What a crazy month!

You know that feeling of "yeah, we're on the right way", things feel like they are settling, taking more shape?

Well, this is happening on our side! We are slowly starting to feel more settled after the past year of roller coasters, and especially the last month of bureaucrazy. So now we can proudly announce:

Plus.... we've finished our new website!!

We'd really appreciate your feedback. It would be awesome if you take a few minutes to check it out and leave us a comment by responding to this email (our@innerbalance.community), or directly to Vanessa and Jesus.

More? Oh yesss.

Apart from dealing with all burocrazy...

We've changed the whole model of InnerBalance.

Solidarity is one of the core values of InnerBalance that we want to carry out into the world. And besides that: Diversity, Trust, Care, taking Responsibility for making the world a better place. To reflect all of these values even more from the basis of our project - we decided to let it run entirely on donations.

We took some time to think about this step, because it means: complete trust.​
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So from now on, you can access our platform without any cost. And if you like InnerBalance and you believe in its mission, we are happy if you support us in continuing.
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Don't confuse non-profit with having less costs! It just means that we have to prove every activity as supporting our mission. People can still be valued in an economic way for their time and effort put into the project. If you would like to offer something in InnerBalance, you are very welcome to reach out.

InnerBalance belongs to all of us, which means: donations help sustain and make it grow, but any other kind of support is equally valued (keep reading for more 😁).

Wait! So besides all of this you also had your Monthly Theme, right? Yes! 😁
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Do you mean there are more words to describe what I feel than "good, bad, sad, or stressed"?

That's right. 😎

Elated, exhilarated, despairing, forlorn, weary, cranky, cynical, threatened, vulnerable, ambivalent, apathetic...

Those are just a few examples. In English there are hundreds of emotional words we could use to describe how we feel in our daily lives. Yet most of us tend to use the same words to describe different emotional experiences.

Not knowing that this has consequences...

The Importance of Words.

Emotional vocabulary is not just about having more words. It is an important part of emotional awareness, self-understanding and emotional regulation.

It is not about finding a perfectly accurate label every time. The value lies in making the experience more visible.

They help us understand ourselves.

Once we can recognize what we are feeling, we can begin to ask more useful questions:

Our emotional vocabulary also affects our relationships.

When we cannot identify what we feel, communicating our needs can become difficult. We may blame, withdraw, become defensive, or expect another person to understand something we have not yet understood ourselves.

Expanding our vocabulary.

Even thought we cannot cover all the words in this Newsletter, we still want to share a glimpse of what we learnt during the last month.

Joy.

Joy helps us build the things that make life worth surviving for. It can be calm and settled, like contentment or serenity, or bright and energetic, like elation and enthusiasm.

Sadness.

From a quiet sense of melancholy to deep grief. It can slow us down when pushing forward is no longer what we need and giving us space to process what has happened.

Anger.

From mild irritation to powerful outrage. Anger signals that something feels unfair, crossed a boundary, frustrated a need or matters deeply to us.

Fear.

Fear is one of our oldest forms of intelligence. It helps us notice danger, focus our attention and prepare to protect ourselves.

But fear isn't always loud. Sometimes it appears as worry, apprehension, nervousness or unease.

Complex feelings.

Sometimes several emotions create something of their own.

Nostalgia, for example, can hold both happiness for what was and sadness that it has passed. Ambivalence can bring attraction and resistance together.

Presence.

It can have many qualities: calm, groundedness, openness, attentiveness, curiosity, wonder. These words can help us notice not only what we feel, but how we are meeting the moment we are in.

You want to dive deeper into understanding emotional experiences? Check out our article --> Click here!​

The Biggest Takeaway.

Being able to name our feelings more precisely gives us the opportunity to understand ourselves better, and therefore manage our emotions more effectively.

Research suggests that the simple act of naming what is there, helps the brains ability to regulate emotional responses.

The point is not to label ourselves perfectly, but to become more familiar with our own emotional world.

Funny Finding.

Have you heard of the Anxiety Reappraisal? This is a cognitive strategy used to transform anxiety into excitement. Anxiety and excitement provoke the same bodily sensations. One emotion is pleasant, the other isn't. What marks the difference? Our interpretation.

There has been research and several experiments showing that you can reinterpret this emotion. Convincing yourself that what you feel is excitement, helps performing better in public speaking, and general exams.

Co-creation is taking protagonism! We're inviting everyone who wants, to give a workshop or lead a gathering. Always under the principle that we can all learn from each other.

Breathwork · Meditation · Conflict resolution · Creative expression · Emotional management · Non-violent Communication · Etc.

Any topic related to improving our own balance, awareness and our relationships is welcome!