Move. Cheer. Dance. Do the wave. How to tap into the collective joy of ‘we mode’
By ALBERT STUMM Associated Press With a runway of smoking-hot coals laid out before them residents in San Pedro Manrique Spain steel themselves as thousands of onlookers cheer them on The crowd roars when they walk across the fire sometimes carrying another person on their back Although the walkers and the crowd perform very different roles during the annual June ritual they document similar feelings an ineffable feeling of togetherness as if the entire group becomes one mentioned Dimitris Xygalatas a cognitive anthropologist at the University of Connecticut who witnessed the Spanish ritual years ago as a researcher He has experienced similar feelings in a stadium while chanting and cheering together with fans of his hometown soccer unit Both are instances of collective effervescence explained Xygalatas author of Rituals How Seemingly Senseless Acts Make Life Worth Living FILE People view a fire before walking on the burning embers during the night of San Juan in San Pedro Manrique northern Spain June AP Photo Alvaro Barrientos File It s that feeling that happens when people engage together in a meaningful activity that sparks positive emotions Such as when you get goose bumps at a concert feel the rush of adrenaline in group exercise classes or get swept up in religious festivals Just now collective effervescence has been referred to as we mode and it s something that can be cultivated to improve your life noted Kelly McGonigal a Stanford University wellness psychologist When you are connected through shared positive emotion expressions often act as this aerosolized ecstasy where you catch other people s smiles laughter their physical expressions McGonigal stated It becomes contagious FILE Fans react as the Los Angeles Dodgers play the Toronto Blue Jays in Battle of baseball s World Series at a watch party on Saturday Nov in Los Angeles AP Photo Ethan Swope File When hearts beat as one We mode has also been called physiological synchrony and McGonigal calls it collective bliss The concept was documented more than a century ago by French sociologist Emile Durkheim who described cultural effervescence after studying aboriginal Australian societies Xygalatas research has focused on measuring it in various group sessions To quantify autonomic responses he has fitted people with heart monitors and electrodes and extracted thousands of stills from videos to analyze facial expressions FILE Yeni Salazar center leads a Zumba class in Queen s Elmhurst Memorial Park Sept in New York AP Photo Mark Lennihan File He located that people s physiological responses synchronize during exciting events The heartbeats of sports fans who attend a championship for instance sync up while those of fans watching the same contest on TV don t Fans at the match also have higher levels of endorphins which have been linked to bonding he announced On a basic level collective rituals involve meeting and connecting with people which is a key to psychological well-being Xygalatas noted If we all dress alike and we move alike and we feel alike we express the same emotions that trigger mechanisms in our brain Xygalatas commented There s a fundamental need for synchrony Related Articles President Trump s EPA head slams Massachusetts for sitting on M to replace lead pipes Autoimmune diseases can strike any part of the body and mostly affect women Here s what to know It s viable to get addicted to pot Here s what to know Nicholas Basic safeguards could prevent hospital infections Breast cancer and birth control A huge new survey shows how science can be distorted Programs that create we mode What kinds of sessions should you look for to tap into we mode McGonigal who has studied the science of emotion and wrote The Pleasure of Movement about the emotional benefits of exercise named these criteria The activity must be in person McGonigal noted that during the height of the COVID- pandemic people who tried to recreate positive interactions online revealed it more complex than in person If you re not physically present with people a lot of the signals that create the shared state they just aren t there she explained It also helps to make noise and move your body whether you cheer applaud move dance or sing McGonigal announced you re more likely to feel this kind of collective satisfaction when you re dancing with people than when you re sitting in a theater watching a dance performance Also try to let go of shame or self-consciousness and get into the activity Passive observers don t get the same effect McGonigal noted You ve got to do the wave at the sporting event she declared If you re at a group exercise class and your instructor is like Can I get a whoop whoop You gotta whoop whoop Albert Stumm writes about wellness food and excursion Find his work at https www albertstumm com
