Sometimes feelings can be big and intense while other times they’re quiet, buried away and harder to recognize. For instance, if you’re feeling frustrated and angry, it may be difficult to point to just one feeling but having several to choose from might help you to zero in on exactly what’s going on inside. This is exactly what the Feelings Wheel does: it can help you put words to your emotions which in turn can help you care for your mental health.
In today’s blogpost I want to tell you a bit more about this Feeling Wheel, how it works and how you can use it in your everyday life.
What is the Feelings Wheel?
The Feelings Wheel was created by Dr. Gloria Willcox. It draws from a diverse range of disciplines (including psychology, neuroscience and linguistics) and offers a unique approach to identifying and comprehending our emotions.
How does the Feelings Wheel work?
The Feelings Wheel organizes the different dimensions of feelings we may have into several categories and subcategories to help you pinpoint exactly how you’re feeling. This can be especially helpful when you’re overwhelmed by your emotions or in a heated conversation.
When you look at the Feelings Wheel, you’ll see that it looks a bit like a color wheel, with concentric circles representing different layers of emotions.
PRIMARY EMOTIONS
The innermost circle of the wheel consists of broad primary emotions such as happiness, sadness, anger and fear. These emotions serve as the fundamental building blocks of our emotional experiences and provide a general sense of how we’re feeling. These primary emotions act as the starting point for further exploration.
SECONDARY EMOTIONS
As you move outward the wheel, it introduces secondary emotions that stem from the primary emotions. These emotions offer a more nuanced understanding of your feelings. For example, under the primary emotion of anger you can find secondary emotions like frustration, annoyance and resentment. This layer of the wheel acknowledges that emotions are rarely singular: they often manifest as a complex blend of various feelings.
TERTIARY EMOTIONS
The outermost layer of the Feelings Wheel unveils tertiary emotions which are the most specific and detailed emotions we can experience. They capture the subtle distinctions that make each emotional experience unique. For example: tertiary emotions under frustration may include impatience, exasperation or agitation.
Using the Feelings Wheel in everyday life
The Feelings Wheel is a handy tool to use when you can’t quite name what’s arising within. You can find lots of examples of the Feelings Wheel online but I wouldn’t recommend using an online version on your phone. Instead, download it and print it out so you can use it without having to look at a screen. You can download the colored version or a black and white one by clicking on the links below. If you go for the black and white one, you can color it in yourself which is a great opportunity to get to know and really contemplate each word.
The first step in using the Feelings Wheel is to take a moment to check in with how you feel right now. Take a few breaths and notice how your body feels. For instance, do you sense any tension in your body? Where do you notice this tension? Then check in with your emotions. What do you feel at this very moment? Do you feel like you want to cry, hide, yell or something else? Scan the innermost circle of the wheel to discover which adjective best describes your emotional state and gradually work your way to the outermost layer to pinpoint exactly what’s going on inside. Once you know exactly what you’re feeling, you can start communicating it to yourself or to your partner or someone else in your support system if you wish. And once you’ve expressed your feelings you can take action.
You can also use the Feelings Wheel when journaling your feelings to help you get better in tune with yourself and your feelings. For example, you could use the wheel for daily self-reflection and identify the emotions you experienced throughout the day or if you want to explore deeper and longer-term emotions that might be affecting you.
A little word of warning though: if you fear that expressing your feelings might trigger something big and scary, you can always use the Feelings Wheel with a mental health professional. That way you have an advocate there to help you process it.
©HolisticHappiness2024
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