In the last few posts, we’ve explored what it means to approach healing and growth from a holistic approach including mindfulness meditation and nutrition and movement. To further this topic, one of the most important, and often overlooked, elements of that this growth is emotional intelligence as it pertains to our overall wellness.

So, what is emotional intelligence? Its understanding and managing your own emotions while also being attuned to the emotions of others.

There are 5 key components with emotional intelligence including:

Self-awareness – understanding your emotional patterns and triggers.
Self-regulation – managing your emotional responses in healthy, constructive ways.
Motivation – using your emotions to guide you toward meaningful goals.
Empathy – tuning into others' feelings and perspectives.
Social skills – navigating relationships with emotional insight and connection.

Why is this important?

As explored in the previous posts, holistic therapy aims to support the mind, body and spirit not just the treatment of symptoms – emotional intelligence in important because our emotions live in our body – when we ignore or repress them, they tend to show up as stress, fatigue and or discomfort. Moreover, strong emotional awareness allows for a deeper meaningful relationships and connection with others and ourselves. Regulating strong emotions can help create inner safety making it easier to become curious about the causes and patterns we have and build greater resilience to emotional disturbance.

It’s about working with not against our emotional experiences that allows for integrated healing.

Tips for cultivating emotional intelligence in everyday life:

Individually or in therapy, a common strategy to deepen emotional intelligence is taking a moment to name it, this simple act of naming the emotions helps came the nervous system and increase clarity
Practicing the pause before reacting builds the skill of responding, even taking 10 seconds of stillness when we experience an activation or a trigger can interrupt automatic patterns and curate more thoughtful responses
Often our bodies will give us clues as to how we are feeling long before our mind catches up, a tight jaw, clenched fists and fast breathing can signal stress and or anger. Listening to these cues can help us become more emotionally in tune.
My favourite tip: reflect with curiosity rather than judgement and criticism. Asking ourselves what this feeling is trying to tell us or becoming curious about what our needs are in the moment build self- compassion and emotional insight

If you're curious about how emotional intelligence fits into your own growth or healing process, I invite you to reach out. Together, we can explore what holistic wellness looks like for you—from the inside out. Feel free to reach out by email at Danielle.cocks@fancytherapy.ca or give the office a call at (226) 808-7291.

Resources:

Jiménez-Picón, N., Gázquez-Linares, J. J., & Pérez-Fuentes, M. C. (2021). Mindfulness and emotional intelligence: A systematic review. Healthcare, 9(6), 668. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare9060668

Burton, N. (2024). What is emotional intelligence?. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/hide-and-seek/201608/what- is-emotional-intelligence

Connect Here