What is ‘emotional safety’
It’s May! The festive month of year when we celebrate: Cinco de Mayo, Mother’s Day and Memorial Day – along with Mental Health Awareness Month”!
I found my heart being emotionally redirected to a topic inspired by the most sacred gift I have received in my emotional life. “What it means to be emotionally safe with someone”! To be able to share your most vulnerable heart with another human being, trusting they will not use it against you. Beautiful souls who choose to lift your heart simply because they genuinely care. People, we often refer to as our “Earth Angels”! Selfless people, who make it their mission to share positivity, especially with those who are hurting.
What is Emotional Safety?
Emotional safety is the foundation for a loving and healthy relationship, “starting within ourselves” as this can help us feel comfortable in our skin and emotionally safe wherever we go.
Feeling safe with someone:
Is a foundational element in any strong relationship, be it romantic or platonic.
Signifies a sense of security and emotional stability.
Requires a high level of empathy, respect, and consideration.
Means feeling free to be your true self, without any fear of being judged or rejected.
To understand, we need to feel emotionally safe before we can be vulnerable with another person. Feeling this emotion with at least one person in your life is important to feeling okay.
What are the benefits of an emotionally safe relationship?
When you find yourself in an emotionally safe relationship, chances are you will experience many advantages. Benefits of emotionally safe relationships include:
Feeling valued.
Being yourself without the risk of judgment.
Showing vulnerabilities without being taken advantage of.
n Sharing and expressing yourself freely.
n You feel seen, heard, and understood.
n A stronger connection.
The lack of emotional safety and its impact.
To your brain, physical and emotional pain is practically the same thing. So, when you do not feel emotionally safe, you feel emotionally threatened, which causes the same bodily reactions as feeling physically threatened, resulting in the “fight, flight, freeze, or fawn” response.
On a Personal Note: I wish to dedicate this guest column to all the Earth Angels I have been blessed to have in my life, both past and present. Beautiful, inspirational souls who authentically shared with me what it means to be “seen, heard, and understood” in an emotional safe zone. The kind of emotion that for me is so deeply sacred, rare, and powerful that it brings tears of deep gratitude to my eyes. Compassionate souls who see me and others beyond the “heart-wounds” we each carry, offering us a healing space like no other; a space where we feel worthy and that we are enough.
To acknowledge compassionate souls everywhere who genuinely choose to help lift the vulnerable hearts of others, for inasmuch as the human heart is resilient, it still needs emotional safety to thrive! Now, more than ever, especially in today’s ever-challenging world!
Donna Pisacano-Brown is a Point Lookout resident who has been a columnist featured in local newspapers since 1996. She is a passionate advocate for drunken driving awareness, and shining a light on mental health topics.
