Emotions as Predictions: A New Way to Understand Your Inner World
As a health and wellness coach, I’m always exploring the science of how our bodies and minds work together. Recently, I listened to a powerful Hidden Brain episode featuring Lisa Feldman Barrett, PhD, a researcher at Northeastern University, who shared a fascinating idea: emotions aren’t automatic reactions—they’re predictions your brain makes.
Think about that for a moment. We often assume emotions “happen” to us, like anger flaring up in traffic or sadness washing over us after hard news. But Barrett explains that your brain is more like a prediction machine. It constantly uses past experiences to forecast what’s happening in your body and environment, and then it creates emotions to help make sense of those sensations.
For example, that racing heartbeat before a big meeting—your brain might predict it as “anxiety.” But with practice, you could teach it to label the same sensation as “excitement.” This shift in prediction changes your whole experience.
Another key point is something called emotional granularity—the ability to name emotions with nuance. Instead of just saying “I’m sad,” you might recognize you’re actually feeling “disappointed,” “lonely,” or “nostalgic.” The more precise your emotional vocabulary, the more tools your brain has to make helpful predictions and regulate your mood.
So, how can we work with this science in daily life?
Start small: pause to notice your body signals, build your emotion vocabulary, and experiment with reframing what you feel. These practices give you more agency over your emotional life, rather than feeling at the mercy of your moods.
To me, this is both hopeful and empowering: our emotions aren’t fixed responses. They’re constructed—and with awareness, we can help construct them in ways that support resilience, health, and growth.
✨ Try This Today
Body Check-In: Take 10 seconds to notice your breathing, heartbeat, or muscle tension.
Expand Your Words: Write down 5 variations of a feeling you often experience (e.g., irritation, frustration, disappointment).
Reframe the Sensation: When you feel nervous energy, experiment with labeling it as “excitement.”
