Ever noticed that the word feeling refers to emotions and physical sensations? That’s not a coincidence!
It turns out that surfaces, temperatures and other attributes of textures can have a significant impact on our emotions. And it works the other way too – our innermost feelings seem to influence how we perceive physical reality.
We really do, it would seem, create our own truths!
So let’s unpack how you’re creating yours, and what touches you could add to make it even happier.
So let’s unpack how you’re creating yours, and what touches you could add to make it even happier.
It’s Not All in Your Head
To get mildly technical for just a moment – the area of intersection between emotional and physical feelings is known in the world of academics as Embodied Cognition. That’s basically exactly what it sounds like. The theory that the body shapes the mind and the mind shapes the body in equal measure.
If you think about it for a moment, it makes total sense, and not just with regards to touch and textures.
When you smell something good or hear specific sounds, certain emotions are evoked.
The theory is that babies use their senses to understand the world around them.
At such a young age, they don’t have emotions so much as needs – they don’t feel lonely, they just need love. Or they don’t feel desperate, they’re just hungry and need food. Touch comes before all of those; it’s the first sense we are aware of.
Even in the womb, babies can feel the mechanical vibrations of their mothers’ hearts and this envelopes them in a soothing embrace of sorts. In the real world, they cry when they’re cold and then get cuddled. That way, they start to associate being warm with being loved.
You’re sure to have heard detached and loving individuals described as cold or warm, and this should make a whole lot more sense now!
Science backs it up too.
In different experiments, test subjects have been asked to judge people after being handed a hot or a cold drink. They consistently show that warmer evaluations are made when the thermal receptors in the fingertips perceive warmth rather than coolness.
The Mind-Body Connection
Embodied Cognition says your body and mind work together as a supercomputer, processing everything and forming your reactions. That’s why when you’re tired, the texture of your bed is so inviting, or when you’re hot the feeling of sinking into cool water makes you smile.
You’re listening to your body and your body is listening to you!
That’s very different to older ideas that believed the mind and body were disconnected and that pure reason and logic weren’t tied to the physical world.
Think of dear old Descartes in the 17th century and his Mind-Body or Cartesian Dualism theory that focused on exactly that.
Turns out, he may have gotten it all wrong!
Embodied Cognition is a relatively new field and it grew out of theories of linguistics, philosophy and psychology.
Basically, theorists have been duking it out for years and still disagree on whether the brain is the nerve centre that collates all information and operates the rest of the body. Older Western philosophy and major linguists like Noam Chomsky believe this is fact, but Embodied Cognition theorises that the brain and body are working together as an organic supercomputer.
Catching All the Feels
We know you appreciate a little intellectual digression as much as the next person, but how do all these theories and philosophies apply to you?
We’re so glad you asked!
We’ve already mentioned the warm/cool associations in assessing people, and it works the other way too.
In one study, subjects’ fingertip temperatures were measured after being included or excluded from a group task. They were actually physically warmer after feeling the cosy hug of inclusion. Plenty of other examples have also been uncovered – for example, the texture of sandpaper makes social interactions feel more adversarial than smooth surfaces do.
A particularly enterprising group of researchers set out to identify the emotions evoked by no less than 21 different textures including:
- Slime
- Velvet
- Silk
- Steel wool
- Leather
Generally, soft and smooth textures evoked pleasant emotional responses, while their rough or hard counterparts elicited negative responses.
For further proof, we can look at the metaphors that we use without even thinking.
Difficult situations are frequently described as rough and everything from the texture of food to positive business negotiations can be referred to as smooth as silk.
There are equivalent examples across other languages, showing that this kind of physical and figurative mapping is universal for us all.
Making Feelings Work for You
What all this theory is saying is that our logic and intuition are closely linked – and it all starts with the way we feel inside and outside our heads.
Now that you have that knowledge, you can make it work for you.
- If you’re having a bad day or want to ingratiate yourself to someone, put the kettle on! A warm cup of tea will evoke the sensation of being loved and protected. This makes you feel better and the person that you’re making tea for like you better too.
- Asking your boss for a raise? Make sure you bring them a frothy cappuccino when you make your pitch!
- Warm baths are very soothing, and if you want to feel safe and cosy you can snuggle up in a velvet blanket afterwards.
- Slipping on silk pyjamas before you sleep on Egyptian cotton or satin sheets is bound to promote a sense of well-being and pleasure.
- If you need to focus, sit on a firm chair – the soft furnishings in your living room can be your reward.
- If you’re welcoming a group to a party or collaborative workspace, make sure the room is at a comfortable temperature. This helps people to relax and makes them feel like getting to know each other or sharing ideas.
For meetings, think cushioned but firm chairs that will make them understand the importance of bringing their A-game.
You can also use this information in the way you interpret situations and make decisions yourself.
If you know you’re physically cold, hold off on making any social or interpersonal decisions like whether you should invite your troublemaking cousin to your wedding. Definitely don’t send strongly-worded emails in this state – let yourself cool off and warm up before you respond to anything.
You should always listen to what your intuition is telling you, especially if you can interpret it intelligently…
If you’re having a bad day, grab on to the textures that add comfort and ignite a spark of happiness!