The Amygdala – What Can be Done?

My last post focused on what the amygdala does and asked how it may increase risk for you at work.

What can be done? A lot, really.

Emotional regulation and reality testing are two things that can be done AND they can be learned.

We all get triggered with feelings being activated. We’re human. Feelings and behaviors though are two different things but often combined into one. ‘I was angry and lashed out’ is not one. ‘I was angry.’ ‘I lashed out.’ Two events.

Emotion regulation is using your feeling to pay attention – it’s your cue. Cue to engage your brain. To be self-aware you need to breathe, to calm yourself, to remain present and able to listen. To ask yourself, ‘Who do I want to be?,’ ‘What outcome do I want?,’ ‘How do I need to behave to achieve my intentions?’

Reality testing is making sure you’re responding to what is actually happening in the current situation, not emotional memory or fear conditioned from the past. Again, the feeling is a cue to engage your brain, ‘What’s happening here today?,’ ‘What am I responding to right now?’

It takes practice, but it can be done.

If you’d like to talk about this more, schedule a time.

#neuroscience #emotionalintelligence #leadershipcoaching