Self-Awareness Exercises

Exercise 1: Label your feelings

Do this exercise for 7 days:

1. Download the tracking sheet (MS Word) or make a copy of the Google Docs file or the Notion version.

2. Read through the list of emotions and feelings. If you notice that one is missing, add it to the tracking sheet.

3. Print the pages so you can carry them around with you or bookmark the digital versions. Put them somewhere you can see them.

4. Set at least 5 reminders for yourself (alarms, post-it notes, etc.) with the question “How do I feel right now?”

5. Over the next 7 days, track every emotion and feeling you notice. Every time you feel happy, put a line after happy. Whenever you feel sad, mark down sad and so on. Don’t judge, analyse or question your feelings. Just notice them. Do this as often during the day as you can, but at least 5 times as soon as your reminders go off.

If this exercise is difficult for you at first, don’t worry. Like with all the other skills you have mastered, you will get better at this, too. Just keep practising.

Bonus exercise: Reflect

At the end of the week, reflect or journal about these questions:

• Which emotion or feeling have you had the most?
• Are there patterns? For example, how do you feel when you are at work or at home?
• Did you enjoy this exercise? If yes, what did you like about it? If no, why not? (I know. So meta.)

Exercise 2: Feel your emotions

Do this exercise once a day for as long as you feel like it. It will be easier if you practised labelling your feelings first.

Do this exercise once a day for as long as you feel like it. It will be easier if you practised labelling your feelings first.

1. Find a comfortable place to sit or lie down if you prefer.

2. Ask yourself: “How do I feel right now?”

3. Listen to the guided meditation.

This exercise is particularly useful if you have feelings you found hard to identify or to notice. For me, it was frustration. I used to only notice that I was frustrated with a task when I was already angry. Once I did the meditation, I figured out that frustration is a knot underneath my left shoulder.

Now, as soon as I feel that part of my body tense up, I know that it’s time for a break. Self-awareness has saved me a lot of time and energy!

Download instructions

To download the audio click here. The file will open in a new tab. Right-click on the audio and select “save as”. You can now choose where you want to save it on your device. If you prefer to listen to instructions in your own voice, you can record your own meditation with this transcript.