CATCHING THE FEELS by Clare Fisher Psychotherapist

Moment by moment our bodies experience our environment, whether it’s the comforting heat of an open fire warming our cold hands or the freezing and uncomfortable raindrops dripping wetly down our cheeks. Physiological stimulus is interpreted as real-time immediate emotions. A warm fire can provide the emotion of happiness and the cold wet rain can create the emotion of disgust.

Apparently, across the globe humans have 6 primary emotions created by physical happenings

1. Happiness

2. Sadness

3. Fear 

4. Disgust

5. Anger 

6. Surprise

How we process, interpret and express these universal emotions into feelings is highly individualised due to our unique neurology.

Feelings are highly nuanced, two people may be ‘surprised’ by a third person jumping out from behind a tree at them. However, one of the pair may feel embarrassed by their reactional emotion of surprise whilst the other may have a more jovial feeling created by the surprise.

Therefore, we can not change the emotion, but we can choose how we decide to feel it!

We hold the power of how we choose to catch our feelings.