, our emotions, as well as our motivations that can affect our mental health. Being self-aware can be difficult for some people because it is hard accepting who we are and the emotions and feelings that we have.
Some of us would rather not confront our feelings. Being unaware may help us in the moment, but inevitably alters us long-term. Being self-aware helps us to have more control over our thoughts and actions, even anxiety and stress.
Without understanding our emotions or even our problems, how can we fix things to become better people? It is time to dig a little deeper in our self-awareness, this is our sign. Try not to be over critical of yourself, this will only make your emotions self-image worse.
Self-awareness can help us realize who we truly are, what we want and need to be doing or accomplishing, and how to help our mental and physical health. This awareness helps us realize when we are stressing too much, not being our best selves, or letting others determine who we are and what we do.
Therapy is a great tool to becoming more self-aware. The techniques we can learn from this can help to heal, learn, and move forward. For individuals with a mental health disorder or chronic health condition, self-awareness is key to getting through each day, understanding how we feel physically and emotionally, as well as helping us truly heal and understand our mind, body, and soul.
To enhance our self-awareness to improve our mental health, we should…
- Experience new things
This shows us what we like and do not like, as well as how we react to new situations and places. Submersing ourselves in new cultures and activities can change how we think and the beliefs we have. It is okay if these beliefs change along the way.
- Find out your emotional triggers
Finding what causes our emotions, whether good or bad is important to understanding ourselves. This shows us what is important and what people and places allow us to have good emotions.
- Question our own thoughts and beliefs
Questioning our thoughts and beliefs allow us to be more aware of our thoughts and how our beliefs work with others. This helps us in case our own beliefs change, so we may better understand these new beliefs. Too many of us are afraid of change, but when we are around other cultures than our own, we can create good change.
- Tune into our feelings
This is one of the hardest parts when becoming more self-aware. We as humans tend to ignore our feelings instead of understanding and dealing with them. We need to stop ignoring our feelings because our feelings allow us to better understand what is going on around us and what needs to change so that our feelings are being addressed. Never be afraid to express your emotions and pay more attention to your feelings.
It may be uncomfortable at first but taking that first step to being more self-aware is key to optimal health and wellness. Do not be afraid to ask for help from a counselor, therapy is a great tool for learning how to become self-aware. We need to do some research, find new things we might want to experience, and start actually listening to what our feelings are telling us instead of ignoring them.
Have someone that you trust hold you accountable for taking these steps so that you are more likely to do them. Be open to new possibilities, cultures, beliefs, and values, you never know who you truly are until you become self-aware!
