The Challenge Today, ask yourself “How are you, really?” Think before you answer. Find a word that describes exactly what you’re feeling. Unsettled? Energetic? Delighted? Frazzled? (Avoid standard answers like “good,” “fine,” or “OK.”) Emotions are brain messengers, and studies show that regularly labeling your emotions and creating a “feeling vocabulary” is good for your health. Why am I doing this? For many of us, emerging from pandemic life has created a flurry of new emotions. A large body of research shows that labeling these emotions — something scientists call “affect labeling” — can calm your brain and reduce stress. But psychologists say that many people make the mistake of trying to ignore negative feelings rather than acknowledging them.