Printable Feelings Wheel (Free PDF)

What is the feelings wheel?

A feelings wheel (also called an emotion wheel or wheel of emotions) is a visual tool that organizes emotions from general to specific. The center holds core emotions: happy, sad, angry, anxious, surprised, fearful, and disgusted. Each ring outward gets more precise, helping you name subtle feelings you might otherwise lump into "fine" or "stressed."

Naming an emotion with precision, a skill psychologists call emotional granularity, has been shown to make those emotions easier to regulate. The simple act of labeling a feeling can lower its intensity. A printed wheel on your wall makes that practice effortless.

How to use the printable feelings wheel

1. Download the PDF. Hit Print / Save as PDF above and choose "Save as PDF" to keep a copy, or print it directly.
2. Start in the center. Find the core emotion that feels closest to what you're experiencing right now.
3. Move outward. Follow that emotion into the next ring to find a more specific word, and then the ring after that.
4. Sit with the word. Once you land on the feeling that fits, pause. Naming it is often enough to take some of its power away.

Printing tips

• Print in color if you can, since the colors group related emotions.
• Choose landscape and "fit to page" for the largest, most readable wheel.
• To save it as a file instead of printing, select "Save as PDF" as your destination printer.