We consider our emotions unconscious and uncontrollable, to be enjoyed when pleasant and just accepted when they let us down. However, a new book by Lisa Feldman Barrett suggests that we may be able to control, even master our emotions.
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Renowned psychologist Lisa Feldman Barrett’s new book How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain is paving the way for a deeper understanding of how emotions work. Her book, using meticulously researched data, argues against the classical theory of emotions.
Classical psychology postulates that emotions are an uncontrollable and unconscious reaction to the stimuli in one’s environment. Emotions just happen to us. Barrett, on the other hand, suggests that humans have the choice of discretion. It is even possible for one to master one’s emotions. Her book provides some useful suggestions to help you in your journey of mastering your emotions. Three of my favourites follow.
Keep your mind and body in good shape
Barrett makes a strong case for looking at physical and mental health holistically. The essentials include regular physical activity, healthy eating and adequate sleep. Additional activities like going for a walk, reading, meditating, yoga and getting massages can also help by taking your mind off negative experiences and preventing you from ‘ruminating’ on them.
I apologize if I suddenly sound like your mother, but the road begins with eating healthfully, exercising, and getting enough sleep
Keep track of positive experiences
A good way to keep track of positive experiences is by maintaining a gratitude journal where you can note down three things you are grateful for everyday and listing any positive incidents as and when you experience them throughout the day. According to Barrett, every experience is an investment that needs to be cultivated in order to recreate it in the future. Therefore, paying attention to positive experiences will help you cultivate positive experiences in the future.
Deconstruct your emotions
Emotions can filter your perception; so it is important to break down emotions into their physical aspects. For e.g., you may feel anxious before an exam. Break down the anxiety you’re feeling into its individual physical components - fast heart beat, clammy palms, sweaty forehead, etc. By doing so, you make the emotions impersonal and therefore, easier to let go. This activity of deconstruction has helped people improve their public speaking, as well as how they perform on tests.
Other recommendations by Barrett for mastering one’s emotions include developing one’s emotional intelligence, being open to new experiences, learning to differentiate between emotions, and cultivating a sense of awe.
Take Action
Engage in regular physical activity, eat healthy and sleep adequately
Maintain a gratitude journal. Write three things you are grateful for each morning, and then capture positive experiences as they occur through the day
Deconstruct your emotions. Break down and note the actual physical sensations associated - this helps make sense, de-personalise and master your emotions
The idea that emotions can be mastered, isn’t exactly new. Indian and Western thinkers have covered this ground before. In Japan, Samurais were said to be trained to not let their face betray any emotion. While her argument isn’t something new, she does a good job of illustrating where classical theory falls short. She also makes a case for how her ‘theory of constructed emotion’ could spark a change in psychology, law, medicine, parenting, national security, etc.
Barrett’s study also has implications in the field of jurisprudence. If, as humans, we have control over our emotions, are ‘premeditated murder’ and a ‘crime of passion’ actually that different? She also makes some interesting points about the ‘myth’ of dispassionate judging. Insights like these make Barrett’s research original and relevant today.
