The Physical Response to Emotions

When people talk about understanding how our minds work and the impact they have on us, we use the terms “mental health” and “mental performance.”

But there is a problem.

Don’t get me wrong, it is a great thing that more of us are talking about and exploring mental health!

That’s not the problem.

The problem is that the terms and the way we talk about them miss a critical connection.

The mind-body connection.

Too often we discuss thought patterns or biases or traumas as if they are contained in the depths of our minds - far away from our experiences in the physical world.

However, if that were true - if thoughts and what they trigger were relegated to the recesses of our mental landscape - then how would they have so much power over us?

Our thoughts trigger emotions, which are physical experiences - that is why we call them feelings.

The pit in your stomach.

The lump in your throat.

The racing in your chest.

The pressure in your head.

These are the things that we feel when our thoughts trigger emotional responses within us.

And those physical feelings have now been mapped by science.

Shown above is the human body’s activity and sensations when a person is experiencing the different feelings across our emotional spectrum.

Notice “anxiety” in the image above - all of the physical sensations centered in the upper chest…

Or take “depression” - almost the complete absence of feeling…

And “happiness” - when the entire body is alight with energy…

Knowing how our emotions manifest themselves in our body is critical to understanding and navigating our feelings moment to moment.

This is another reason why mindfulness is a powerful skill.

It gives you the ability to recognize the physical sensations in a more detached, objective way - which, in turn, can disarm or amplify these feelings with practice.

But you can use this knowledge for something more powerful.

Notice both “anxiety” and “happiness.”

In practice, we process these feelings with thoughts that are very far from one another - but our body is not as complex as our mind.

We can only feel so many different kinds of sensations.

Knowing this gives you power to reframe physical feelings.

I recently caught up with a close friend and we were talking about last week’s Gas Up about anti-fragility and the anxiety that comes with trying new things.

What I shared with him is a trick I use on myself when I encounter this same feeling.

For example, anyone who knows me knows that speaking or presenting in front of groups or crowds is something I have done quite a lot of.

And I appear very comfortable doing it.

However, in the moments leading up to speaking, my heart races.

Even if I am just in the audience of someone else’s event and I raise my hand - my heart races, knowing the vulnerability I am about to endure.

But I no longer experience this as anxiety.

I now treat those feelings as “anticipation” - feelings of energy that signal to me that I am about to do something worthwhile - putting myself out there.

Both anxiety and happiness and, I would wager, excitement all center around feelings in the chest.  So I imagine that my chest is a power source.

When I am about to take a leap, I imagine myself grabbing hold of this power source and letting the energy run through me.

And I have found that this works in private too.

When I am reaching out to a new contact or about to post something that I feel anxious about, I use my energy source to pump me up so I can power through those anxious feelings and act without fear.

My body doesn’t know the difference - and my mind comes along for the ride.

Next time you are feeling anxious about a conversation or trying something new or putting yourself out there, imagine yourself grabbing hold of that energy source in your chest with both hands - and let it power your entire body.  See what happens.

What is something you have been meaning to try or say or do - but nerves or anxiety have been holding you back?

What happens when you grab hold of that nervous energy and let it power you?

‍

Want free growth coaching tips & strategies like this each week? Subscribe to The Gas Up - our Sunday newsletter - and follow The Growth Coach podcast on Spotify or here on Apple Podcasts.

‍