How to Channel Negative Emotions

Negative emotions can come in many forms. Negative emotions can consist of anger, jealousy, fear, resentment or any other emotion caused by a bad experience that leaves us feeling negatively towards something or someone. Negative emotions can consume us and leave us incapable of focusing on anything else. Here are some ways to channel negative emotions into something more positive.

Instructions

• 1

  Isolate the cause. When something bad happens, it's a normal human reaction for the negative emotions from that one event to carry over to everything else and leave us feeling badly about other unrelated people and things. It is important to pinpoint the exact thing that is causing you to experience these negative emotions so you understand where they are coming from and help you keep from taking them out on others around you.

• 2

  Be honest about how you are feeling. Telling yourself how you feel, what negative emotions you are experiencing and why you are feeling this way is the first step to moving past them. Denying them will only cause your negative emotions to fester and intensify. Tell yourself out loud why you are upset, pretend that you are telling the person who has angered you or hurt your feelings how you feel or make a list of the reasons you feel the way you do. Putting it into words or on paper will keep you honest and help you deal with your emotions.

• 3

  Remove yourself from the situation. Once you have come to an understanding about what is causing you to experience negative emotions, take yourself away from the person, place or event. If someone has hurt your feelings, put some distance between the two of you until you have cooled off. Take advantage of the break to focus on something else and clear your mind.

• 4

  Turn negativity into energy. Negative emotions can be used as motivation or energy to get things done. If you are angry and it is making you restless and agitated, take a walk, shoot some hoops or engage in some other form of physical activity that will help you blow off steam without taking it out on undeserving people. Allow your feelings towards other people who have hurt you to motivate you to excel and do well.

• 5

  Meditate. Once you know what is upsetting you and how you are feeling, you have the ability to clear this negativity from your mind and move past it. Find a quiet place where you are alone and away from the source of the negative emotions. Sit quietly, begin to breathe deeply and evenly and close your eyes. Empty your mind and picture the negative energy leaving your body and being replaced with new, calm positive energy.