HR Newsletters 2020

Blue, in contrast to red, indicates a low state of alertness and arousal. In the blue zone, one may feel sad, sick, tired, bored, and possibly even apathetic. When in this state, a consideration should be made as to what is making one feel this way and what measures may be needed to move out of the low state of alert- ness and arousal. This can be envisioned as a rest area.

We began using this technique in my own home several years ago. Over time, we have used numerous methods for matching emotional states with the zones. My son has learned to articulate his feelings, which has allowed us to discuss in which zone of the framework his emotions belong. These days, when he begins to feel frustrated or overly excited, he understands they are trigger feelings and he can pull from emotional regulation techniques to calm himself back to the green zone. Here’s an example. My son becomes really anxious during transitions from the car to school. In the past, that anxiety would build to the point he found himself out of control and, subsequently, he would bite, hit, and fight. Thankfully, he has learned to identify when he is frustrated, scared, or anxious and will verbally express the feeling and the color of zone. With that awareness, he understands he has a choice to make – use self-calming techniques such as taking slow, deep breaths (return to green) or ignore the emotion an lose control (jump to red). Because he expresses his feelings very clearly, I am able to support him on his journey from yellow to green. Now, back to my supposition that we can apply these zones to our own emotional states at home and work. We adults are the same. We have emotions and make constant decisions how to react to those emotions. However, do we truly recognize the emotional state and recognize how they impact our actions? Do you ever think to yourself, “gee, I’m feeling really frustrated today so I better find a way to calm myself” or do you ignore feelings of frustration and notice that you are lashing out at others? Continued -

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