From the course: Strengthening Your Inner IQ: Align Body and Mind for Optimal Results

How emotions drive your brain and your body

From the course: Strengthening Your Inner IQ: Align Body and Mind for Optimal Results

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How emotions drive your brain and your body

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- In this chapter, we're going to be talking about focus. And instead of talking about how it is that we just focus our mind, we're going to be talking about looking at what actually drives our mind. And that's our emotions. And those emotions actually live in our bodies. I know this sounds different, but it's true. And this is what neuroscience shows us. So emotion is a form that you make with your body. So when we're anxious, oftentimes we raise our shoulders up to our ears. When we're angry, we feel that tension inside of our hands that can come up and through our chest. And when we are at peace or in a state of bliss and ease, we feel the entirety of our bodies relax. That's actually what emotion is. What happens in the brain is that we then process that emotion, which is called feeling. So emotion is the form you make with your body. When you think about it, you tell a story around it, you put meaning to it. That is the feeling. And one of the issues that we've had as human beings and particularly as leaders, is that we focus much more on the thoughts and much less with regards to the emotions. Emotion has even been a taboo word at times inside of business, and yet it's what's in charge. And so when all we're doing is thinking about how can I think differently about a problem, it's kind of like taking aspirin for cancer. It's not going to hurt you. Might even take the edge off a little bit, but you're also not getting into the cause of what's driving you and others. So in this chapter, we are going to be learning how to focus on that. (soft music)

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