Our feelings are a physiological state. We “feel” it in our bodies. The emotions are the psychological interpretation or label we immediately give it --- this is from my recent essay about AI only being a piece of the intelligences.

For the example regarding excitement. It is an energetic reaction within your body - different for everyone. The emotion is the psychological label for each individual. For me, i might feel a swirling in my stomach, an uptick on my heartbeat, an instaneous smile that I label excitement. Your body may respond differently but you label it excitement OR your body may respond the same and you label it joy.
For me, the pause is standing in the feeling before I label it. Just being aware of how my body responds first. The actions are often to release the energy.