Our emotions serve a purpose. In fact our emotions are a gift, a support system, a call to action and a guide map. We all have feelings, all the time. And just like breathing, we don’t usually think about them unless our feelings are uncomfortable.

Evolutionary psychologists have shown that emotions have helped us survive. Think about how handy our emotional system was when we ran into a saber-toothed tiger. Our emotions serve as a set of instructions refined throughout our evolution, designed to quickly provide us with important information and guide our behaviour.

Feelings like anxiety alert us of danger

Certain feelings, specifically the uncomfortable ones like stress, anxiety, fear, anger, sadness and shame, alert us to something that may threaten our well-being. Not only do they allow us to run from danger and fight for our needs, emotions also provide us with an opportunity to identify and shift habits, patterns, and behaviours that are holding us back and keeping us stuck.

The pleasant emotions, like love, joy, and gratitude, broaden our awareness of the world. They promote creativity, innovation, and social bonds, allowing us to be more in tune with the needs of others.

So many of us suppress and try to fight through our emotions (I personally had done this for years!) but when you do so you’re wasting one of your most precious resources. Our emotions serve our highest good. In order to understand what our emotions are trying to tell us, we must pay attention to them, accept them and express how we’re feeling. Doing so allows us to clearly see and feel what is beneath the emotion, promoting self-growth and transformation with the new wisdom and insight we’ve gained.

What are your emotions trying to communicate to you?

The chart below describes what our emotions are communicating to us (Lara Fielding, 2015).

It’s natural to want to ignore “negative” emotions, like stress and anxiety, as they can be very uncomfortable. But remember that all emotions are natural and a way of communicating important information and wisdom. Pay attention to your emotions and don’t be afraid to lean into them. They’re there to help you out.