The Pulse journal
Notes on the practice.
Field notes, guides, and the thinking behind Pulse.
Latest · 6 min read
Opposite Action: The DBT Skill of Doing the Reverse of What a Feeling Demands
Opposite action is the DBT skill of doing the reverse of what an emotion urges. Learn when acting against a feeling — fully, not halfway — changes the feeling itself.
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More from the journal
- 02
Is Nostalgia Good for You? The Psychology of a Bittersweet Emotion
Is nostalgia good for you? Doctors once called it a disease. Modern psychology says it's your mind's response to loneliness — if you learn to use it well.
2026-07-12
7 min read
- 03
Does Crying Make You Feel Better? The Science of a Good Cry
Does crying make you feel better? Lab studies say you'll feel worse first — the relief comes later, and only under conditions you can actually control.
2026-07-12
6 min read
- 04
How to Stop Comparing Yourself to Others: The Psychology of Social Comparison
Comparison is automatic, not a character flaw. Learn how to stop comparing yourself to others by changing the target of the comparison — not fighting the instinct.
2026-07-11
7 min read
- 05
Co-Rumination: Why Venting to a Friend Can Make You Feel Worse
Why venting makes you feel worse: the psychology of co-rumination shows how rehashing a problem with a friend can amplify it — and how to share so it heals.
2026-07-11
7 min read
- 06
Why Sleep Helps You Process Emotions: The REM Science of "Sleeping On It"
Why sleep helps you process emotions: in REM, the brain replays the memory with the stress chemistry switched off — unless you cut the night short and lose it.
2026-07-10
7 min read
- 07
Self-Compassion vs. Self-Criticism: What to Say to Yourself When You've Messed Up
Self-compassion vs self-criticism: the harsh inner voice you think keeps you honest is the one keeping you stuck. Here's what to say to yourself instead.
2026-07-10
7 min read
- 08
Surface Acting: Why Faking a Feeling All Day Leaves You So Tired
Surface acting — performing an emotion you don't feel — is one of the most reliable predictors of burnout in the research. Here's what it costs, and how to stop.
2026-07-09
7 min read
- 09
Secondary Emotions: Why You Feel Bad About Feeling Bad
Feeling bad about feeling bad turns one emotion into two. Here's how secondary emotions form, why the second one hurts more than the first, and how to unstack them.
2026-07-09
7 min read
- 10
Emotion Regulation Flexibility: Why the Best Coping Strategy Depends on the Situation
Emotion regulation flexibility explains why the coping skill that saved you last month is failing you today — and how to match the strategy to the situation instead.
2026-07-09
7 min read
- 11
Cognitive Defusion: How to Unhook From a Thought Without Fighting It
Cognitive defusion is the skill of seeing a thought as a thought instead of a fact. Learn the science behind unhooking from your mind and how to practice it daily.
2026-07-08
6 min read
- 12
Broaden-and-Build: Why Positive Emotions Do More Than Just Feel Good
The broaden-and-build theory explains why positive emotions aren't just pleasant—they widen your thinking and quietly build the resilience you draw on later.
2026-07-08
6 min read
- 13
Stop Asking 'Why Do I Feel This Way?' — Ask 'What' Instead
Asking 'why do I feel this way?' sends most people spiraling. Here's how to ask better questions about your feelings — and why 'what' works when 'why' won't.
2026-07-07
6 min read
- 14
The Zeigarnik Effect: Why an Unprocessed Feeling Keeps Coming Back
The Zeigarnik effect explains why an unprocessed feeling keeps intruding on your day. Learn how naming and closing the emotional loop finally quiets it.
2026-07-06
6 min read
- 15
Hedonic Adaptation: Why Good Things Stop Feeling Good (and How to Slow It Down)
Hedonic adaptation is why a raise, a new home, even hard-won relief quietly fade to normal. Here's the science of the hedonic treadmill—and how to slow it.
2026-07-06
7 min read
- 16
Misattribution of Arousal: Why You Sometimes Feel the Wrong Emotion
Misattribution of arousal is why your body's signals get the wrong caption — and why anxiety, anger, and excitement are easier to confuse than you'd think.
2026-07-04
7 min read
- 17
Behavioral Activation: Why Action Comes Before Motivation, Not After
Behavioral activation flips the script on low mood: action comes before motivation, not after. The science of why doing precedes feeling — and how to start impossibly small.
2026-07-04
7 min read
- 18
Why You Feel Worse at Night: The Circadian Science of the Evening Mood Dip
Why do I feel worse at night? Circadian science explains the evening mood dip — and why your 2 a.m. verdicts about your life deserve a morning appeal.
2026-07-03
6 min read
- 19
The Peak-End Rule: Why You Remember Your Week Wrong
The peak-end rule explains why your memory of a week is built from its worst moment and its last one — and how to keep a truer record of how you really felt.
2026-07-03
6 min read
- 20
Negativity Bias: Why Your Brain Clings to Bad Feelings More Than Good Ones
Negativity bias explains why negative emotions feel stronger than positive ones and linger far longer. Learn the science behind it—and how to gently rebalance the scale.
2026-07-03
7 min read
- 21
Mood-Congruent Memory: Why a Bad Mood Only Lets You Remember the Bad
Mood congruent memory explains why a low mood surfaces only your worst memories — and how to stop mistaking what your brain retrieves for the truth about your life.
2026-07-02
7 min read
- 22
Emotional Inertia: Why a Bad Mood Lingers Long After the Reason Is Gone
Emotional inertia explains why a bad mood lingers long after its cause has passed. Here's the science of stuck feelings—and how to gently unstick them.
2026-06-27
7 min read
- 23
Emodiversity: Why Feeling a Wide Range of Emotions Is Good for Your Mental Health
Emodiversity—the variety and balance of feelings you experience—may protect mental health better than just feeling good. Here's the science and how to widen your range.
2026-06-27
6 min read
- 24
Why Suppressing Your Emotions Backfires: The Science of Expressive Suppression
Why suppressing your emotions backfires: the science of expressive suppression, ironic process theory, and a gentler alternative that actually lowers the charge.
2026-06-26
7 min read
- 25
Urge Surfing: How to Ride Out an Emotional Impulse Without Acting on It
Urge surfing is a mindfulness skill for riding out a craving or emotional impulse without obeying it. Learn the science of why urges crest and fall — and how to wait.
2026-06-26
7 min read
- 26
How to Stop Absorbing Other People's Emotions: The Science of Emotional Contagion
How to stop absorbing other people's emotions, explained through emotional contagion — the science of catching moods, and a simple way to tell whose feeling you're actually carrying.
2026-06-24
7 min read
- 27
How to Savor Positive Emotions: The Science of Making Good Moments Last Longer
How to savor positive emotions, explained through real psychology research. Learn why good feelings fade so fast and the simple attention habit that makes them linger.
2026-06-23
7 min read
- 28
How to Accept Your Emotions: Why Letting a Feeling Be Lowers Its Intensity
Learning how to accept your emotions—instead of fighting or judging them—quiets the second wave of distress. Here's the psychology of letting a feeling be.
2026-06-22
6 min read
- 29
Expressive Writing: Why Putting Feelings Into Sentences Heals More Than Venting
Expressive writing—Pennebaker's research-backed practice of writing about emotional experiences—lowers stress and improves health. Here's why narrating beats venting.
2026-06-22
7 min read
- 30
Cognitive Reappraisal: How Reframing a Situation Changes the Emotion You Feel
Cognitive reappraisal is the skill of changing an emotion by changing its meaning—not suppressing it. Here's the science of how reframing works, and how to practice it.
2026-06-22
7 min read
- 31
How to Stop Ruminating: The Self-Distancing Trick That Quiets a Looping Mind
Learn how to stop ruminating using self-distancing, a research-backed shift in perspective that breaks the loop of replaying the same painful thought over and over.
2026-06-21
7 min read
- 32
Interoception: How Reading Your Body's Signals Sharpens Your Emotions
Interoception is how you sense your body from the inside — and it quietly shapes every feeling you have. Learn to read those signals and your emotions get clearer.
2026-06-20
7 min read
- 33
Emotional Granularity: Why Naming Feelings Precisely Helps You Cope
Emotional granularity is the skill of telling your feelings apart with precision. Here's the science behind why finer emotion words build real resilience.
2026-06-17
7 min read
- 34
How Naming Your Emotions Reduces Stress: The Science of Affect Labeling
Why naming your emotions reduces stress: the neuroscience of affect labeling, and how finding the exact word for a feeling quietly loosens its grip on you.
2026-06-16
6 min read
- 35
Affective Forecasting: Why You're So Bad at Predicting How You'll Feel
Affective forecasting explains why we're bad at predicting how we'll feel — and why dread rarely matches reality. The science of emotional prediction, and a quieter fix.
2026-06-12
6 min read
- 36
The Mood Tracking Habit That Actually Changes How You Feel
Mood tracking that actually changes things isn't about logging every emotion perfectly. It's about one small, consistent act that surfaces patterns you couldn't see before.
2026-04-17
6 min read
- 37
Privacy as a Practice: Keeping Your Emotional Data Yours
Privacy as a practice means choosing, every day, where your emotional data goes — and building a mood tracking habit that stays honest because nothing is watching.
2026-03-30
6 min read
- 38
Private Mood Tracking: The Quiet Ritual That Actually Works
Private mood tracking doesn't require an account, a dashboard, or anyone's server. It requires ten seconds and a bit of honesty. Here's why that's enough.
2026-03-12
5 min read