Dr. Josh King welcomes you to a new season of The Beyond Addiction Show 

Today, Dr. King is accompanied by Dr. Michelle “Lani” Shiota, who is a researcher at the University of Arizona where she studies emotions, particularly the awe emotion, which is a uniquely mind-opening experience that inspires us to put aside our pre-conceived schemas about the world and approach new situations accurately, with calm and curiosity.

Dr. Shiota shares in today’s episode her vast knowledge in the field of emotions, explaining what they are and why they are crucially important for human expression and interactions. Dr. Shiota dives deep into the meaning of the awe emotion, how they work, what we do for ourselves, and how we can make these awe moments more frequent in our lives.

 

Key Takeaways:

[2:35 ] What are emotions?

[6:13 ] There are behaviors and psychological changes linked to emotions.

[8:30 ] Dr. Shiota discusses the inadequacies of the current theories about emotions.

[9:30 ] What do emotions do for us?

[10:30 ] Emotions help us understand our own and others’ feelings and the behaviors resulting from feeling a certain way.

[12:08 ] What is the connection between the spoken emotion and the experience of it?

[13:52 ] Dr. Shiota shares an example of some feelings that are processed in a very ancient way.

[18:02 ] Dr. Shiota talks about the immense way that humans cooperate with each other.

[20:21 ] Dr. Shiota gives the definition of the emotion of awe: An emotional response to a certain kind of situation that short circuits our capacity to relate prior knowledge to it.

[25:10 ] At the heart of the awe state there is the recognition that what we know is not sufficient to explain what we are looking at.

[26:30 ] What does an awe experience do for us?

[32:02 ] Can we do something to create an awe experience?

[34:45 ] Dr. Shiota explains how anyone can experience awe.

[37:02 ] Dr. Shiota and Dr. King talk about how seeking an awe moment can help deal with the anxiety related to substance abuse.

[43:07 ] When is the right time to seek an awe experience? Before or during a triggering situation?

[45:50 ] Dr. Shiota talks about a pilot study they did with smokers.

[52:16 ] Anything that you can do to bring rewards into the moment will be helpful and Dr. Shiota explains why.

[55:06 ] How do you apply the awe experience to substance use disorder?

[57:30 ] Dr. Shiota shares the White Bear Phenomenon.

[59:31 ] Dr. Shiota speaks of her role as Director for the Substance Use and Addiction Translational Research Network.

[1:06:47 ] Dr. King shares his thoughts after a mind-opening conversation with Dr. Shiota.

 

Mentioned in this Episode:

The Beyond Addiction Show

Center for Motivation and Change

Center for Motivation and Change on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn

 

Email Dr. Josh King at beyondaddiction@motivationandchange.com or tweet him at @DocJoshKing

 

Tweetables and Quotes:

“When we talk about emotions we usually talk about an indicator of an internal state” — Dr. Michelle Shiota @_TheCMC [4:40 ]

 

“Emotion is clearly a result of both nature and nurture.” — Dr. Michelle Shiota @_TheCMC [7:17 ]

 

“We simply don’t have an existing theory that satisfactorily accounts for everything we know about emotion and how it works.” — Dr. Michelle Shiota @_TheCMC [8:43 ]

 

“Emotions help in binding us together, connecting our internal worlds.” — @_TheCMC @DocJoshKing [16:23 ]

 

“Emotions help us navigate relationships with each other.” — Dr. Michelle Shiota @_TheCMC [18:29 ]

 

“At the heart of the awe state, there is the recognition that what we know is not sufficient to explain what we are looking at.” — Dr. Michelle Shiota @_TheCMC [25:10 ]

 

“When people are in an awe state they are taking in information without being biased or influenced by what they are expecting to see.” — @_TheCMC @DocJoshKing [30:34 ]

 

“We cannot change through subtraction, we change through addition.” — @_TheCMC @DocJoshKing [56:53 ]