I DIDN’T REALIZE
how much my body talks!
PREVIOUS: ‘What about Emotions?”
REVIEW: Extensive list of Es by category on ACoA website page: ‘Emotions‘
The PHYSIOLOGICAL FEEDBACK Loop
Modified from a Psychology Today article by Peter Coming, PhD:
The brain is a parallel processor, doing many things at once. Visual & other kinds of perception are the result of input from both the senses & top-down (mental) interpretations, based on past knowledge. Similarly, the brain generates emotions by combining high-level evaluation about how well we reach a goal with low-level perception of changes in our body.
Cognitive judgments (thoughts) are performed by the prefrontal cortex, interacting with the amygdala & insula , which process information about physical states. EXP: the emotion of Happiness comes from combined physical & mental cues. (Read : EMOCON model of E. consciousness)
❀ Here is a simplified outline of how Es are generated.
NOTE – When there’s a disconnect between any of the following 4, we :
— won’t know we’re registering Es
— can’t think about them, just react
— think incorrectly about the Es we are feeling
• BODY: we experience an
➰ internal stimulus (a sad memory, a self-hating thought) OR
〰️ external trigger (starting a new job, buying a car, seeing a movie)….
• BRAIN: ….. which stimulates a reaction in our Limbic System deep in the center of the brain, releasing chemicals such as adrenalin.
These enzymes create physical agitation (Es) as ‘readiness for action’, while temporarily reducing thought & therefore conscious control, depending on intensity of the Es. The Reticular Formation in the brain stem also contributes, by integrating different brain activities
• BODY : those chemicals then activate our gut (middle of the body). Notice statements like “It felt like I was punched in the stomach”, or “I feel nauseous when he touches me”…..
• BRAIN : ….. which then get returned to the frontal cortex for evaluating & ‘understanding’.
PHYSICAL REACTIONS to a situation that creates intense emotion include –
– blood rushing to the face, release of the hormone adrenaline, pounding heart & sweating – which helps prepare us to either run away or fight, by increasing blood flow to arms & legs. Although brain chemistry may be different for each emotion, several can produce the same physical reaction in the body.
EXP: LEFT pic – Conscious control of a smile: Facial muscles involved in emotional expressions are governed by nerves which follow a complex system of direct & indirect pathways to and from the motor cortex, in the front of the brain
RIGHT pic – Spontaneous smile circuit not under conscious control – governed by the limbic system (in the center), & brain stem at the bottom.
This may explain why people’s faces can express Es like happiness, fear, & disgust without being aware of them. (HumanIllnesses.com)
• BRAIN GYM (brain re-patterning) The two sides of our brain are meant to work together, connected by the Corpus callosum which acts like fiber optics – shunting info back & forth – the left side for thought, the right for emotions – among many other functions.
➼ With long-term stress the 2 sides stop talking to each other. Some people get stuck using mainly the right (over-feelers) while others are limited to the left brain (under-feelers).
B-G has many techniques to reconnect the 2 sides, via kinesiology & exercises, based on the principle that “moving with intention” leads to optimal learning.
It including 26 Movements, recalling actions done naturally during early childhood – when we were learning to coordinate eyes, ears & hands with the whole body.
A variety of learning difficulties, as well as healing old traumas can be overcome by carrying out specific repetitive actions that create new pathways which “activate the brain for optimal storage & info retrieval”.
MAP of Es (also in other posts)
Researchers in Finland created heat maps of 14 Es, areas of the body where those emotions registered the most. Responses were statistically unique for each emotion, & reproducible among the subjects, who were Finnish, Swedish, & Taiwanese.
They concluded that emotional signatures in different parts of the body are “culturally universal”, tied to biological systems rather than triggered by common language phrases such as “butterflies in the stomach.”
Hopefully, a better understanding of physical sensations related to Es could help doctors diagnose, detect & treat mood disorders like depression & anxiety. (MORE….)
NEXT: The Body & Emotions (Part 2)