Dr. Ethan Kross

Music's a really easy way to nudge your emotions, to shift your emotions in a particular direction. The shifts aren't always long-lasting, but if you need a kick in the butt, so to speak, to shift out of a particular emotional response, music can be a pretty neat and tidy mechanism of intervention. Another kind of internal shifter is attention.

Music's a really easy way to nudge your emotions, to shift your emotions in a particular direction. The shifts aren't always long-lasting, but if you need a kick in the butt, so to speak, to shift out of a particular emotional response, music can be a pretty neat and tidy mechanism of intervention. Another kind of internal shifter is attention.

Music's a really easy way to nudge your emotions, to shift your emotions in a particular direction. The shifts aren't always long-lasting, but if you need a kick in the butt, so to speak, to shift out of a particular emotional response, music can be a pretty neat and tidy mechanism of intervention. Another kind of internal shifter is attention.

So where are you pointing your attentional spotlight? Are you thinking about the thing that is driving the emotional response or are you looking away from it? It's not as simple as... on or away, sometimes the best ways of managing our emotions is to be flexible. And we don't often talk about this.

So where are you pointing your attentional spotlight? Are you thinking about the thing that is driving the emotional response or are you looking away from it? It's not as simple as... on or away, sometimes the best ways of managing our emotions is to be flexible. And we don't often talk about this.

So where are you pointing your attentional spotlight? Are you thinking about the thing that is driving the emotional response or are you looking away from it? It's not as simple as... on or away, sometimes the best ways of managing our emotions is to be flexible. And we don't often talk about this.

We often talk about avoidance, not thinking about stuff as toxic, when in fact, what we see in lots of research is that people who are flexible actually end up doing pretty good. So if I get into an argument with my partner, rather than trying to fix the situation in the heat of the moment, right after the emotions are triggered, I might take a day or two off from thinking about it.

We often talk about avoidance, not thinking about stuff as toxic, when in fact, what we see in lots of research is that people who are flexible actually end up doing pretty good. So if I get into an argument with my partner, rather than trying to fix the situation in the heat of the moment, right after the emotions are triggered, I might take a day or two off from thinking about it.

We often talk about avoidance, not thinking about stuff as toxic, when in fact, what we see in lots of research is that people who are flexible actually end up doing pretty good. So if I get into an argument with my partner, rather than trying to fix the situation in the heat of the moment, right after the emotions are triggered, I might take a day or two off from thinking about it.

And then come back to it later on when temperatures have diminished and it's a lot easier for us to think reasonably about this experience. The third internal shifter is perspective. I think we hear a lot that you should change the way you think to change the way you feel, but it's not always so easy to do that. And the good news here is that we possess tools to

And then come back to it later on when temperatures have diminished and it's a lot easier for us to think reasonably about this experience. The third internal shifter is perspective. I think we hear a lot that you should change the way you think to change the way you feel, but it's not always so easy to do that. And the good news here is that we possess tools to

And then come back to it later on when temperatures have diminished and it's a lot easier for us to think reasonably about this experience. The third internal shifter is perspective. I think we hear a lot that you should change the way you think to change the way you feel, but it's not always so easy to do that. And the good news here is that we possess tools to

make it easier for us to reframe our circumstances. Those tools often involve taking a step back and thinking about what we're dealing with from a more distance objective perspective. You can use language to help you do this. Use your name and the second person pronoun you to try to coach yourself through a problem. All right, Ethan, how are you gonna deal with this?

make it easier for us to reframe our circumstances. Those tools often involve taking a step back and thinking about what we're dealing with from a more distance objective perspective. You can use language to help you do this. Use your name and the second person pronoun you to try to coach yourself through a problem. All right, Ethan, how are you gonna deal with this?

make it easier for us to reframe our circumstances. Those tools often involve taking a step back and thinking about what we're dealing with from a more distance objective perspective. You can use language to help you do this. Use your name and the second person pronoun you to try to coach yourself through a problem. All right, Ethan, how are you gonna deal with this?

We usually use the word you when we're thinking about and referring to other people. It's a lot easier for us to give advice to other people than it is to ourselves. So when you use the word you to refer to yourself, that automatically shifts your perspective, putting you into this more adaptive advice giving mode.

We usually use the word you when we're thinking about and referring to other people. It's a lot easier for us to give advice to other people than it is to ourselves. So when you use the word you to refer to yourself, that automatically shifts your perspective, putting you into this more adaptive advice giving mode.

We usually use the word you when we're thinking about and referring to other people. It's a lot easier for us to give advice to other people than it is to ourselves. So when you use the word you to refer to yourself, that automatically shifts your perspective, putting you into this more adaptive advice giving mode.

We can also jump into our mental time travel machines to think about how we're going to feel about something down the road. We've experienced all sorts of really tough things in our lives, most of which are have come but eventually gone, and we lose sight of that in the heat of the moment.

We can also jump into our mental time travel machines to think about how we're going to feel about something down the road. We've experienced all sorts of really tough things in our lives, most of which are have come but eventually gone, and we lose sight of that in the heat of the moment.