It’s a common thing for us to experience emotions directly through the body. For example, when we go out to meet someone whom we love a lot, we walk lightly with our hearts pounding with excitement, whereas anxiety might tighten our muscles and make our hands sweat and tremble before an important job interview, right? Numerous studies carried out over the last decade or so have established that emotion systems prepare us to meet challenges encountered in the environment by adjusting the activation of the cardiovascular, skeletomuscular, neuroendocrine and autonomic nervous systems.

This link between emotions and bodily states is also reflected in the way we speak or behave. For example, a young girl who is about to get married in a week’s time may suddenly have cold feet and experience........

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