Ideas worth spreading

1,814,967 views | Jessica Garza • TED@PMI

How to avoid catching prickly emotions from other people

Difficult emotions can get under your skin if you're not careful. Sport and performance consultant Jessica Garza calls this the "jumping cholla effect," inspired by a sneaky kind of cactus that detaches and burrows its spines into unsuspecting passersby. In this empowering talk, she shares four mood-regulating strategies to help you gain self-awareness of your feelings, avoid catching other people's emotions and perform at your peak -- whatever the prickly situation may be.

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This talk was presented at a TED Institute event given in partnership with Project Management Institute. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

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Difficult emotions can get under your skin if you're not careful. Sport and performance consultant Jessica Garza calls this the "jumping cholla effect," inspired by a sneaky kind of cactus that detaches and burrows its spines into unsuspecting passersby. In this empowering talk, she shares four mood-regulating strategies to help you gain self-awareness of your feelings, avoid catching other people's emotions and perform at your peak -- whatever the prickly situation may be.

This talk was presented at a TED Institute event given in partnership with Project Management Institute. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Read more about the TED Institute.

About the speaker

Sport and performance consultant

See speaker profile

Dr. Jessica Garza is an accomplished global business, sport and transformational coach, speaker and author.

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This article describes how it is possible for us to understand and feel other people's emotions. Emotional contagion plays a key role in how the emotional state of one person comes to resemble that of the observed individual.

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"Physiology of the Autonomic Nervous System"

This article is great because it discusses how our brains are hardwired to pick up subtle cues, like other people’s emotions, within our environment to protect us. It also addresses the physiologic effect when we perceive an event or situation a certain way!

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This article provides emotion regulation strategies to help you learn how to reframe your interpretation of situations in order to stay in control of your emotions.

Coyote Peterson | Brave Wilderness, 2015 | Watch

"Ouch! Jumping Cactus Attack!"

This video shows the jumping cholla in action. This plant reminded me of how quickly we attach ourselves to the emotions of other people and how easily their emotions can burrow deep into our skin.

About TED Institute

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