Today on the blog we are talking about our emotions and how our culture influences them. It’s time for an unpopular opinion: it’s okay to feel your feelings! We love to say, “good vibes only” and we stuff our spaces with motivational quotes and tell ourselves to just keep going. But this culture of always feeling good or happy leads to toxic positivity.

What is toxic positivity?

What is toxic positivity? Well it’s the concept that keeping positive and positivity only is the right way to live your life. It means focusing solely on the positive and rejecting anything that brings up negative emotions. On the surface it sounds awesome right?!

Wrong. Think of your emotions like a bottle of soda and think of toxic positivity like mentos. The longer you try to force a negative emotion out, the stronger that emotion becomes the more likely you are to feel it intensely until you absolutely explode. Here are some healthy and helpful ways to combat toxic positivity.

How to fight toxic positivity

• Take comfort in knowing you will have bad mental days– we’re living in the most stressful times it’s okay to be fearful and tearful even. Instead of hiding from those emotions allow yourself to experience them fully when they come up.
• Meditate- self-awareness is so important when it comes to tuning into your emotions. Spend 10-20 minutes a day looking inward and being present. Guided meditations like those on Headspace are a great starting point
• Cherish the moments you feel good- just because you shouldn’t be positive all the time, doesn’t mean we should shy away from the good stuff. Feel happiness deeply when it comes up.

Commit to feel ALL your feelings

Now that you know what toxic positivity is and you have some tools in your toolbox to combat it, how are you going to apply this to your current lifestyle? Let me know in the comments below.