Feelings are the body’s reaction to chemical release caused by emotion

Most people have a limited vocabulary when it comes to how they are feeling and you will often hear words that closely match mad, sad or glad upon asking, which are general terms and may represent several other ways that person is feeling.

Exploring the language of feelings that is the conscious subjective experience of an emotions and originates in the neocortical regions of the brain is where self-awareness comes in to tell you why you had that emotional reaction to that particular event.  The benefits of knowing exactly how you feel brings with it a sense of command and control for change in yourself along with a clearer depth of perception in the world around you. And although some are similar in meaning, words resonate differently for everyone.

Find your own favourite words to describe how you feel

Here is a partial list of feelings we can experience as a result of our emotions. To the degree these are felt depends on the conditioned and learned responses we have acquired since childhood. We can control our emotions and understand our feelings through meditation and relaxation exercises with practice, but some types of fears and anguish may need more in the way of structured therapies and disciplines.

The LJASF heading in the chart below represents the Primary Emotions and the words in the table represent some of the more commonly recognized feelings that would correspond to a degree of that emotion as identified in the emotion table.