When an emotional tsunami hits, we don’t always know how to cope. We feel overwhelmed and panic a little. How do we cope? How do we cope? And, often, we don’t have the right attitudes and we make mistakes. That’s why, to regain serenity and live better with your emotions, I’m sharing 3 things you shouldn’t do anymore!

What is an emotional tsunami?

An emotional tsunami is when an emotion takes over. We don’t know what’s happening or where the emotion comes from, but it’s there and it’s intense.

In fact, an emotional tsunami sweeps us away. It sweeps away our well-being, our serenity and even our sanity. We can no longer think properly or even feel properly.

We’re out of touch with reality, and this disturbs us enormously, leading us to make mistakes that do us more harm than good.

But let’s face it, an emotional tsunami is a natural, even healthy thing. If it’s present in our lives right now, it’s for a good reason.

That’s why I’m inviting you to take a deep breath and check that you’re not doing these 5 things, so that you can live better, better manage what’s going on inside you.

1 – Emotional tsunami: not listening to your emotions

We haven’t learned to manage our emotions. In fact, we rarely understand them at all. “Is it fear or anger I’m feeling? We don’t always know.

That’s why we’ve had the reflex of not listening to our emotions for a long time now. We pretend they’re not there.

In fact, we contain ourselves, we pretend, we put on a show. But inside us, it’s rumbling. And when an emotional tsunami hits, it’s especially hard to pretend.

In other words, it’s high time we listened to our emotions.

But how? First of all, go and sit down comfortably in a quiet place. Then, take 10 deep breaths. Take your time.

Then, answer this question: “How do I feel? What’s going on?”

In fact, listening to your emotions means checking in with them first, just as you would with a friend who seems agitated, sad, angry.

Offer him or her an attentive, caring listening space.

Give yourself this time to listen, give this time to listen to these emotions that are stirring inside you. Listen to them with patience, kindness and interest, because they have something to tell you. For your own good.

2 – Listening too much to your emotions

Sometimes we go too far in the opposite direction: we listen too much to our emotions.

In other words, when we’re upset, we listen to our anger and let ourselves be contaminated by all its power. In this way, annoyance becomes black anger.

The same goes for a minor slump, which becomes a major depression.

In fact, sometimes we take our emotions too seriously, holding them back and clinging to them: “I’m angry right now” becomes “I’m an angry person”, “I’m a bit sad” becomes “I’m depressed”.

So when an emotional tsunami crashes down on us, it’s all the more difficult for us not to dive into our emotions and hold on to them. How can we cope?

To do so, I wholeheartedly invite you to sit comfortably in a quiet place and take 10 deep breaths.

Then go and meet your emotion of the moment. Visualize it as an entity separate from you.

Because, yes, you’re not your anger, you’re not your sadness.

Think of them more as friends visiting you to deliver a message. They visit you in the blink of an eye, they’re just passing through.

Let them go, fly away, disappear. Don’t cling to them. Don’t define yourself by them.

3 – Emotional tsunami: making hasty decisions

Emotions bring with them physiological changes. Anger, for example, speeds up our heart rate, like a geyser of energy exploding inside us. Sadness is the opposite. It slows us down and invites us to withdraw into ourselves.

That’s why we find it hard not to make hasty decisions.

And yet, as we all know, anger is not a good advisor in the moment. In fact, we first need to calm it down to truly understand its message, and then act accordingly.

Sadness is no different.

But how can we avoid making hasty decisions when we’re hit by an emotional tsunami?

For this, I invite you to isolate yourself in a quiet place you like. Take a breath. For a long time. Deeply.

Don’t listen to your thoughts inviting you to take action.

Watch them go by. Don’t hold them back. Let them go. Concentrate on your breathing for 5 to 10 minutes.

Because it’s in the silence of your thoughts that the best decisions come to you.

Find out more about managing your emotions

I invite you to read these 2 complementary articles:

Discover Get out of emotional dependence: 5 valuable tips
Discover How to welcome your emotions: 3 things to do

I recommend this inspiring book on the subject:

Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ Paperback by Daniel Goleman
In this book, the author justifies the importance of emotional intelligence in all areas of life. To help us understand what happens when emotions arise, the book begins with an explanation of emotions and neural circuits. As Coleman delves deeper into the subject, we learn why emotional intelligence is extremely valuable in our love, family and professional lives. More importantly, this book offers useful approaches on how to improve emotional aptitude and remedy negative emotions.
This book was able to complement the teachings I was seeking in my personal journey. In today’s world, reading books like this and all the other positive psychology books and courses is the only way to change the course of our society.

Thank you very much for reading this article.

If you liked it, let me know in the comments.

Take care of yourself.