The Power of the Feeling Wheel

Robert Plutchik reinvents the wheel!

How can we know what we are feeling if we do not know what to call the feeling? Luckily there is a great resource available to everyone! The Feeling Wheel. It was first developed by the emotion identifier we talked about earlier, Robert Plutchik, in 1980. It works with seven or eight primary emotions, shown in the center of the wheel. This version of the wheel starts with seven basic emotions in the center. Plutchik identified these emotions to be the foundation of all other feelings. There are a few different versions of the Feeling Wheel but all use this same idea. Being able to identify and label emotions is a very important step towards emotional literacy.

My Experiences with the
Feeling Wheel

I remember the first time I encountered a Feeling Wheel. My therapist asked me how I feel and I started telling her a story about what happened in my day, which I thought made my feelings clear. She told me that was just a story and not a feeling. Then she handed me this image of the wheel. I was so intimidated at first. I even felt some shame for not knowing what feeling I was experiencing. But I looked at the wheel and after a few moments, I was able to point to one of them and speak it out loud. It was so helpful! I relied on the chart for many years to help me identify my feelings as I was becoming more familiar with connecting to myself on an emotional level.

As we start to use the chart and become more in tune with ourselves, we start to make connections between certain emotions and their bodily sensations. We will also be more aware of how our feelings affect our mood. A mood is how we express ourselves outwardly based on the feelings we have. Our mood affects our actions and interactions with the people around us. When you connect the dots between the feelings you have and how you express them, you are increasing your emotional intelligence. It is a skill that you can learn and one that gets easier over time as well.

Feeling Wheel in English

I am currently on a mission to translate the feeling wheel into as many languages as possible. When I was getting my book translated, I was looking for the wheel in French, but couldn't find it. So I had that translated too. Then I got thinking - why isn't this valuable resource available in other languages?? So my mission started. At the time of writing this, I have French, Spanish, German, Russian and Hebrew. All of them are available in my store for a very reasonable fee. I want everyone to have access to this amazing feeling identifier. 

Would you like to help me with my mission? Are you a native speaker who would be able to translate all (or some) of these feelings into another language for my task? I would love to get it in Mandarin Chinese, Arabic, Portuguese, Hindi, Swahili and any other language. Please contact Sarah at saracura@saracura.com if you can help. We all need to connect with our emotions better!

Reflection Questions

Are you good at identifying your feelings? Is it helpful to have a chart of emotions to look at?

Do you have a feelings journal? Have you ever written your feelings in a journal on a regular basis? Would you like to start?

What emotion do you feel a lot? What emotions do you avoid?

Self-Work

Use the Feeling Wheel to identify the emotion you are currently feeling. What physical sensations do you have because of this feeling? How does this feeling affect your mood? How does this feeling affect your behavior? What do you want to do when the feeling is too much? Write your observations.

Excerpt from Self-Love is the Key book by Sarah Cura.