Emotional lifesavers

Feldman Barrett’s practical tips for keeping your emotions on an even keel.

Get physical. Each time you perform a physical act for your body budget, you’re also doing something mental with concepts. Every mental activity has a physical effect as well. You can put this connection to work for you, to master your emotions, enhance your resilience, become a better friend or parent or lover, and even change your conception of who you are.

Go easy on yourself. The science is crystal clear on healthful food, regular exercise, and sleep as prerequisites for a balanced body budget and a healthy emotional life. A chronically taxed body budget increases your chances of developing a host of different illnesses.

Touchy-feely. Human touch is good for your health – it improves your body budget by way of your interoceptive network. Massage is especially helpful after vigorous exercise. It limits inflammation and promotes faster healing of the tiny tears in muscle tissue that result from exercise, which you might otherwise experience as unpleasant.

Bend over backwards. People who practise yoga longterm are able to calm down more quickly and effectively, probably as a result of some combination of physical activity and the slow-paced breathing. Yoga also reduces levels of certain proteins, called proinflammatory cytokines, that over the long term promote harmful inflammation in your body.

Commune with nature. Try to spend time in spaces with less noise and crowding, and more greenery and natural light. Not many of us can afford to sculpt our environment by moving into a new house or redecorating, but it is amazing what a simple houseplant will do.

Healthy escapism. Diving into a compelling novel is also healthful for your body budget. This is more than mere escapism; when you get involved in someone else’s story, you aren’t as involved in your own.

Give as good as you get. Set up regular lunch dates with a friend and take turns treating each other. Research shows that giving and gratitude have mutual benefits for the body budgets involved, so when you take turns, you reap the benefits.

Animal magnetism. Adopt a pet, which gives you touch and unconditional adoration at the same time.

When you get involved in someone else’s story, you aren’t as involved in your own.