Thoughts Affect Reality, But Emotions Rule Thoughts

The thinking brain is not enough to overcome the thinking brain. Thoughts Affect Reality, but emotions rule thoughts. Before we think, we must feel.

As a habit, we must focus attention on the sensing part of our brains in order to cultivate feelings of calm, peace and connection - before we re-engage the wonderful logical, thinking parts of our brain.

Writing this truth does not make it so. Speaking this truth does not make it so... those are both a means of using the thinking brain to overcome the thinking brain.

In fact - reading about this truth can only serve as a reminder OF the different strategy that is required, and that I share with you here.

If we are to picture a way our crisis may help us take a step toward accomplishing our larger goals, we must step outside and away from the feelings that the crisis has created - and imagine options from a different feeling-state.

When The Body Controls The Mind

Many of us turn to Yoga and Meditation for stress release.

When the body is holding tension as a result of stressful thinking, worried thinking, angry thinking or thoughts of sadness, fear, betrayal - the signal of body tension encourages more reflection on past troubles... which, in turn, creates more stress and tension in the body.

In this way - the body is sending signals to the brain to think in a way that matches the feeling. We get caught in a repeating loop of thinking and chronic body tension.

Yoga can help break the negative feeling/thinking feedback-loop. It can open the body to better feelings, and calm the thinking mind to better thoughts - creating better emotions - which, in turn, can provide a space to practice the habit of a relaxed body and a healthier mind.

Why I Attend Guided Hot Yoga Classes

For me, putting my yoga gear together and attending Hot Yoga was putting myself into Forced Meditation.

Standing on my yoga mat before a wall of mirrors, surrounded by other practitioners who can plainly watch your every move - demands full attention on performing the poses.

The poses are physically challenging, the hot room forces the body to perspire heavily, and the continual attention to the breath, leaves little to no mental resources to be thinking about personal troubles.

Attention to the breath, the awkward poses, following the Yogi’s guidance, the group of others doing the same sequence - all DEMAND the brain to shift from thinking, to sensing and feeling.

In the early days of my acute crisis, I could not overcome the looping resentments on my own.

I could not sit and follow a guided meditation until after a yoga class. I needed to attend a hot yoga class, sometimes two of them, in order to break my toxic thinking loop.

Yoga is not enough

However, if we leave the yoga class and begin to think about our troubles in the same way as before - soon the thoughts bring up negative emotions and bring the body back into a state of hypertension... and the body is again in control of the mind.

I needed the guided yoga, sometimes more than once a day. And I also needed guided meditation recordings, morning and night.

Indeed - I had been miss-managing my energy for 50 years and then landed in a terrible personal crisis. The intensity of my mess provided an internal motivation backed by incredible emotional energy.

Through intensive meditation to overcome the short term trauma, I became very fit and toned.

I also uncovered much more and became awoken to an awareness of my connectivity to all living things that is nothing short of beautiful.

And it feels so cliche - hahaha.