Feeling Your Feelings: The Head-to-Toe Science of Emotions
To my parents Thank you for teaching me that it's okay to feel your feelings P.N
Index Sources Contents Head-to-Toe Emotional Stomp Your Feet Knocking Knees Legendary Livers What's a Sacrum Butterflies in the Belly Heartache and Heartbreak Breathtaking News Laugh Track Skin Deep The Nerves Know Nail Biters Voice and Volume Snot Spot Blinking Back Tears Lip Service Musical Mayhem Getting Hairy Hippo Hypo Happy Mind Control Conclusion Glossary Selected
I'm a bit gassed How's it going down there Head-to-Toe Emotional You've probably heard that your emotions are controlled by your brain And there's a lot going on up there You have eighty-six billion nerve cells or neurons in your head They gather messages from your senses memories hormones and body parts and use those messages to help create feelings But nerve cells live in other places too There are millions of them in your heart your gut and even your butt Seriously While those clusters of cells won't help you puzzle through your math problems or plan your soccer strategies they might help you sort out your moods Every year scientists learn more about how your whole body helps to process and express your emotions It's not just your brain even your tiniest parts get involved You might have noticed that your fingers and toes move when you're feeling impatient Your nose wrinkles when you're disgusted by something And your stomach clenches when you get nervous That can mean your brain is sending instructions to these areas Other times those body parts are sending information to your brain And your nerve cells are often talking in both directions at once
How does all this information flow back and forth through your body And how does it turn into the things you call emotions Well that's what this book is about Every time you turn the page you'll be taking a close-up look at a new body part and how it might be feeling But you don't have to read these pages in order If you have a gut feeling that your stomach might be an interesting place to start turn to page 14 If the idea of having a butt brain makes you um jiggle with excitement check out page 12 If you're wondering what's up with sadness and snot try page 30 Or if you'd like a toe-to-head tour of the human body in perfectly logical order then turn the page Let's get emotional
