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Being able to express yourself adequately isn't something that comes naturally to most of us. But you need to be able to express yourself and express your wants, needs, and desires, as well as express things you don't like. Expressing yourself is essential to live an authentic, fulfilling, and healthy life, and to manifest your heart's desire!

There are three main steps involved in learning to express yourself. These steps may not feel natural at first because they are new, but stick with it! You'll soon find yourself better able to express yourself to those around you with confidence.

1. Learn to listen to yourself, your emotions, and your intuition. Too often, early in life, we are taught (directly or indirectly) to hide our feelings and put on a smiling face even when we don't feel like it. It's time to unlearn all of that. So, the first step is to begin to feel the emotions that are inside you. Your first instinct may be to run away from those feelings mentally but try not to do that. Feel each emotion, no matter what it is, without any self-judgment. Your emotions are what they are, and there aren't any wrong emotions, only wrong ways that we've learned to react to them. So, quiet yourself and allow yourself to feel because you can't express yourself if you don't know what you're feeling.
2. Acknowledge whatever you are feeling. Honor those feelings, again, with no judgment. By self-validating your feelings, you learn to seek answers from within yourself, rather than always looking outside yourself for solutions. In reality, all we need we already have inside of us. Acknowledging your feelings might seem very frightening at first because you feel vulnerable. That's okay. That feeling of vulnerability will go away once your mind realizes there isn't any need for fear.
3. Be alert to how your body reacts to the emotions you are now experiencing. Body awareness is fundamental in learning to express yourself, as it is one of the best ways to gauge your comfort level. If you tense up in response to an emotion, show your body and brain that everything is going to be okay by doing some deep breathing. Close your eyes, acknowledge the feeling, and then let it go. If a part of your body tenses up, consciously relax it. Use your new awareness to find what works for you in terms of expressing yourself, both emotionally and physically.

You are well aware of the power of your emotions. You probably also understand how sometimes they can seem out of control and unmanageable. If you'd like to achieve emotional balance, greater control over your emotions, and better health, the following information will prove invaluable.

There are specific skills for managing emotions. These include: 

Definition: defining the emotion in your own terms and from your own understanding.

Distance: it is crucial to gain some distance from your emotions. This will help you gain a clearer understanding of your feelings and how they are impacting you. When you are in the middle of the situation dealing with the emotions will seem muddled, and you will struggle to see what is happening as well as the bigger picture. 

Release: by understanding and recognizing the emotion as well as achieving distance, you will be able to begin releasing the negativity surrounding it.

Focus: through focusing on the emotions and the attendant triggers, feelings, and behaviors, you can gain clarity and create change.

Regrouping: by following through the previous skills, you will be able to regroup your thoughts, feelings, and attitudes. Creating a new set of behaviors when dealing with difficult situations will help you to cope in the future. 

Maintenance: like all habits, practice makes perfect. You will need to continually remind yourself of the positive changes you have made concerning your emotions and their impact on your life. What will you do to remind yourself how to remain positive, calm, and balanced?

Writing can help you to achieve emotional balance as it will take you through all the skills above.

How does it work? 

If you are suffering from emotions such as sorrow, then everything you think, feel, and do will be tainted by it. It will have a negative effect on you and your actions. No one wants to live in sorrow for long. 

By taking a piece of paper and a pen, you can write yourself into a more emotionally balanced state. 

Start by writing a really happy memory of a time when you were not experiencing any sorrow or any other negative emotions. Make your writing descriptive so that you can see the scene, make it colorful, add sounds, smells, and things you can touch as well as taste. Write down how you felt and why you felt so positive and happy. Try and include the following: 

When?

Where?

What?

Who?

How?

Why? 

This positive memory will become an anchor. You can display it somewhere prominent or keep it safely hidden for use when needed. It is designed for use when you are feeling anxious, stressed, sorrowful, angry, or any other negative emotion. If you have a bad day, you can refer to it and be reminded of a happier time.

Next, follow each step from defining the negative emotion you are feeling to maintenance. Include the when, where, what, who, how, and why as this will help you understand the emotion as well as any triggers and resulting behaviors. 

By writing your thoughts and feelings at each stage, as well as identifying the triggers, you can not only understand the emotion better but yourself and your reaction to it. By having this written insight into yourself, you are learning how to take control of your feelings and achieve balance. You will be able to refer to it to remind yourself how to cope with stressful situations or simply how much you've achieved and grown.