Feelings

Because Toki Pona was created as a therapeutic language, it may seem surprising that there are so few words for feelings. Some possible reasons are that basic emotion classification is a contested issue with many competing models, and that words for feelings in specific languages may carry cultural baggage (for example, hygge), making them less simple to translate than they may seem.

Generally, feelings are described by using the word pilin in a more detailed utterance, from a phrase to one or multiple sentences. Simple phrases include pilin pona (lit.literal translation 'good feeling') and pilin ike (lit.literal translation 'bad feeling'), but there are many ways to be more expressive.

Strategies

One strategy, which unifies emotions and somatic sensations, is to focus on bodily effects of the feeling.

sijelo mi li pilin-ike sama ni2　linja wawa li jo e ona

sijelo mi li pilin ike sama ni: linja wawa li jo e ona.

My chest feels tight (lit.literal translation 'bad like this: a strong rope is holding it').

Another approach is to describe the cause of the feeling, which might suffice if your audience has been through a similar situation.

pilin tan jan weka

pilin tan jan weka

the feeling from a person leaving

ona li kama lon kulupu
　li pilin-pona sin
ni6 li pilin kulupu

ona li kama lon kulupu li pilin pona sin.
ni li pilin kulupu.

Because they came to be in a group, they felt good again.
This is a sense of community / a feeling of togetherness.

Arguably, this encourages processing and better explaining one's feelings, and might reveal other approaches to the situation. For example, this explication is necessarily more specific, introspective, and (ideally) useful than saying "I'm angry":

jan li ike tawa mi
ala li alasa pona e ni7 la mi seli pilin

jan li ike tawa mi.
ala li alasa pona e ni la mi seli pilin.

Someone was bad toward me.
Nothing tried to make this right, so I feel heated.

Non-pu words

There are some dedicated words for feelings that are not nimi pu and tend not to be used by a significant amount of speakers. monsuta is a common word for fear; apeja is an obscure word for shame; peto is an obscure word for sadness which, etymologically, was derived from the somatic approach.