Over the past few years, emotional intelligence (“EI”) has become one of the most popular psychologies in the field of psychology. Many experts believe that we are living in an era where more and more people need strong self-regulation or control over their emotions and interactions with others.

We live in what some call an “emotion epidemic,” where stress levels are constantly rising due to everything from workplace conflicts to terrorist attacks to natural disasters like hurricanes.

In fact, a recent Harvard study found that nearly half of all Americans suffer from moderate to high levels of anxiety.

And while many feel stressed out and overwhelmed by these external factors, very little attention is paid to how individuals respond internally to such situations.

This can lead to even higher levels of anxiety and worry, as well as mental and physical health problems. In other words, poor internal regulation may be a major factor in increasing your own level of stress.

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Fortunately, there are things you can do to improve your emotional regulation. You don’t have to spend hours every day practicing them, but small changes will make a big difference.

Here are five easy ways to boost your emotional regulation. Try at least two each week and see what works for you.

Understand your emotions

A large part of emotional intelligence is understanding yourself and your feelings. You will find that most people have some sort of perception or knowledge about how they feel, but there are always those few days when you just do not know what to make of something.

When these things happen, it can be difficult to contain your emotions. It is also hard to understand why you are feeling the way you are.

Tracy does her best to stay in control most of the time, she says she has learned to recognize and acknowledge her emotions. She knows that she can’t always avoid them, so she tries to take as much time as necessary to work through them.

She also makes sure to talk about her feelings with friends and family, which helps her feel less alone at times. Tracy hopes that one day she won’t have to worry about keeping up this self-control force anymore.

Be realistic

We’ve discussed before how self-regulation is an important quality in life, but what most people don’t realize is that it comes down to something very simple: being able to control yourself from time to time.

Self-control isn’t just keeping your mouth shut when you want to say hurtful things or waiting for enough time between snacks so you can fit a few into one sitting — it’s also not holding onto a bad habit while trying to replace it with another.

It’s realizing that you shouldn’t spend money you don’t have on expensive junk food and alcohol because you could put some of that money towards buying healthier foods later. It’s refusing to talk negatively about someone else behind their back even though you feel like it.

All these little instances of self-control add up to help you achieve bigger goals. You’ll be happier if you learn how to regulate your emotions and motivate yourself to do good things instead of doing things because they seem like things you should do.

Make goals

A lot of people start trying to improve their emotional intelligence (EI) in the area of motivation, but they give up because they don’t know what to do next. They feel that there is not much you can do beyond telling someone “motivate me!” or giving them money so that they will motivate you.

The first step towards improving your own motivation is by making goals. This could be anything from going after something you want, taking action on a goal you have been thinking about setting-up a business, or quitting something you are doing.

By having a goal, you create an incentive for yourself to keep motivated. You may even find it easier to stay motivated since you created your own internal reward system.

It is also important to understand that being motivated doesn’t last forever. If you don’t maintain focus sometimes, you will lose your momentum and won’t succeed in your goal. You need to identify some key factors that help you achieve your goal and make sure those things are present.

Practice meditation

One of the most fundamental ways to improve emotional intelligence is by practicing mindfulness. This can be done through regular, frequent meditation sessions or even doing yoga exercises that focus on relaxation and breathing.

Meditation helps you become more aware of your surroundings, yourself, and what’s going on inside of you. It also teaches you how to deal with stressors more effectively.

There are many types of meditations for different people. No matter which one you choose, just make sure it's for you! There are beginner-friendly ones where you can learn about the effects of meditation before trying something more advanced.

Overall, the benefits of meditation will increase as you do more of it. Your emotional health will grow as you use it to work on things like anxiety, depression, anger control, and self-confidence.

Learn to laugh

A good sense of humor is one of the most powerful tools you have as a person. You will find that people with a funny personality are liked more by others.

People tend to agree with, trust, and even like you if you make them smile or laugh. It’s because we all need an atmosphere in which we can feel comfortable. We want to go through life with a feeling of peace and self-confidence.

By having a healthy sense of humor, you will also notice your emotional regulation skills improving. This is because laughter reduces stress and helps us relax.

There are many ways to learn how to start laughing. You can do it at school or work, with friends or family, for no reason or with something significant. Just try to laugh every day for two minutes and see what happens!

Another way to learn how to laugh is looking forward to things. Try thinking about something funny and then burst into a fit of giggles. Or think of a joke and let yourself chuckle.

You can also add some humour to your daily life by saying funny things or doing funny things. For example, if you spend time with people who don’t look after themselves, you could say something funny to make them appreciate the effort they should be making.

If someone you know acts out of control, you could talk to them about how they are acting and suggest they take care of their personal responsibilities.

Connect with your friends and family

Developing self-regulation is very difficult if you don’t have anyone around you that supports you. These people can help you stay motivated, keep you focused, and support you when you need it.

Friends and family are an essential part of your life who can play this role for you. Make sure to connect with those who care about you and give them all the details of what you are trying to accomplish and how they can help you along the way.

Don’t be afraid to ask for their assistance or try meeting up with one of your friends to see whether these improvements are possible.

Running a few minutes each day is enough to start with. You can then work your way up from there. It will take some time, but eventually you will find yourself using the skills you learned here in the world outside of the classroom.

Do yoga

One of the most fundamental self-regulatory behaviors is mindfulness. This can be described as paying attention to what you are doing at this moment, and being aware of your surroundings.

When we refer to “paying attention” we mean it in the sense that you are focusing your full concentration on something for a specific length of time. For example, if you were spending an hour reading, then that would qualify as attending to your book for an average of one minute every few minutes.

A lot of people focus too much on thinking about the past or imagining future events, which are both types of mental activity. Past thinking involves remembering things that happened and why they made you feel certain ways, while predicting thoughts involve going through scenarios in your head.

Neither of these activities help us regulate our emotions. The opposite happens, however; when we are thinking about something negatively, it sets off negative emotional responses like fear or anger.

Practicing mindfulness takes away the element of distraction that creates the stress response. It also helps reduce perceived stress because you are not overworking yourself to manage your reactions.

Yoga is a great way to practice mindfulness. There are many different styles of yoga, so you should try some out! Some popular forms include: Ashtanga, Vinyasa, hatha, and restorative.

There are several benefits from practicing yoga. This article will discuss how practicing yoga can improve your emotional intelligence.

Learn to dance

Developing your emotional regulation skill set is like learning how to dance. You have to start with the basics, something simple that you can add onto as time goes on.

The basic skills are: self-awareness, acceptance of yourself, willingness to change, ability to delay gratification, respect for yourself, and understanding what emotions are and why you feel them.

Self-awareness means being aware of who you are internally — what feelings you have, what thoughts run through your mind, and how these changes influence your behavior. This also includes knowing when someone else is not behaving in a way that is friendly or productive.

Acceptance of yourself means recognizing all parts of you as worthy and deserving. No part of you is bad, nor should you make it seem that way. Yours body is perfect just the way it is!

This could mean accepting your strengths and weaknesses, and respecting yourself for who you are. For example, people may talk about you behind your back, but no one will ever say anything positive about you unless they know you. So, learn to ignore their negative comments.

Ability to shift attention away from things that do not work and focus instead on those that can help you fulfill your goals takes practice. The same applies to changing direction at times; you must be able to recognize a poor choice and make the necessary shifts.

Respect for yourself involves believing in your own worth and strength.