Most people's emotional bodies are bruised and battered due to the significant traumas that inevitably happened throughout their lives. Complete healing is so rare it is hardly ever seen. But it is possible and doable.
Meditate.
There are many meditations that will aid you on your journey to happiness, including guided meditations via Youtube or CD or in person if you enroll in a class (like for chakra healing, meeting a spirit guide, lucid dreaming, monetary prosperity, etc), Vipassana meditation, yoga, labyrinth meditations, and many more. But rather than immediately seeking the cool calm of Zen and bypassing what you actually feel (although there is nothing wrong with this most of the time), try to be fully conscious and aware of your emotions. Find the pain, whether emotional or physical, as you scan your body and calmly ask it questions. When you quiet the background noise, relax, and let the answer come rather than searching for it or inventing it from an intellectual standpoint, many aspects of your consciousness will talk to you as if they have a mind of their own. Don't be freaked out by it- nobody knows where all his or her "normal" thoughts come from in the first place. Talk to the pain not like something to be resented, suppressed, or conveniently deleted, but as a conscious part of your being. Ask it where it came from and when it originally was inflicted. Let the memory, whether recent or from childhood, play across your third eye screen and sink in. Re-experience those initial emotions so that you will be able to release them. If you need more direct and detailed coaching, I urge you to watch the Teal Swan video that I have cited.
Do positive affirmations
Do positive affirmations to raise your vibration, and study the Law of Attraction, an ancient law popularized by Esther Hicks and the entity "Abraham" she channels (channeling is a form of mediumship where a spirit enters and talks through the psychic's body with their permission). The Law basically states, that not only do our words and actions dictate our present and pave the path of our future, but so do our thoughts, emotions, and intentions. Thinking hard about what you do want, rather than what you don't want, in a feeling state of gratitude and enthusiasm, as if you have already received it, will help you manifest your goals. Thoughts are energy, so changing your energy can change your entire life. Popular celebrities like Jim Carrey and Oprah subscribe to this belief system. Negativity is natural and welcome, because your emotional compass will show you what you don't want, and through self-examination you can figure out why, and what the opposite could be. Then you focus, wish for, and imagine yourself receiving in the now your ideal reality, and the quantum field will rearrange itself in a way that your True Will necessitates.
​Raise your vibrations
Raise your vibrations by helping others to be happy- to handle stress, feel loved, laugh, and feel encouraged to accomplish their goals. It's a common occurrence that the Universe will mirror aspects of your own emotional, spiritual, and mental states so that you can consciously recognize them. We are all apart of one cohesive whole, so healing somebody else is the same thing as healing yourself, albeit indirectly. If you are naturally empathetic, and don't put up a strong psychic barrier, you might find that you absorb their aural blows and take on their pain- in this case, accept it as if it is your own (you can do the technique listed in the first step, which may end up teaching you a lot about them and their past, and furthering your abilities to help them in the future), and then transmute it into light. Ask your guides to speak through you if you feel insecure about your own natural healing and advice-giving abilities. Remember that you don't have to be a psychologist or an expert, or have gone through exactly what they have; the most important thing often is to listen, to ask the right questions in order for them to open up completely, and make sure they feel supported and loved. The most rewarding friendships are based on a solid foundation of trust, so if you love someone unconditionally in their most vulnerable state, your connection has deepened to a level of poignancy that can't be rivaled. [Sidenote: if you have wronged somebody undeservedly, apologize sincerely and try your best to make amends, like Narcotics/Alcoholics Anonymous literature advises. If they are too far away or have cut off all contact from you, telepathically/ empathetically apologize and send them the best vibes. Their spirit may take note of this, and while they won't necessarily forgive you on a conscious level, some of the hurt and resentment will be lifted, and you will suffer from less guilt, regret, and fear of making the same mistakes.
Open up your mind
Try to cast out judgments, especially those based in prejudice and bias. You never know who, even those that give off a terrible first impression, can end up being a close friend or even something more. That is not to say don't trust your gut instinct. Just remember that you do not know what hue and vibrancy the grass is from the other side. Everyone has a completely unique perception and outlook of the world; you will never truly understand them until you step in their shoes. There are meditations to help you do just this though. (One from Teal Swan is cited below.) Techniques such as these can prevent arguing and knee-jerk emotional reactions as you will truly see where they are coming from and why.
Express yourself
Channel your soul- be wild and free and uninhibited! Through art like painting, writing, dancing, singing, you can divulge your innermost being and learn to let go of ego and truly live in the moment as you. Not as you see yourself, or how you want others to see you, but as your pure, authentic, unique essence. Some artists exclaim that when they get a vision, their hands are taken over by the creative impulse, and it's like a meditative daze. Some people paint places that they've never seen, only to learn that they exist. And others create things from the deepest, darkest recesses of their mind that have never been imagined before. Either way, art of any medium (whether it's visual, musical, verbal, etc), is an empowering, productive, and mesmerizing way to be your true self.
Find alone time.
Even for the most outgoing social butterfly, it's important to find solitude to recharge and renew oneself for the daily tasks to come. Socializing can drain energy (especially for introverts), and can also muddle your perspective with other people's baggage or opinions of you that they imprinted. It's also always a must to have time to yourself to think, analyze, and introspect, so that you are aware of your own thoughts and feelings, untainted from any people-pleasing instinct you might have. Quiet time is also perfect for meditation, productivity, philosophizing, and evaluating your life.
Crystals
Buy some crystals that call out to your spirit to aid in your meditations. Crystals are rocks with their own unique vibrational field that can be used for meditation, Reiki, and white magick, and all have their own distinct purpose. Some crystals I'd recommend for a starter pack are quartz (basic universal use), rose quartz (heart healing), citrine (happiness boosting and navel chakra cleansing), amethyst (third eye activation and psychic awareness), obsidian (can act as a protective psychic shield), hematite (absorbs negative energies). There are many, many more, however, and you can pick up the book the Crystal Bible if you're interested in exploring this further. Focusing on the energy of a crystal in deep meditation, having it in your pocket as a good luck charm, and charging a crystal with an Intention for a spell are only a few ways to use these marvelous stones. If you go to an affordable New Age store, a small crystal averages $4.00, a total steal. You could also buy them online.
Engage your senses.. particularly scent.
It's scientifically proven that scents have a strong link with emotion and memory. Companies are well aware that smell of a store, as well as the lighting and music, can set the entire mood of the shopping experience. So the aesthetics of our physical environment have an automatic effect on our mental states. Engaging our senses fully and mindfully can be a psychic exercise that can promote feelings of calm and well-being. Essential oils, meditation music, and natural lighting can all contribute to this. Essential oils are organically made from materials from the earth, not chemicals, and have been used for hundreds of years for holistic healing purposes. For instance, lavender when applied to a burn will immediately relieve the pain. Mint will make somebody feel more awake, alert and focused. Beyond the physical purposes, these scents, when applied to your palms, neck, or soles of your feet, depending, are carried with you throughout the day and will invoke certain feelings, like a perfume with a metaphysical purpose. And if you purchase a diffuser, the essential oil combined with water and converted into a light mist, will change the entire mood of a room in your house.
Keep a journal!
If you ever feel too insecure to talk to someone about your problems, or nobody is available, a journal is your best friend. You can write anything that comes to mind- I personally find that total word vomit, often rhyming, scratching on the notepad without any filter, allows me to find humor in my problems, gain self awareness, and release the baggage into the paper, all at once. Writing about your day can help ground you and it's unnerving yet wonderful and nostalgic to be able to look back, to see what kind of person you were then, and cheer on or mentally berate your past self, since we are always changing. Making a list of things you did, however ordinary, can help you feel a sense of accomplishment if you have depression. And writing about a distressing problem you're currently going through, or just a bad day, capturing the details and intense emotions, even if written in an agonized rush- remember nobody else is reading it- can help you to pinpoint what exactly may have triggered you, what went wrong, and give you a better perspective when you re-read it later on. When you re-read it, you can write yourself a response, either by automatic writing (which is usually intended to channel spirit guides or higher self) or by pretending you are your own psychotherapist. That way, when encountered with a similar situation, you can remember the advice or coping mechanisms you gave yourself, whether breathing techniques, taking note of your immediate surroundings so as to ground yourself, picturing white light enhancing and shielding your aura, counting to ten, desisting from the situation until you feel ready to respond in a careful manner, etc, and implement it. Every situation is an opportunity to learn. This method might be helpful if you have anxiety, depression, PTSD, dissociative disorders, or personality disorders. Even if you don't, self-awareness is the key to growth and journaling can help with that. Journaling is also rather fun. You can keep it light, and write zany or creative things, to-do lists, philosophical musings, and unfiltered letters to friends, enemies, or frenemies that you don't have to send if they'll land you in an uncomfortable confrontation. I try to bring my journal everywhere, as an unwritten rule. Bottling up negative emotions is perhaps the worst thing you could do… and writing is one of the best things to release them. If you don't write, you can record yourself speaking, or talk to a trusted friend. If you are a writer and a bit of a perfectionist who wracks their brains to think of the right word, remember handy-dandy thesaurus.com.
Spend time in nature!
Although other animals lack or opposable thumbs, ambitions to build and divide and conquer, and linguistic versatility, they are souls too, and can care for us without knowing us, just as we sometimes rush to the scene of an accident to save a perfect stranger. Anyone with a pet can attest to their empathy, which in the case of cats and dogs especially, is sometimes shockingly preternatural. Other animals that you haven't established a bond with may regard you in a kind, but aloof and offhand way, and that is sometimes more calming than being under a mental microscope of an analytical human. Finding solace underneath a tree, or digging into soil to bury flower seeds, watering the plants, or taking a long hike can all be very relaxing and positivity boosting. The vitamin D and endorphins combined have neurological effects that surpass the time you are outside. The Native Americans believe that there are many spirits at work within nature, and connecting to them with a respectful attitude can bring you wonders in life.
SELF LOVE!
If you claim you love everybody important to you, but not yourself, you are lying. You are with yourself 24/7, so it's only logical to want to get along. Try to imagine yourself from an outsiders perspective, whether a completely impersonal and all-knowing one, like a T.V narrator, or somebody that you share a close healthy bond with, like a best friend, a pet, a parent, or a significant other. Think that you are worthy of love, and you do possess the qualities they adore you for. But you have to love your flaws too, however counterintuitive and impossible it seems to be. "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only love can do that." Filling those compartments of your being with shame or self-loathing, will only create further fragmentation and exacerbate the problems. Think of the Japanese tradition of Kintsugi, where when a tea bowl or another pottery item falls and cracks, the damage isn't hidden, but is celebrated and put back together with a special type of glue that contains gold, silver or platinum. In this way, the cracks are visible but have a gorgeous shine, and the item is far more eye-catching than it was before. This is based on the converging concepts of wabi-sabi, which states that imperfections are beautiful, and mushin, which is the acceptance of change.
Pray!
Even if you do not believe in the concept of God, Gods, deities, or a higher power, you can speak to the energies that be, a close friend or mentor (dead or alive) who you can picture hearing you through telepathic waves, or simply your own inner self. I have an atheist friend that prays; she wishes well for her friends and family, and she says sometimes the prayers are answered. She muses that it could be coincidental, but it makes her feel better, and maybe there is something to it. You do not need to believe in God to mould the universe with your best intentions and make a tangible difference. If you are truly a skeptic, think of it as a way of psychological priming, hacking into your own brain and embedding it with good thoughts to pave the way for a brilliant future. Praying is scientifically proven to boost positive emotions, and mass prayer done by Buddhist monks decreased the crime rate in a city by a significant percentage. Whether it's wishing for someone's illness to abate or a new promotion at work, or expressing gratitude towards God or the universe for what you cherish in your life, or seeking answers to questions that gnaw at you, prayer is an amazing outlet for getting closer to your dreams and focusing on the highest good. Be faithful and confident yet humble when you pray, and it'll increase the chances of these prayers being answered. Desire + Intention + Belief = Result.