So how are you feeling? If you are like me, when I was asked that question, my answer was always umm “I don’t know…fine I guess”. I was just in a constant state of being and not feeling. With me not paying attention to my feelings, it was very difficult for me to connect with others and others to connect with me on an emotional level. If you have a spouse this is especially true! If they ask you how you are feeling and you don’t know what to communicate it certainly communicates a great deal to that other person. Generally not a good thing. Because I had such a BIG issue with this, I figured others did too, so I created this app to help us communicate how we are feeling and why they are feeling that way.
Humans are not as complicated as we make ourselves out to be. All the various emotions we experience all correspond to feeling: Fear, Joy, Power, Peace, Sadness, or Anger. The Feeling Wheel app is a very powerful tool, in its simplicity that can teach anyone young or old how to express their feelings in a healthy and positive way. By using this app on a continuous basis you will train your heart and your mind to be able to communicate effectively.
You start by selecting the general emotion that you are feeling at this time and based off your answer, you can drill down further to more specific and intentional feelings and you input data on what is making you feel that way. Based off your answers and input, The Feeling Wheel app will give you the exact phrase to be able to communicate your feelings and emotions each and every time you use it. With this you can understand better your current state of mind and emotions and you can best communicate this to others.
By using this “drill down” approach to determining your feelings, you select a core feeling from your first feeling wheel and then based off your answer you go to a secondary feeling wheel based off your core feeling to help you go to another deeper exploration of feeling that may be impacting you. As it may seem, it is one of the most powerful tools. Not only is it powerful, but it is so simple that you could teach children as young as four to use this successfully.
The Feeling Wheel is not only simple; it also acts as a cheat-sheet. It takes a lot of the work out of trying to sift through all the possible answers you might give when asked "How are you feeling?".
The truth is no one can argue with your feelings. This is because there are no "wrong" feelings and you never have to justify your feelings to anyone else.
The Feeling Wheels purpose is to show you what your potential feelings may be, and then to (hopefully) share them. The intimacy that naturally comes from sharing your feelings is unbeatable. Not only does it open the door for communication, but it allows you to understand who you are sharing this with in ways that you likely havent before.
When you don’t know how to express your feelings healthfully, they come out in all sorts of ugly ways or they are suppressed until an explosion or implosion happens. It can come out as snapping a few nasty words at your spouse or children, or it can evolve to something more intense, like a fight or a breakup.
Dialogue with yourself and identify your feelings as you take time in your day to reflect on the issues that linger in your mind. Having a close relationship with yourself is achieved when you can gain an understanding/identify the feelings you experience. This will, in turn, allow you to better control your negative thoughts, which fundamentally results in feelings of Power, Peace, and Joy.
Pretty cool right. Now, let’s get into the Feeling Wheel!