The Art Of Self-Love And Emotional Intelligence

A first-person account on how one 45-minute wellness session can add deep meaning to your life.

Ever-thankful to the Internet and social media for introducing me to self-love and emotional intelligence. It has helped me grow into a more empathetic and introspective person - and I continue to be in awe of how impactful these skill sets are in making us better people.

Self-Love is an art, and our generation is lucky enough to discover the skill early enough. Self-love is a state of appreciation for oneself that grows from actions that support our physical, psychological and spiritual growth. It is a matter of immense introspection to discover one's roadmap of self-love.

Emotional intelligence, also known as emotional quotient or EQ, is the ability to understand, use, and manage your own emotions in positive ways to relieve stress, communicate effectively, empathise with others, overcome challenges and defuse conflict.

Niyati Bapat joined us in a Self-Love and Emotional Intelligence session on the 14th of February - the day often associated with love! Niyati has an MSc. in Organisational and Social Psychology from LSE and is certified in Rational-Emotive and Cognitive Behaviour Therapy from the In Vivo Mumbai Centre for RE & CBT.  

How-to of self-love

While so many others in the world celebrated their love with their romantic partners, we divulged into discovering some love for our own selves!

Self-love begins with a sense of non-judgemental approach toward the self. Unconditionally accepting ourselves with all our virtues and vices is step 1 of self-love. The beauty of loving the self lies in the exquisite sense of growth that comes with identifying healthy mechanisms for bettering oneself.

To begin with, one must be empathetic about one's body, mind and overall feelings. One must sit with their emotions and listen to their body. It often feels easier to be compassionate towards others, yet it is we who need to be kindest to ourselves.

Emotional Intelligence and its many facets

It felt enlightening to learn about the components of emotional intelligence: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship management.

Practising self-awareness is to practice self-reflection, which is observing, understanding, and evaluating one's own cognitive, emotional and behavioural processes to learn from them and work on ourselves. We should also be aware of unhealthy emotions, identify them and replace them with healthier alternatives.

Self-management is the ability to manage your emotions, particularly in stressful or adverse situations. Mindfulness helps create space to pause, replacing impulsive reactions with thoughtful responses. To respond is better than to react was our biggest takeaway in this segment!

Social awareness is the ability to take the perspective of and empathise with others, including those from diverse backgrounds and cultures. It helps us become better participants at work and grow into incredible leaders and managers. It builds a sense of empathy while pushing for quality and productivity - thus maintaining a healthy work-life balance.

Relationship Management means managing the relationship in your life and cultivating, managing, and maintaining positive and fulfilling relationships with everyone in your life. Effective communication, assertiveness, active listening, honesty, conflict resolution, and appreciation of relationships are the ways to enhance relationships.

How to become more emotionally intelligent?

• Practising empathy is a way of developing emotional intelligence. It includes actively listening and reflecting on what is being said and observing a person's body language to understand what their non-verbal cues are telling.
• Pausing helps us to zoom out and reflect better on a situation. It loses the pressure of answering immediately and creates space for better responses.
• Open communication is the key to any successful relationship. It is always best to not let assumptions take over our thoughts and reactions - and let truth and facts take the driver's seat.
  

While I bask in the learnings from this session, you must definitely sign up for the wellness sessions that Nova Benefits has been hosting - because of the value they add to our lives.

Here's a quick look at our upcoming sessions: Nova Wellness Sessions