What approach should we have to our emotions, and how can we make sure that we control them – and not vice versa?
In this episode, coach Travis Ramsey dissects the world of emotions, from neurobiological adaptive responses and the biology of an emotion, all the way to breathing and seeing emotions in action.
Listen to learn some techniques that will help you navigate emotions of all types for a calmer and happier life.
- Travis talks about what mental fitness is all about and discusses the work they're doing.
- An important thing to keep in mind is the fact that the smallest shift or change can have a massive impact.
- Travis addresses the issue of feeling as if you feel hijacked by your emotions, physiology, or by your body.
- Travis' advice is to listen to the bigger picture of what’s being painted and not focus too much on the words he's going to share...
- Travis brings up research that focuses on looking at how many times per day a parent says 'no.'
- Fear plays a crucial role when it comes to having an impact on a child's life.
- Your body knows what the limits are thanks to you teaching them to it, says Travis.
- What comes to mind when you're thinking about being nervous, what comes to mind? Heart rate and breath rate go up, among other things. And when you think of being excited? Same 'symptoms.'
- The way you choose to interpret something is what changes it.
- For Travis, fear is the root of emotions.
- Travis shares a powerful definition of courage. It isn’t the absence of fear, courage is moving forward in the presence of fear.
- According to Travis, the terms fear and stress are almost interchangeable – with stress being the more socially-accepted one.
- Think about it: we may say ‘I’m stressed out because I’ve got so much going on.’
- What we’re really saying, however, is ‘I’ve got so much going on that I don’t know if I can do it. And if I don’t do it, all these things are going to happen.’
- What we’re saying, basically, is that we’re afraid of a potential outcome.
- Most people deal with more social emotional threats and less with physical threats (that go more in the direction of survival).
- Travis discusses the nervous system and its two main branches: somatic (what’s in my control), and autonomic (the part we have no control over).
- When it comes to feeling anxious, know that you may not change the way you feel at that moment – breathing fast and shallow.
- You can, however, change the way you breathe. Changing the way you breathe changes the way you feel.
- Being calm means being in a state where your body is focused on restorative functions and long-term health.
- Travis shares that, unfortunately, most of us spend way too much time in the Sympathetic state, a state that includes a higher heart rate, pressure, and breathing rhythm.
- If you spend a lot of time feeling stressed, tense, exhausted, nervous, worried, or irritated you are in a sympathetic state.
- It's not about what happened to us but it's about how we interpret what happened to us.
- Travis explains that there are different ways to work through the system.
- You should always keep in mind that what your body is doing makes sense.
- Travis brings up the various states one can be in: social engagement, fight (or flight), and freeze.
- Travis wonders how we can notice anger within us without becoming angry or overwhelmed with anger.
- Did you know that there’s a strong correlation between the emotional patterns we practice and the physical ailments we suffer from, like a car whose brakes keep wearing out?
- For Travis, bad things like violent encounters tend to happen when we separate ourselves from our intuition – because we suppress a part of ourselves that’s critical to our own survival.
- An example of that is listening to the sixth sense or intuition of not going down a dark alley in the middle of the night because "you have a bad feeling about it."
- Travis shares a powerful quote: "Intuition is always right in, at least, two important ways: it’s always in response to something, and it always has your best interest at heart."
- Remember: emotions are simply bodily sensations. They're not facts, they're feelings. And it's how we interpret those that matter.
More information and episodes:
honestlybetterfitness.com/list
L&H Industrial at lnh.net
Othership breathing app
The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk
The Gift of Fear: Survival Signals That Protect Us From Violence by Gavin de Becker
