What are Emotions ? and How they are connected to the Brain.
Understanding our own emotions, as well as others, is very crucial for personal as well as professional life.
Most of the change initiatives fail because of people issues – the inability to lead, lack of teamwork, unwillingness to take initiative, and inability to deal with change; This is why an understanding of “Emotion” is one of the mandatory skill to:-
* relate better to other people,
* form healthier relationships,
* achieve greater success at work, and
* Lead a more fulfilling life.
So, if you are the one who finds difficulty in understanding emotions, then you are at right place.
In this Article I am going to explain, what emotions are and how it is deeply connected with our brain.
What are Emotions?
Ø A piece of information that tells you something about how you are experiencing your world.
Ø Are experienced internally and expressed externally
Ø All emotions are forms of energy and can provide motivation
Ø Are both consciously and unconsciously generated
Ø Are modified by the socialization process and genetic makeup of a person (temperament)
Most importantly; Emotions are not good or bad – they just are……………
In short, emotions are the reaction to a person, object, or event and expressed in a variety of ways such as anger, fear, joy, love, happiness, sadness, surprise, etc…
For example:- If someone scolds you and you get angry, this is emotion.
The connection between our Emotions and the Brain.
Where do our emotions come from………..?
The answer is our BRAIN…
Let’s understand how?
Our brain is weird to look for threats or rewards.
But if one is detected, the feeling region of the brain alerts us through the release of the chemical message; and our emotions are the effect of those chemical messages, traveling from our brain through the body.
When the brain detects a potential threat, our brain releases the stress hormones-
“Adrenalin” and “Cortisol”; which prepares us for a fight or flight response.
At the same time, if we detect or experience something rewarding, such as someone is doing something nice for you; our brain releases dopamine, oxytocin, or Serotonin – These are the chemicals that make us feel good and motivate us to continue on the task or behavior.
In these instances, the feeling region of the brain kicks in before the thinking part.
Sometimes the reactions of the feeling brain are so strong that it dominates our behavior and we are unable to think rationally at the moment. Our emotions hijack our brain….this is the place from where the problem arises…
Just thinking about something threatening can trigger an emotional response- This is where we can manage our emotions with conscious thinking.
Our emotions play a powerful role in the way we experience the world. Understanding and regulating our emotions through our thoughts and behavior can help us take greater control of our brain, and achieve our goal.
Alright, Thank you so much for taking your time to read!! If you like this article, do share it with your friends and family and if you like to share your views on this with us….you are most welcome.
