The Emotions Wheel

Use the wheel above to name your emotion, sensation, and feeling as precisely as possible. The more specific the word, the more you can work with it.

Allow yourself to fully feel it — don't push it away. Then explore it with these questions:

• What thoughts do you have when you feel it?
• Where do you feel it in your body?
• If it were a metaphor, what would it be?
• What impact does it have on you?

Connect the body experience to the situations that bring it on:

• In what situations do you feel this in your body?
• What do these situations have in common?
• Did you feel the desire to do something, or express something? e.g. Getting closer or moving away, moving aggressively forward, putting on a certain facial expression…
• What information is your emotion providing you?
  • It tells you something about yourself.
  • It tells you something about a relationship.
  • It tells you something related to your progress in achieving a goal.
• What need was not being met?

Reflect on your emotional response and make sense of what you are feeling:

• Should you follow your feeling?
• Should you try to figure out what's behind that feeling?
• Should you try to broaden your perspective to change the feeling?
• Who do you want to be in that situation?