19/08/2025
Finding the words for your feelings can be tough — especially if you’re neurodivergent. One of the tools I've found can be helpful is the app Animi.
🌀 It’s a free and simple tool designed to help you identify and name your emotions. Instead of getting stuck with “I don’t know how I feel,” the app gives you a visual way to connect with what’s happening inside.
How it works is that you check in with the app through one of two routes:
1. Body sensations. You name and refine your body sensations and, as you do, common emotions that are often paired with these body sensations are suggested.
2. Emotional compass. You begin with assessing your energy levels and as you choose the levels (e.g. high positive energy) related emotions are suggested.
You can also click on an emotion to get a description of it which can also be helpful with labelling.
Sensations in the body and energy levels can be hard to identify at first. However, if you regularly give yourself a few minutes to get curious about what's going on in your body, they can get easier to spot.
💬 Why this matters:
Naming an emotion is the first step to understanding it
When we understand, we can start to work out what's going on inside of ourselves, and manage and soothe ourselves
Understanding our feelings is also linked to our likes and dislikes, which form part of our identity. If we get to know ourselves better we can understand what people and environments work best for us and what to avoid
Understanding our emotional responses makes it easier to communicate how we feel to others
✨ In counselling, I’ve seen how tools like this can be supportive for autistic clients, who often experience emotions very deeply but can struggle to identify them or put them into words.
👉 Have you ever tried using visual or structured tools to explore your emotions? What’s helped you most?
