Feelings
Thanks for joining us!
This episode was written by Kara and voiced by Kara and T.
Episode art was drawn by Jean.
It was originally released in December 2025.
— Check out these books about feelings & appreciation —
Click on each photo for a link to the book on our Bookshop.org account
— Happiness Activities —
Finding outside moments of delight
T pointed out his heart puddle!
Taken out of the car window
Neighborhood flower leaning in
Gratitude journal
Loving the light
Thank you window-crystal for the rainbows
Upside of the low winter sunlight
T made a thankful notebook at school!
A reminder to enjoy the wow of now
— Ways to help with big feelings —
BREATHING
Big, deep breaths
Rainbow breath (arch your arms over your head)
Short burst of quick breaths
5-4-3-2-1 GAME
List 5 things we can see
4 things we can hear
3 things we can touch
2 things we can smell
1 thing we can taste
FEELINGS FIRST AID KIT
A kit of things that make you happier or feel calm
Could include a picture of people you love, something you like to touch,
a good smell, a stuffy, something calming to watch (like T’s glitter wand!)
— Feelings Episode Summary —
Identifying feelings —
We do so many things with our bodies – we walk, talk, eat, sleep, read, climb!
There’s also this other part of living – what goes on in our minds! The things we think and feel.
Everyone has feelings. No matter what age you are. And we have lots of them!
Can we name some? There are some that are straightforward, like happy, sad, angry, nervous, worried, excited.
There are also some that can be more complicated like nostalgic, satisfied, frustrated. And anxious, when I feel a combination of worried and scared.
Proud is another great feeling. What are you proud of yourself for?
Accepting our feelings —
Knowing the words for feelings can be helpful. Naming feelings is an important thing. Because it can help us understand what we’re feeling.
In our house, we believe that feelings are not good or bad. They just are.
Some feelings do make us feel better than others. Feeling excited tends to feel better than feeling angry. But you don’t need to feel angry about feeling angry! It happens to everyone!
Accepting our feelings helps especially because we don’t always have control over how we feel or what we think! Feelings can just pop into our heads!
But no matter what we feel, it doesn’t last forever. We do not always feel cheerful, we do not always feel upset.
I’ve heard it explained, and I really like this way of thinking, that we can treat feelings like waves.
Waves come and go, right? They rush in… they stay… then they go back into the ocean. Let them come. Feel them. Let them go.
What we do can affect how we feel —
We can’t control the feelings that come, but we can do things that affect how we feel.
What we do, and what we watch, and who we’re with, and the places that we’re in, those things can all inform how we feel.
I feel calm in a place that isn’t always messy. Of course, we always end up with some toys on the floor! But our family cleans them up together at the end of the day. Because it’s important to take care of our home. But also because it helps me to feel calm when things are in their place.
T can sometimes you feel overwhelmed when you’re in a loud or chaotic place, when it’s really busy, or there are sounds like the bathroom fans and toilets flushing. When you’re in a place like that, we try hard to get you out of there quickly.
Sometimes, though, we can’t always leave a place that’s overwhelming. Or, we just get overwhelmed by our feelings! Like we can’t stop them or control them! That may not feel good, but it’s normal. It’s ok.
You also can find things to do to help you when you feel that way. T takes a lot of breaths quickly. Kara takes a lot of big breaths. We also try to make ourselves think of something else - we change what our mind is thinking about, so we’ll make up a story about characters we love.
Or we play the 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 game where we say 5 things we can see, 4 things we can hear, 3 things we can touch, 2 things we can smell, 1 thing we can taste.
And sometimes, you’ve just gotta cry about it! Crying is our body’s way of getting some feelings out! It really doesn’t help to keep things stuck inside.
We can also do things to help ourselves feel good things! Can friends notice the things that make them happy and try to do more? Families have rituals to make them feel happy and connected. When we pay attention to the beautiful things around us, it can make us feel happy. So does feeling grateful/thankful for things in our lives.
Sharing your feelings —
I mentioned before that saying what we feel, naming it, can help us to understand the feeling, right? Naming your feelings can also help you calm down if you’re upset - there’s a little saying: “name it to tame it”.
Naming our feelings also helps us better share them! Knowing how we feel helps the people around us understand us better.
Now, you don’t have to go telling every person you’re with how you feel. And maybe you don’t feel comfortable always sharing your feelings. That’s ok. But are there some people in your life who are safe people? Who you can go to whenever, no matter what you’re feeling?
Sharing your feelings can help you connect with other people. If you say to someone, “I’m so happy you came over for a play date!” Or “thank you for the beautiful card you made me!” it’s a way of being closer to them.
If it’s just too hard to use a word, you could draw a picture! Or point to a face, or share a book that explains how you’re feeling.
I love it when other people tell me how they feel. And I like telling people how I feel. Because then they know! There’s no guessing. I think it’s a really hard thing when someone I know is being mean, or acting strange, but I don’t know what they’re feeling, so I don’t know why they're acting this way!
I like to be honest with my feelings. Sometimes it’s great – this ride is so cool, I’m so happy to be here! And sometimes it’s not as happy – like when everyone is talking at once, I don’t like it, I feel overwhelmed. And I really appreciate it when T shares her feelings with me.
Our feelings in relationship with others —
So the things we do can affect how we feel. AND the things we feel can affect what we do, our actions!
There’s a really helpful saying: “All feelings are welcome, all behaviors are not.” The feelings are welcome, there are no wrong feelings. You’re allowed to feel what you feel. But the behaviors, the actions, are not all welcome.
In our house, we believe that even if you feel so, so sad, you cannot hurt your own body. Even if you feel frustrated about waiting for your turn on the slide, you cannot push someone down it. Even if you feel jealous that your sibling has the toy that you really want to play with, you cannot snatch it out of their hand! Even if someone hurts your feelings, you cannot hurt them by hitting them.
Because it is not ok to hurt yourself or other people's bodies.
But I know that sometimes these big feeling can feel like they control us! And make us want to do things we know we shouldn’t.
When I’m feeling frustrated or angry, it can help me to do things like: Take a break from what I’m doing. Stomp my feet. Cry. Growl a bit! Count to 10. I go to my “feelings first aid kit” where I have little things that make me feel happy. What would you put in yours, friends?
And sometimes, I’ve gotta have a snack - because sometimes when I’m really upset, it’s also because I’m hungry! That’s called being hangry! A combination of hungry and angry. It helps all of us when I have a snack, because I get cranky!
The way I feel has an effect on the people I’m with. And I try to pay attention to that.
When you notice things, or feelings, you’re being sensitive. And that’s an amazing thing to be! Because it helps us to be sensitive to ourselves, to notice how we feel. And it’s a good thing to be sensitive to other people, to think of how they may be feeling!
When I was young, I felt like people thought I was too sensitive. I cried easily at sad movies or when I saw someone was upset – I still do! Now, I think that it’s a superpower.
Being sensitive can help us be considerate, thoughtful, and kind. You can think about how someone else might feel before you do something.
And if someone is hurt or upset, you can try to find a way to help! Different things help different people. Sometimes a way to help is to just listen. Let someone tell you their thoughts and feelings.