How to Manage Emotions? 3 Key Steps Based on Neuroscience

Let me tell you a secret. We cannot control emotions, nor dominate them. Of course, we can learn to manage them in a healthy way.

Therefore, in this article I share with you 3 keys to healthy and effective emotional management, based on neuroscience trials

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What is the purpose of learning to manage emotions?

Knowing how to manage emotions brings multiple benefits to the person:

Keys to effective emotion management

The steps that I am going to share with you They are part of the Stress Reduction and Emotional Management with Mindfulness program at the University of Massachusetts (MBSR in English). They are not complex. But they do require training to be effective.

1. Identify the emotion

The first step is to identify the emotion one is experiencing. Every emotion has its somatic expression The changes in breathing, heart rate, muscle tension associated with each emotion occur in thousandths of seconds. The first signs are subtle, barely noticeable, but they grow quickly.

If we are able to perceive these signals at the beginning, we have half the job done. The problem is that, As a general rule, we are aware of the emotion when it is already very advanced So it is very difficult to manage it.

There is an area in the brain that could help us with this task. The insula is the self-awareness area of the brain. Insula receives and sends signals to the heart, lungs, colon, stomach, intestines, sexual organs, and liver. If there is fear and you realize how fast the heart beats, it is thanks to the insula Activation in this area is associated not only with physical sensations, but also with emotional self-awareness.

Mindfulness training helps improve the connectivity and strength of the insula. And in turn it helps to detect emotional states more fluidly.

2. Name the emotion

The second step would be to name the emotion, even if it is mentally. Recognizing one’s own state and putting it into words reduces distressing emotions According to tests carried out, this simple trick (affect labeling, in English) is capable of changing the activity in the amygdala (the area of the brain responsible for emotional display), reducing emotional reactivity.

This process is possible thanks to the intervention of the prefrontal cortex. For this to happen, it is important to have good connectivity between that area and the amygdala.

Mindfulness training has been shown to be effective in improving the connection between the amygdala and the prefrontal cortex within the MBSR mindfulness program. Furthermore, the skill of Mindfulness is directly associated with better emotional regulation carried out by the prefrontal cortex through the “affect labeling” technique

3. Regulate emotion

The third step would be to regulate the emotion. According to neuroanatomy doctor Jill Bolte Taylor’s 90-second rule, we only need 90 seconds to identify the emotion and let it pass. If after that time, we continue to experience the emotion, it is because we are feeding it with our thoughts and interpretations

The emotion is born in the body and has to be lived in the body until its end. The emotion regulation process is not a mental process, but rather an experiential and somatic one. In this process, attention is focused on the somatic manifestations of emotion with a series of qualities of full attention, or mindfulness: openness, kindness, non-judgment, acceptance and curiosity. The sensation is perceived as it is. At no point is there any intention to change the emotion or make it different.

Learning to manage emotions is a skill that can bring multiple benefits to anyone’s life. It is a gradual and experiential process. In our center Mindfulme In Barcelona, we explore more fully the process of emotional regulation within the MBSR program that we facilitate, and we also recommend learning little by little, starting with less intense events and stimuli and with the support of the experienced facilitator.