What is emotional intelligence? Traditionally, emotional intelligence is described as being a combination of five segments: self-awareness, empathy, self-regulation, motivation, and social skills.
How “emotionally intelligent” a person is considered appears when all five segments are evaluated together, creating a whole picture.
Emotional intelligence also paves the way towards happiness, in that it encompasses your personal perspective, how you process the world around you, and your desires in this life.
But how do you gauge your own level of emotional intelligence?
It starts with self-awareness. It is near impossible to know whether or not you are happy if you aren’t aware of your own emotional barometer.
So, it stands to reason that in order to increase emotional intelligence, and your own level of happiness, start with increasing your self-awareness.
A BREATHING TECHNIQUE TO INCREASE SELF-AWARENESS
Humans have a tendency to over time stop noticing the small things, and therefore take them for granted. This is our first obstacle in increasing both our self-awareness and emotional intelligence.
We literally overlook things that we enjoy, simply because we no longer notice them. We lack the awareness to appreciate their presence in our lives.
The following breathing technique is designed to help take us out of our unaware auto-pilot mode, and into more self-awareness:
Breathe in for the count of three
Hold your breath for the count of three
Breathe out for the count of three
While doing this breathing technique, focus your attention on how pleasant the air movement feels going in and out of your body.
Once you have tapped into a level of awareness, heighten the enjoyment by saying to yourself (out loud or in your head), “I have nothing to worry about. I choose what I worry about.”
We know that while it may feel involuntary, worrying rarely solves anything, and often exacerbates a problem. By repeating that mantra you are intentionally asking your nervous system to calm down, which for many people has an immediate positive effect.
By following the three-count breathing and thought technique outlined above, you will have already begun to increase your self-awareness, and therefore your emotional intelligence!
NEUROEMPOWERMENT™ FOR MENTAL WELLBEING
Learning how to intentionally influence your nervous system will take you out of reactive mode, and move you into the driver’s seat of how you feel and function. When you’ve practiced how you want to think and feel, you literally create your own wellbeing from within.
The Pathwaves “Full NeuroEmpowerment™” journey is designed to support our clients in this process.
If you’d like to learn how you can support your personal growth through our methodology, we are here to help. Schedule a free 30-minute consultation today.
To help those who cannot afford the services of Pathwaves, consider donating to the Pathwaves Foundation. Please call (305) 858-6616 for more information.