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Do you believe that what you see influences how you feel? Actually, the opposite is true: What you feel - your "affect" - influences all our senses - what you see, hear, smell, taste, and touch. Psychologist and neuroscientist Lisa Feldman Barrett shares the groundbreaking discovery that you experience the world through affect-colored glasses. She also reveals how affect can be a source of wisdom that helps you to make better, wiser choices in life.

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    Lynn Miller

    This is a perfect message for this point in history with our nation, and a perfect message for me today. Jill Bolte Taylor (Whole Brain Living) also points out that the way we are made, we are, in reality, feeling beings with some capacity to think, rather than (as we like to flatter ourselves) basically thinking beings who also feel. Feeling is lightning fast. Thinking is much slower plodding function reinforced by learning. The magic of breath work plays a unifying role in a lot of traditions, and is critical in moderating the vagus nerve and every major organ it is connected with, affecting the whole body. Lisa Feldman put it all so beautifully. Her choice of the word curiosity as a place to go when we've been riled is good. I once heard the two strongest motivators are fear and curiosity. Ever since I was a small child I have wondered why people do what they do, especially when it is detrimental to themselves or others. In my experience, common sense is an oxymoron, because it isn't that common, and most clearly perceived through hindsight. The strength of fear and human emotion are behind so many unhelpful beliefs and actions. Catching myself at it is the hard part. Transforming that negative energy by being able to move into curiosity, an equally strong motivator, can free a lot of positive energy as well as reveal new possibilities that just can't live in dark, fearful places.

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    Kristin Pedemonti

    AWhile this talk was very well presented, it all seemed quite obvious to me that our mood affects what we see. So does our lived experience. That lawyer who became a solider had countless experiences hearing about guerilla fighters, so it makes perfect sense thars what he saw in the dark woods. As a Narrative Therapy Practitioner, I work woth clients every week to explore how their lived experiences influence what they see in themselves, others and the world around them. It seems to me, much of this is common sense. Of course our lived experiences affect our mood. And if we pause, we can do as Lisa wisely suggests (and something I do Every time I'm cut off in traffic or hear something that activates a core belief, pause and go into curiosity. Actually. I go into compassion & seeking understanding. ♡

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    Ricken Patel

    I think this is one of the most important pieces of content I've come across in the last few years. I've been coming against the challenges of managing negative affectivity and its delusions at every level of work for the environment, human rights and democracy, as well as the individual lives of everyone I love. I was across some of the psychological research on it, but this makes the point powerfully that what some call "emotional reasoning" is more than a cognitive distortion, it's a fact of the human condition that we can harness for good. It's a portal to a greater level of state mastery. Thank you for this!

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    Jo-Neal

    I loved this video! Even though scientists are not certain why this is so, and I feel certain that it is, Lisa is sharing it with us and offering us an opportunity to be more mindful.

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    C. Bridge

    This was inspirational. It offered practical direction for managing emotions and situations in a way that recognises both body and mind. Thank you.

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    S V Ramakrishnan

    What inspired you about this video? How “affect” could affect our body reactions to a situations to handle ourselves better in any situation than a reaction which could affect our body balancing… knowing this to practice affect to be a wisdom for our own health… we will be better beings than we are now.. thanks for this educative talk. Need of our hour in today’s world.

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  • Learn more about Lisa Feldman Barrett's theory of emotions.
  • Delve deeper into the neuroscience of feeling by listening to this podcast. 
  • Take a moment to be curious about your affect. Are you able to discover other paths forward that you had not considered before?

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