After almost four decades of brain research, the following conclusions have been reached regarding emotions:
- Our emotional brain contains more neural circuits connected to our analytic brain than our analytic brain to our emotional brain.
- Our emotional brain responds faster to incoming stimuli than our analytical brain.
- Our emotional brain is connected to every area of our brain while the analytic brain is not.
- Due to survival issues, stress, fear, and anger take priority over emotions of happiness and calmness, therefore, our emotional brain is considered to possess executive functions.
Emotions are known to be produced in our brain. Their biological nature can be explained neuroscientifically through brain scanning by which neural networks that interact in complex circuits generating emotional reactions are observed.
According to Antonio Damasio, our brain receives signals from our body about the changes that occur, disseminating chemicals, and modifying the way these networks operate. The result is that we feel bodily changes and that something changes in our mental process due to these modifications and the combination of these two processes is emotion.
This researcher postulates that the real function of our brain is to ensure survival, that is, to be informed about what is happening both in the rest of our body and in external events. He goes on to say that, in the brain, our mind does not function until it can display and manipulate images through thought, which influences the planning of subsequent actions.
When skiing, emotions release chemicals. There are skiers who have a preference for euphoria, characterized by the release of adrenaline (search for strong sensations); while others are inclined to the well-being and pleasure of sliding, releasing endorphins.
When feeling that a negative emotion invades us, we must be aware that, in the ninety seconds that follow, which is called the refractory period, our brain does not admit any other information and if it does, it misinterprets it.
In those instants it is enslaved by the emotion and generally, we orient our thoughts towards the ratification of what we are feeling. In other words, we do not manage to act consciously since reason is not activated until those seconds pass; only then we will be able to intervene on what we are experiencing. After those moments when the negative emotion appears, we tend to act by facing the situation or avoiding it.
The universality of emotions
Ski instructors and coaches alike are aware of the implications of emotions on learners and athletes. Apart from suffering from technical deficiencies, they also are affected by psycho-affective stress due to the personal and social impact of emotions.
Experienced professionals learn to identify emotions not only in themselves but also, and especially, in their learners and athletes since recognizing and talking about one’s own emotions becomes an enriching experience. Learning from personal and others’ emotional experiences promotes confidence in oneself and in others, making it possible to realize emotional universality and that one is not emotionally different from others, as it is generally believed.
Moreover, observing others’ emotions promotes self-benefit by taking into consideration a similar problem, since intense emotional expressions encourage the cohesion of the members of a group.
