What constitutes an emotion? originally appeared on Quora, the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world. You can follow Quora on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus.

An emotion is our human way of putting a meaningful label on experiences. We do it unconsciously.

Emotions are experienced as a sense of urgency directly tied to a physical sensation in the body. Here's what I mean.

Anger is a sense of urgency to fight, drive harder, or change course. Anger is usually tied to the sensation of heat in the face and an alertness in the limbs. Anger tends to hold the meaning that we need to oppose a foe.

Joy is a sense of urgency to immerse yourself in the goodness around you. Joy is usually felt as a pleasant warmth across the whole chest, neck, and midsection. Joy tells us to pay attention so that we can remember to have this same experience again.

Fear is a sense of urgency to get out of a situation. Fear is often felt as an itch in your skin, almost like your body has a hair trigger and you could spring out the door at any minute. Fear tells us that there’s something unknown that could be bad.

Disgust is a sense of urgency to get away from something too. Disgust is a clear strong sensation in your gut and throat, almost like you might vomit. Unlike fear, which is an aversion to unknown, disgust is aversion to something we believe we know to be dangerous.

Sadness is a sense of urgency to stop doing your normal routine. Sadness is a heavy sensation that can sit deep in your chest making you feel denser and weightier than usual. Sadness tells us that we need to take time to reflect and regroup.

The funny thing about emotions is that they are learned. We learn as children, from those around us, how to respond to the world. An emotion is like a colored sticky note that you unconsciously put on your experience. You don’t respond to the experience, you respond to the sticky note.

When people don’t like they way they are responding to their experiences, they can consciously change their old sticky note placements. People can learn to stop being angry or anxious about certain things. The trick is to become conscious about the sensations that accompany the urgency of emotion. Once a person becomes aware of those sensations, they can begin making conscious changes to their own emotional experience of the world.

This question originally appeared on Quora. More questions on Quora:

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