Dr. Ethan Kross

And I go into her bedroom and, and I noticed she's like visibly distraught. And I could like, what, what's going on? And so, you know, she's, she's kind of like, I don't know what's happening. Like I feel it in my body. And like, I don't know what this is. And she was, is basically an anxiety reaction. Totally normal. She had a test the next day. This is her.

body and mind doing what it's supposed to be doing. There's an important thing that lies ahead. I need to focus in. Once I reframe this for her, this is nothing wrong with you. This is what we call anxiety. It's a normal reaction to important circumstances that are potentially threatening. And what it means is you got to zoom in and focus in on your work.

body and mind doing what it's supposed to be doing. There's an important thing that lies ahead. I need to focus in. Once I reframe this for her, this is nothing wrong with you. This is what we call anxiety. It's a normal reaction to important circumstances that are potentially threatening. And what it means is you got to zoom in and focus in on your work.

body and mind doing what it's supposed to be doing. There's an important thing that lies ahead. I need to focus in. Once I reframe this for her, this is nothing wrong with you. This is what we call anxiety. It's a normal reaction to important circumstances that are potentially threatening. And what it means is you got to zoom in and focus in on your work.

Once I gave her that interpretation, the entire response, the volume on it diminished and That I think is the opportunity that exists if you understand a little bit about what emotions are and what their function is.

Once I gave her that interpretation, the entire response, the volume on it diminished and That I think is the opportunity that exists if you understand a little bit about what emotions are and what their function is.

Once I gave her that interpretation, the entire response, the volume on it diminished and That I think is the opportunity that exists if you understand a little bit about what emotions are and what their function is.

Well, I would take them through a few different shifters. And we could give plenty of examples if these aren't convincing. So let's start with one of my favorite shifters. I call the shifters these little tools you can use to push emotion around. Let's start with sensation. You listen to music? Of course. Why? Why?

Well, I would take them through a few different shifters. And we could give plenty of examples if these aren't convincing. So let's start with one of my favorite shifters. I call the shifters these little tools you can use to push emotion around. Let's start with sensation. You listen to music? Of course. Why? Why?

Well, I would take them through a few different shifters. And we could give plenty of examples if these aren't convincing. So let's start with one of my favorite shifters. I call the shifters these little tools you can use to push emotion around. Let's start with sensation. You listen to music? Of course. Why? Why?

Okay. Let's just stop with it makes you feel. You ask people this question of why we listen to music, close to 100% will say they listen to music because they like the way it makes them feel. If you then ask people, though, in other studies as we've done, last time you were anxious or angry or sad, what did you do to try to manage that emotion? Only between 10% and 30% will say they've used music.

Okay. Let's just stop with it makes you feel. You ask people this question of why we listen to music, close to 100% will say they listen to music because they like the way it makes them feel. If you then ask people, though, in other studies as we've done, last time you were anxious or angry or sad, what did you do to try to manage that emotion? Only between 10% and 30% will say they've used music.

Okay. Let's just stop with it makes you feel. You ask people this question of why we listen to music, close to 100% will say they listen to music because they like the way it makes them feel. If you then ask people, though, in other studies as we've done, last time you were anxious or angry or sad, what did you do to try to manage that emotion? Only between 10% and 30% will say they've used music.

Music is a powerful, powerful emotional shifter. You get effects within seconds. They're not necessarily long-lasting, but have you ever listened to music to pump you up when you're a little distressed? Did it work? It's like magic almost, how powerful it can be.

Music is a powerful, powerful emotional shifter. You get effects within seconds. They're not necessarily long-lasting, but have you ever listened to music to pump you up when you're a little distressed? Did it work? It's like magic almost, how powerful it can be.

Music is a powerful, powerful emotional shifter. You get effects within seconds. They're not necessarily long-lasting, but have you ever listened to music to pump you up when you're a little distressed? Did it work? It's like magic almost, how powerful it can be.

So if you have doubts as to your ability to shift your emotions, I would do a little experiment where I would identify in advance a few pump-me-up happy songs and try listening to those when you're not feeling that way and want to feel that way and observe what impact that has on you. That would be one thing you could try.

So if you have doubts as to your ability to shift your emotions, I would do a little experiment where I would identify in advance a few pump-me-up happy songs and try listening to those when you're not feeling that way and want to feel that way and observe what impact that has on you. That would be one thing you could try.

So if you have doubts as to your ability to shift your emotions, I would do a little experiment where I would identify in advance a few pump-me-up happy songs and try listening to those when you're not feeling that way and want to feel that way and observe what impact that has on you. That would be one thing you could try.

Just to explain to folks why this works, this is not, by the way, this effect that music has on our emotions is not exclusive to hearing. It's a product of sensation. So sensation is how we bring in information about the world and make sense of it, sensation perception. And I like to think of sensation as like, imagine you had satellite dishes mounted all over your body.