Filling Our Emotional Well-being Plate
As athletes, performers, or otherwise high achieving individuals, it can be easy to understand the importance of quality sleep and a well-balanced diet. We are often filling our plates full of things to help us be successful: weight training sessions, tutors, ACT prep courses, competitions, networking meetings, and of course, practices. All these things can take up a lot of our time and resources which can make it difficult to check-in on emotional needs. It is essential to make sure we are taking care of our emotional needs plate. Emotional needs are often defined as feelings or conditions that move us to feel happy and fulfilled. Without these needs being met, it can leave us feeling alone, empty, hurt, or frustrated. Participating in some form of mental health therapy (like sport psychology) can help identify what emotional needs are most important to you, and which ones are or are not being filled. In addition to therapy sessions, there are several other self-guided ways you can check-in on emotional needs.
Pause, take a few deep breaths, and tune into how your body is feeling
Ask yourself “How am I feeling in this moment?”
Use descriptive words to capture how you’re feeling
Brainstorm and identify what might be contributing to how you’re feeling
Identify ways you can take care of your emotional needs
At times, we may not always love the experience of “feeling” certain emotions. It can be challenging to identify and sit with those difficult emotions. However, if we don’t accurately identify what we are internally experiencing, it can be difficult to address and heal those voids. This also makes it more challenging to ask for what we need from our support network, or otherwise make changes to what may be contributing to our emotional state. Like sport, if we are having difficulty hitting a skill, and we don’t break down the technique to identify what can be improved, it makes it much more difficult to improve on that skill than it does if we recognize the issue. Same with emotional needs; we need to identify what we’re feeling so we can make improvements not only in how we are relating to those feelings but also what we do with those feelings.
Quick Tips
Leaning on a support network can be a great way to help fill our emotional needs.
Using “I” along with “and” statements can be a great start a conversation to ask for what we need. One example of how to utilize this is “I really want to get into a great college, so I am studying in this ACT prep course, AND I’m feeling really burnt out from studying lately and I think I need a night off.” Or “I’m excited about all of the training opportunities I have coming up this summer, AND it’s important to me to incorporate time with my friends.” Using “and” helps us convey and honor that both statements are true. Having these conversations with support networks such as parents, partners, siblings, and friends can help create balance, allow us to feel heard, validated, and help us find ways to include important things in our life.
In addition to leaning on support networks to ask for what we need, below are a few (of many!) other ways we can promote emotional well-being and fill our emotional plate. Finding time to include these activities can be immensely helpful.
Practice mindfulness (YouTube “5-minute mindfulness activities”).
Go on a relaxing walk.
Dance to your favorite song.
Listen to a podcast.
Try a new activity.
Have lunch with a friend.
Watch a movie with family.
Make a new recipe for dinner.
