In order to develop self-compassion, it is important to pay attention to the experiences that are present in order to take appropriate compassionate action ( source).

Once you can identify the feelings and emotions you can work on healing yourself. “You cannot heal what you cannot feel” ( source). How does the feelings wheel benefit you? Identify, address and resolve feelingsĪfter you use the feelings wheel to identify the specific feelings and emotions you are experiencing at any given moment, you can then address and resolve them. It is important to accept your emotions even if they are negative and not repress them in an effort to force positive emotions ( source). The negative feelings in the inner band of the wheel are located on the exact opposite side of the wheel than the positive feelings.

You can also use the black and white emotion wheel PDF which is cheaper to print than the color emotional wheel chart. That way you can write whatever you want and then wipe it clean to use it again. If you are going to write on the emotion wheel chart then you might consider laminating it. If you are going through a difficult period during which you experience many different emotions you can mark them all each time you feel a new emotion. Take out your copy of the wheel of feelings and either mark or find the emotion/s that best describe what you are feeling. In fact, you can even have positive and negative emotions at the same time. The emotions and feelings in the wheel can exist in many combinations. Since you can experience different emotions at the same time you might be looking for more than one emotion to describe your feelings. To print an additional copy, see the feeling wheel PDF version below. You can also keep a copy of the emotions wheel in your journal if you want to use it when writing about your feelings.

It is much for effective to use it while you are feeling the emotion than later on after it passes when you might not recall exactly what you felt.

You might want to carry a copy of the Gloria Wilcox feelings wheel with you for times you are feeling emotions you want to better understand. Are you hurt, feeling inadequate, humiliated, angry, or anxious? Each emotion will need to be addressed in a different way. For example, if you are feeling sad, you can use the wheel to describe the kind of sadness you are feeling. Once you can identify them, then you can address and resolve them. Use the feelings wheel to identify the specific feelings and emotions you are experiencing at any given moment. Since there are thousands of emotions, people often find it difficult to express their feelings. The feelings wheel helps people describe their feelings and identify their emotions with more accuracy. Gloria Willcox to help clients expand their emotion vocabulary.

Printed emotion color wheel