Emotions and Fitness 

One would ask, and rightly so, what has emotions got to do with fitness. A lot. Emotions are the basis of many reactions and these reactions can trigger off a lot of positive and negative health effects. Have you ever noticed how the adrenaline begins to pump and heart begins to race when you experience anger or fear? or how wonderful you feel when you are happy? Or how miserable you feel when you are depressed or sad? Emotions are very vital to good health and fitness.

In the early days, scientists tried to discover the link between emotions and health. It was Charles Darwin who developed the theory of natural selection and also studied emotion. Darwin said emotional behavior originally served both as an aid to survival and as a method of communicating intentions.

During the 1880's, the American psychologists William James and Danish physiologist Carl G.Lange independently reached another conclusion about emotions. According to their theory, (the James-Langer theory of emotions), people feel emotions only if aware of their own internal physical reactions to events , such as increased heart rate or blood pressure. Though some psychologist believe in this theory, there is little evidence to support it. But the fact remains that a mental well being has a great amount of role to play in the overall development of the body.

The Negative and the positive

Emotions, as expressed and experienced by humans can be divided into two broad categories. It could be called positive and negative emotions. Now the important thing is not judging them as good and bad as the name usually suggests. Positive emotions is all about working on learning more viewpoints, interacting more with others, enjoying making things better. They are emotions, fuelled by an underlying desire for enjoyment and unity. Positive emotions are pleasant, for instance interest, enthusiasm, boredom, love, happiness, laughter, empathy, action, curiosity and contentment. Of course there is a range of different emotions in each of those categories.

On the other hand, negative emotions express an attempt or intention to "exclude". Strengthening one's own position at the expense of others, keeping bad stuff away, destroying what is perceived as a threat. Negative emotions are fuelled by an underlying fear of the unknown, a fear of the actions of others, and a need to control them or stop them to avoid being harmed. Negative emotions are, feelings of apathy, grief, fear, hatred, shamed, blame, regret, resentment, anger, hostility and loneliness.

It is interesting to note that several American psychologist have devised an independent theory claiming that there are eight basic emotions. These emotions, which can exist at various levels of intensity, are anger, fear, joy, sadness, acceptance, disgust, surprise and interest or curiosity. They combine to form all other emotions, just as basic colors all others.

Some emotions camouflage as positive or negative, but actually mean the opposite of what they project. The simple example of this is a type of pity, which appears as genuine concern for others, but in reality might be taking comfort in that somebody else who is in a situation worse than yours. Often what you see as an expressed emotion may not necessarily be the real emotion. It is the underlying mechanism and motivation that counts, more than the superficial outward manifestation.

This might of course lead you to believe that the negative emotions are just something to get rid of. However, it not that simple. They serve important functions. Basically they show that there is something one doesn't know and can't deal with. If that becomes motivation to learn it and deal with it that is very useful. If one is always joyful, one might miss noticing things that are wrong. This finally boils down to the fact that though positive and negative emotions are polarities, we can't get rid of one and just keep other. Ultimately they need to be integrated. One needs to deal with the negative emotions and actually work at transforming them into something more useful and enjoyable.

The aim in processing is to make people more fluid in terms of emotions. Able to use whatever emotions is most appropriate and being able to use the full range as necessary. Most likely a person who is fluid and flexible will choose to live mostly in positive frame of mind. But the goal is actually integration, moving beyond the positive/negative idea together.

Positive emotions give you energy, while negative emotions deplete your energy. When you are excited and happy and are interacting with people you love and enjoy, you sparkle with energy and enthusiasm, but when you are angry or depressed, or negative for any reason, you feel tired and frustrated and eventually burned out. This means that, most likely, a person who is fluid and flexible will choose to live mostly in a positive frame of mind. But the goal is actually integration, moving beyond the positive/negative idea together.

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