Alexandria’s Adventures with the Feelings Wheel

The Feelings Wheel experiment is the second of my Dr Amantha Imber energy experiments for her new book. You can find links to the others at the bottom of this post.

The Feelings Wheel Experiment

The Feelings Wheel referred to in this experiment is kind of like a diagnostic tool.

When you feel a bit off, you take a look and identify where you’re at.

I found it Depressing (Sad)

On the one hand, I found it depressing…

For example; you feel “angry. ” You take a look, and can break it down into 16 different kinds of angry…

But you might not just be angry.

You might also feel “disappointed,” which you can follow back to “sad.”

And if those two aren’t enough, you might also feel “inadequate,” or not up to the task you want to do, which you can trace back to “fearful.”

It’s like an endless spiral of negativity.

But, it offers hope (Happy)

In my case, one time I looked at the emotion wheel, I diagnosed 17 different kinds of unpleasant feelings relating to the same mood.

But at the same time, I also discovered 17 different paths to improving my mood.

None of which, technically, involved either chocolate or cheese.

Though one or more of them might need therapy.

Potential Emotion Wheel Uses

Say you’ve been feeling “bad.”

And you’ve narrowed it down to feeling “rushed.”

You can set a goal to minimise or eliminate that feeling.

For example:

• If you feel rushed to complete a task to a deadline, you could book a meeting room for a full hour of uninterrupted time to work.
• You’re always rushing for the train, you can reschedule your morning, and start walking to the train station ten minutes earlier.
• Or if you’re facing pressure on a purchasing decision, you might think about the worse case scenario if you miss out this time.

Feelings Wheel Outcome

While I can see the feelings wheel might make a difference for some people, over the week of the experiment, I didn’t find it particularly useful.

Partly because I wasn’t really feeling the types of feelings required by the experiment.

Though having said that…

There are 18 kinds of happiness, so it might be interesting to think about how I could, for example, develop the feelings of being respected, courageous, or inspired.

And if I found myself particularly dogged by a feeling (say overwhelmed), I could looked for answers from other people’s experiences.

I’d probably be “eager” (surprised) to enter a YouTube rabbit hole.

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