Emotions, moods, and our reactions to them serve an important purpose. They help us connect with others, teach us to avoid harm and help us learn from mistakes. Having a wide range of emotions and a variance of mood states and behaviors is what brings meaning and value to life. Affect Regulation is the ability to manage these states in a positive way (Taipale, 2016). The ability to regulate affect helps individuals make intentional decisions, healthy choices, find peaceful relationships, and improves mood, self-confidence and life satisfaction. But affect regulation is not always easy. Situations, past trauma, genetic predisposition to mental illness, and poor attachment styles can create more barriers to attaining it. Working with a trained professional, learning techniques and practicing affect regulation is well worth the effort. Before you continue, we thought you might like to download our three Emotional Intelligence Exercises for free. These science-based exercises will enhance your ability to understand and work with your emotions and will also give you the tools to foster the emotional intelligence of your clients, students, or employees.