How to Increase Emotional Awareness: Tools to Help You Feel What You Feel

Many of us were taught to ignore, minimize, or override our emotions. We learned to “keep it together,” “be strong,” or “just move on.” But the truth is—emotions don’t go away when ignored. They go underground, where they often resurface as anxiety, burnout, relationship tension, or even physical illness.

Learning to recognize and name your emotions is a foundational step in healing, connection, and personal growth. Emotional awareness isn’t self-indulgent—it’s self-honoring. It’s the beginning of clarity, choice, and change.

So how do you actually grow in emotional awareness?

Let’s break it down.

What Is Emotional Awareness?

Emotional awareness is the ability to notice, identify, and understand what you’re feeling in the moment. It’s the practice of slowing down long enough to ask:

• What’s happening inside me right now?

• What am I feeling beneath the surface?

• Where is this emotion showing up in my body?

It’s about moving from automatic reactions to intentional responses.

Why Emotional Awareness Matters

Being emotionally aware helps you:

• Communicate more clearly in relationships

• Set healthier boundaries

• Make values-based decisions

• Regulate your nervous system

• Heal past wounds and patterns

Without awareness, you may find yourself lashing out, shutting down, or numbing—without fully understanding why.

Tools to Build Emotional Awareness

Here are a few simple but powerful tools to help you connect with your inner world:

1. The Feelings Wheel

Created by Dr. Gloria Willcox, the Feelings Wheel is a visual tool that helps you expand your emotional vocabulary. It starts with basic core emotions like sad, mad, glad, and afraid, and branches out into more nuanced feelings like overwhelmed, grateful, betrayed, or hopeful.

When you’re struggling to name what you’re feeling, simply glance at the wheel and see what resonates. Over time, you’ll build the language to more accurately describe your inner experience—and that language builds self-awareness and deeper connection with others.

Tip: Keep a copy of the Feelings Wheel in your journal or phone for quick reference.

2. The “How We Feel” App

The How We Feel app is a free, beautifully designed resource created by researchers, designers, and therapists to help people tune in to their emotions throughout the day.

Key features include:

• Logging your feelings in real-time

• Tracking emotion patterns over time

• Learning emotion regulation strategies

• Receiving gentle prompts and reflections

• Engaging in guided practices for well-being

It’s simple enough to use in under 30 seconds, but powerful enough to build lasting awareness.

Bonus: It also includes short lessons on why emotions matter, helping you grow in emotional literacy.

3. Body-Based Check-Ins

Emotions are not just mental—they’re physical. Try this 2-minute body scan:

• Sit quietly and breathe deeply.

• Ask: “Where am I feeling tension or energy in my body?”

• Put your hand on that place and gently ask: “What emotion might be here?”

• Wait. Don’t rush it.

You may be surprised by what comes up. Sometimes your body knows what your mind has been avoiding.

4. Journaling Prompts

Writing is a powerful way to process emotions. Try prompts like:

• “Right now, I feel _____ because _____.”

• “When I slow down, I notice ______.”

• “The emotion I tend to avoid is ______, and I think it’s because ______.”

• “A recent moment I felt deeply was ______.”

The goal is not to fix your feelings—but to feel them fully and kindly.

Emotional awareness is not about controlling your feelings. It’s about befriending them—welcoming them as messengers rather than enemies. With practice, you’ll find that even your most uncomfortable emotions have something valuable to teach you.

So today, take a deep breath. Slow down. Ask yourself, What am I feeling?

And give yourself permission to listen.

I’m here to listen too, if that helps. Contact me here.