What strategies do you use to cope with negative feelings?
Best for:
Shadow workers, Emotionally intelligent Individuals, journal readers, and those working through uncomfortable emotions.
Navigating negative emotions:
For me whether I’m overcome with grief, stress, or anxiety it requires more than willpower. I have found it helps knowing what works for me. I feel that we should al have intentional strategies that honor the way our minds process the world, to help us find our way back to the light.
I have two practices that are essential to how I find my light through the bullshit: writing and hiking. One allows me to articulate what I cannot always say aloud; the other offers respite from the constant pressure to perform. Together, they form a sustainable approach to emotional regulation. These are supported by both personal experience and emerging research in psychology and neuroscience.
Poetry Helps Me Process Feelings When Words Feel Impossible:
For many, talking about intense emotions, especially grief, advocacy-related trauma, or even love can feel overwhelming or even inaccessible. Poetry offers an alternative pathway.
- Externalizing emotion: Writing poetry moves feelings from the internal (where they can feel consuming) to the external (where they can be observed, shaped, and understood).
- Processing in layers: Poetry allows for metaphor and abstraction, making it possible to explore complex emotions without needing to articulate them directly in conversation.
- Grief, advocacy, love, and more: Whether I’m writing about loss, the weight of advocacy, queer life experiences, or the complexity of love, poetry helps me sit with my feelings. Or I’d be consumed by them. Poetry creates space to process on a deeper level so I can acknowledge emotions when they arise, without feeling trapped by them forever.
Factual Backing:
Research supports the idea that expressive writing including poetry, has been shown to reduce rumination and improve emotional regulation. A 2020 study in Frontiers in Psychology found that poetic writing facilitates cognitive reappraisal, helping individuals reframe distressing experiences. Additionally, narrative therapy principles suggest that structuring difficult experiences into written form restores a sense of agency and coherence.
Hiking as a Strategy for Grief, Stress, and Reconnection
When I miss my mom, I try to go hiking. The forest becomes a space where grief softens, where I feel close to her without needing to explain or perform. Hiking also offers something I struggle with in daily life: permission to pause.
- A break from constant productivity: The trail demands nothing but presence. There is no to-do list, no inbox, only the choice to take the next step.
- “Church in nature“: For me, nature is sacred. It’s where I find stillness, perspective, and a sense of being held by something larger than daily stress.
- Closer to my mom: Being in the natural world creates space for memory and connection without the pressure to “process” grief in a prescribed way.
Factual Backing:
The mental health benefits of time in nature are well-documented. A 2019 study in Scientific Reports found that spending at least 120 minutes per week in nature significantly correlates with better health and psychological well-being. Moreover, ecotherapy research indicates that green spaces reduce cortisol levels, lower stress, and improve mood, particularly for those navigating grief or chronic anxiety.
Expanding the Toolkit: Emotional Reflection Journals and Creative Writing:
Beyond poetry and hiking, I’ve built a broader creative practice to help me, and hopefully others, process difficult emotions.
- Emotional reflection journals: I create guided journals filled with prompts I’ve developed from my own emotional journaling practices. These are designed to help others explore their inner world in a structured, self-led way.
- Helpful posts on grief, transitioning, and more: I write accessible content that blends personal insight with practical guidance for those navigating life transitions, identity shifts, or loss.
- Creative short stories: I explore identity, nature, and psychologically thrilling themes through fiction. This allows me to examine complex emotions through character and metaphor. I often aim at revealing the truths that nonfiction alone cannot reach.
Why This Matters: Creative Practices as Sustainable Coping Strategies:
These practices share a common thread: they transform overwhelming feelings into something tangible, manageable, and meaningful. Whether through poetry, hiking, journaling, or storytelling, creative strategies offer:
- A sense of agency over internal experience
- Safe containment for emotions that feel too big to hold
- Sustainable processing that doesn’t rely on constant verbal explanation
For anyone navigating life, finding your own version of these practices, can make the difference between being consumed by feelings and learning to sit with them on your own terms.
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