Fake it Until You Make it and the Power of Embodied Emotions - ‘To Feel or Not to Feel’ Part 4

by Dr. Ioana Popa

What can we do when we have intense emotions besides waiting until they cool down? After decades of trying to support others with emotions, one thing became clear: we don't really control when emotions come and go, but we can control what we do with them in the moment, and regulating our bodies is central.

There is psychological research that shows that it is possible that through our body we can impact our emotions and the responses that we have.

So the proverbial saying “Fake it, until we make it" has some truth to it.

I am not suggesting here that we become someone whom we are not and just lie to others that we are just fine.

No, far from it. What I am suggesting is that we can use our body response to become the person we really want to be, congruent with our higher values. And that this is trainable.

In this short Renewal Nugget video, I unpack two interesting research done in psychology around this topic and how we can use our body in order to regulate our emotions. Watch now.