My therapist says that you cannot have an emotion without thought. I believe this wholly, but then the question arose: "If thoughts can trigger emotions, what triggers thoughts?".  \n\nSome further thoughts I had:  If I practiced meditation and letting thoughts flow, I might get good enough to just "have no thoughts"; therefore, triggering no emotions.  I could meditate whenever a negative or disturbing thought arose, when mulling over the past, or when getting anxious about the future. Perhaps this is what they mean by "living in the now".\n\nThen another question came up:  "How would -- having no thoughts -- be different then stuffing the emotion?"  But, for now the questions is:  What triggers thoughts?
128398
Interesting puzzle:\nfMRI studies have shown that neurons in the brain associated with a task begin to fire about 800 milliseconds before the person is even aware that they want to perform an action.\n\nDo we have no free will? \n\n\nMed Hypotheses. 2001 Mar;56(3):364-6.\nIf there were no free will: Fisher CM.\n\n\nElectrophysiological findings in humans who are performing voluntary acts, indicate that the intention to act, follows brain activity rather than preceding it. This has implications for voluntary behavior and the doctrine of free will. This essay reviews the fields of human behavior, including medicine, in which this new thesis might have far-reaching significance. Copyright 2001 Harcourt Publishers Ltd.\n\nAn extract:\n\n...it should be pointed out\nthat somewhat the same conclusion may be reached on\nthe basis of rather elementary observation. Every thought,\nfeeling, inclination, intention, desire, every mental\nimpression no matter how brief or faint, must be created\nby nervous system activity. How else could they arise? Ideas would have to arise without a physical basis.\nNervous system activity must always precede. Every\nnuance of thought and feeling arises in and must be preceded\nby its own specific electrical configuration in the\nbrain. If one has the experience of ‘willing’ the nervous\nsystem to do something, the impression of ‘willing’ must\nhave been preceded by nervous system activity.\nOtherwise there would be no source and we are in the\nrealm of the supernatural. Before I think of anything, it\nmust first have taken form in my nervous system.\n\n\nTherefore: answer to your question would be 'nervous system activity'
471927
I think anger comes from hurt. Something's probably hurting you and anger & annoyance is your outlet for it.   My mom used to tell me that getting angry does not hurt the one you're angry at, but eats you inside. It made me mad when she said that (lol) but I think she was right. I wish I had some constructive advice for you, because just saying "let it go" is easy to say, but doing it is hard. the only thing I do, is when I catch myself feeling that way is to ask myself "is this even going to matter in 5 years" and most of the time it's no, and I doubt I will even remember it in 5 years, so then my annoyance kind of slips away, because it doesn't matter!
284016
i THINK THAT MEDITATION IS VERY HELP FUL TO THE SOUL. i ALSO BELIEVE THAT CAN BRING INNER PEACE THIS COMING FROM MY OWN PERSONAL TACTICS . IT HELPS ME WHEN I AM ANGRY OR UPSET.MY DAY ACTUALLY BEGINS WITH MY MEDITATION TIME AND THAT DICTATES HOW MY DAY WILL BE..  TAKE TIME TO YOURSELF SO YOU CAN BE YOUR SELF...........
20841
during rem [rapid eye movement] sleep your brains nuerological transmissions are greater then when your awake,simpley put,it was / is an unresolved issue that your brain is trying to remedy!you have also been through a rather stressfull situation,moving quickley,etc.you could either contact him to get closure,or write down how you feel and answer your thoughts to yourself in writing,this may seem weird however this will help your active rem brain find resoulution with this matter! im from tennessee,i hope this helps you!!!
188901
Honestly, the deepest thought I can think of is Nothing. Seriously, close your eyes and try to envision nothing. Most likely, the colour black or white will pop into your mind, as if those 'blank slates' are nothing. But even blank slates are somethings...and if you really think about it, even Nothing is Something. What would True Nothingness be? And if you could ever actually think of it, would you ever be able to resume thinking thoughts again, or would the Nothingness be vacuous like a mental black hole?
394155
It really does depend on what kind of hypnosis technique you are using, but in a *very* general sense of the term, what you are looking for is:\n\n1. Hypnotic suggestions--this is your baseline material, and the stuff you use during the induced trance....this is what you tell the subject once he/she is under.\n\n2. Post-hypnotic suggestions--similar in nature to the regular hypnotic suggestion, the main difference here is that these suggestions are *bookmarked* in some manner with some sort of trigger, so that once the person is out of trance, his or her subconscious will be programmed (within reason) to act upon the trigger or bookmark in some manner.  Some post-hypnotic suggestions *can* bring a person back to a trance state, but in general they don't have to.  It can be something as simple as.....\n\n"If you find yourself feeling sad or lonely, you will be able to say or write the words, 'Think happy thoughts', and as those words enter your senses and your thinking mind, you will find your mood lifting as you become twice as happy and content as you once were...."\n\nOr some such.  :)  But the point is, in that bit above, the phrase, "Think happy thoughts" is a bookmark or a trigger that reminds the mind of your subject to return to some aspect of the trance state.  That is all it is.  A reminder.\n\nAnd post-hypnotic suggestions are entirely optional.  Really, a lot of people who use hypnosis don't even use them.\n\nI hope this helps.  :)
290190
Learn to meditate. You're working hard on getting your body ready - that's good and necessary. Your mind and emotions will be taxed just as intensely as your body this summer and you need a way to calm them when you're under intense stress and pressure.\n\nMeditation does not have to be spiritual or religious in nature and it is not the same as traditional praying (which can engage the mind intellectually and emotionally). It is simply a way of calming your mind and emotions so you can find a place of stability within yourself whenever you want.\n\nWhen you practice meditation on a daily basis you get two benefits. First of all, you will have a period of time every day with a focused presence and calm mind - you can come to count on this to provide stability and consistency. Secondly, you will be training your mind and thus be able to recall that state of mind anytime throughout the day.\n\nBasic meditation steps:\n•Get into a comfortable position – sitting on the floor cross-legged is a good position to prepare your body for the experience. Sitting in a chair doesn’t have the same affect.\n•Keep your eyes open but very soft and un-focused. Find a very neutral place to look slightly lower than straight ahead (something like a blank wall or into a candle or fire). Closing your eyes can often make it harder to clear your head, the next step.\n•Clear your head. (This is the part that takes practice.) The idea is to stay unattached to thoughts of any kind. That means that, when the inner voice in your mind starts to speak up, gently “shush” it and return to a state of not thinking (frustration, anger, boredom, etc. are all thoughts and emotions – they will come up and you simply treat them the same way each time).\n•Continuously let go of any thoughts that may pop into your mind, and the quiet spaces between thoughts will become longer and more frequent. This will happen over and over and over as you practice this.\n•Be aware of your breathing - breathing calmly and consistently will help your mind and body stay in this state longer. \n•Meditation takes practice – you’re training your mind to stop jumping around among and between thoughts and emotions. It’s no different than training your body – be patient and you will see that your mind can go longer and longer periods of a relaxed, clear state.\n•There’s no “perfect” state that you are working toward. Remember only that you are training your mind to let go of thoughts and emotions in a quiet, patient way.\n•Start with shorter sessions—like five minutes—and work your way up to longer sessions—like 30. With practice, this type of meditation becomes easier and more effective.\n\nWhile meditation practices have been perfected and explained by Buddhists, you do not have to practice, understand, or agree with Buddhism to learn what they know about meditation (any more than I have to join the Naval Academy to get fit). The source below has an excellent set of pages describing all things related to meditation.
210121
Meditation is not just relaxing, rather it is trying to develop a highly concentrated and clear state of mind which one can use for clear analysis, and which can be blissful to be in. \nOnce we have reached this very advanced state of mind, we can learn what we want very quickly, including transforming our mind and developing deep wisdom and insight. Not only our conscious thoughts can be brought under control, also our emotions and unconsciousness, as they are all based on concepts which can be changed.\nIn meditation, we try to develop wisdom, learn to observe our own mind, decrease negative mind states and develop positive mind states. To develop wisdom and insight, we need a calm, clear and concentrated mind. To observe our own mind, we need to develop a kind of inner "spy" - a part of our attention that checks our state of mind. To decrease negative mind states we need to understand where they come from and transform them into positive energy with the wisdom developed from observing our own mind. To develop positive mind states, we need to focus away from selfishness and again develop wisdom by observing our own mind. \nIn order to find the right state of mind for meditation, we need concentration instead of being scattered, and clarity of mind instead of dullness. We need to observe our own thoughts and mind states instead of getting lost in emotions or becoming prejudiced. We need to be honest towards ourselves instead of fooling ourselves and walk away from unpleasant problems. Furthermore, we need to be patient (one does not become a meditation master over night), generate self-acceptance, confidence and enthusiasm to make the mind peaceful. \nAll these factors need to be in balance: we need to be somewhat relaxed as well as concentrated, we need to avoid both sleepiness and excitement.
313418
It's interesting to come across this question. I was talking to someone the other day who woke up with a feeling something really bad was going to happen the same day that he got arrested after DUI. Was it really a premonition, or did he just act stupid because he had that feeling and brought the whole situation onto himself?\nSometimes I feel I have premonitory feelings, that are very clear, but none of them has come true. I wonder whether they aren't real, or whether I have so far been able to turn the bad things that were about to happen to me into nothing just by having premonitory thoughts. \nAnyways...
654770
The whole aim of meditation is,\n1. to calm your mind, and\n2. to focus the mind on one thing.\n\nThe mind of a normal person is like an uncontrolled monkey jumping from one thought to another. To process all these thoughts a lot of body energy is used. Thus if your mind cease to process thoughts you will be saving a lot of body energy which can be used to cure a lot of ailments in your body. That is why a person who continues to meditate regularly even gets a nice body complexion.\n\nAnapana or concentration on the breath is the best form of meditation.\n\nIf you sit down and close your eyes you will notice that your mind is jumping from one thought to another. Even though you want to concentrate on your breath you will find other thoughts also coming in between.\n\nIn learning to meditate you must first learn to calm your mind. You do this by following every thought that comes into you mind. You must be like a Manager of a Hotel who stands at the entrance and observes the customers coming in. Without getting attached to the thoughts try to observe them. You will find that a thought comes in and that it goes nowhere and another thought follows it - try following that too - with same results. This way you will find that your thoughts gradually subside. Do not try to force out your thoughts.\n\nOf course do not expect results in one or two days. Practise it for at least 40 minutes every day for at least 2 months you find that you have 'killed' your train of thoughts. I have practised for 1 1/2 years and still vagrant thoughts come in.\n\nThereafter start concentrating on your breath. Notice the breath coming in and going out. You should not concentrate only on the tip of your nose. Notice the breath coming in and thereafter your lungs getting filled and then gradually exhaling the breath.\n\nAfter you finish that for the day start to think of a person or several persons whom you hate most. Having those people in mind start to think in a compassionate manner "may he be healthy, may he be happy, may he go up in life, may he live long". Keep on doing this for about 10 minutes a day for a few months you will find that you do not get angry even when you have to get angry.\n\nYou should be able to get some guidance from the following sites,\n\n1. http://www.dhamma.org/vipassan.htm\n2. http://www.meditationexpert.com/   and click on the free articles on yoga meditation - it includes articles on all types of meditations including christian and muslim meditation.
331686
The heart simply pumps the blood to supply the brain with "power." The heart cannot live without the brain, and the brain cannot live without the heart. Along these lines of thinking, that the two work in perfect tandem, I believe that is why we say that some emotions come from the heart. \n\nUsually, we associate sentimental or sensual emotions with the heart and knowledge or intelligence/common sense with the brain, when really, they all originate in the brain. But I think it's a great metaphor to indicate emphasis on your feelings when you are trying to communicate how you feel. This heart vs. brain thing seems to be a phenonmenon across cultures and languages. \n\nJust a side note: the ancient egyptians thought that the heart was the main thinking and reasoning organ of the body so this was one of the only organs that they would leave IN the body during mummification. They would extract other organs that they felt weren't necessary for the afterlife (liver, kidneys....and the brain). They thought that the heart was the essential organ so that they could function in the afterlife.
396287
yes, I too find this subject very interesting.  Recently I have come across the subject on the egoic mind and about living in the present..  I often find it hard to meditate my mind chatters on, The subjec ton the ego trying to take you over and often capturing your mind to stay on the negative is very interesting.  Ekhart Tolles has written a lot about the subject and is worth reading.  Ekhart says ... in order to be happy we have to learn to disidentify with our thoughts and emotions and take a higher stance in witnessing our internal life. That way we shall develop presence in the Here and Now and learn not to be taken away anymore. This is the Mystical Warrior Stance: to remain firmly rooted in the Now and fight all distractions of the mind, out of our deep knowledge that nothing can make us happy and blissful apart from this our own inner Self.\n\nCheck out his website.
254207
Fight or flight is triggered by chemical and electrical means, not hindered by thought.  For example... if someone sneaks up behind you and "scares" you, you do not think before your initial reaction, just as you would not think before you react if you are asleep and someone grabs you and screams loudly; try this...  tell one of your family or friends to sneak up and scare you sometime during the day, but at a time and location that you do not know about.  theoretically, if you are able to think before triggering the fight or flight mechanism, then you should never jump, because you already know that at some point someone is going to try and scare you.  If thought comes first, you should be able to reason away the need to "jump".  In short, "fight or flight" is a reflex similar to that which occurs if you touch something hot... you do not think "ouch, I should move my hand, this burns" your nervous system (most likely not your brain but your spinal cord) sends the signal very quickly for you to move, probably before you even realize that you've been burned.\n\nAnother way to think of this...  If a friend were to don a bear costume and hide in your bedroom and jump towards you and growl the second you turn on the light, you will most assuredly jump, or even run.  Now if thought were the prevailing factor, you would simply reason that there would certainly not really be a bear in your bedroom, and you would have little or no reaction.  \n\nI hope this helps.
655348
The whole aim of meditation is,\n1. to calm your mind, and\n2. to focus the mind on one thing.\n\nHealthwise it will help you to control anger - high blood pressure patients will realise that their pressure is coming under control.\n\nThe mind of a normal person is like an uncontrolled monkey jumping from one thought to another. To process all these thoughts a lot of body energy is used. Thus if your mind cease to process thoughts you will be saving a lot of body energy which can be used to cure a lot of ailments in your body. That is why a person who continues to meditate regularly even gets a nice body complexion.\n\nIf you sit down and close your eyes you will notice that your mind is jumping from one thought to another. Even though you want to concentrate on your breath you will find other thoughts also coming in between.\n\nIn learning to meditate you must first learn to calm your mind. You do this by following every thought that comes into you mind. You must be like a Manager of a Hotel who stands at the entrance and observes the customers coming in. Without getting attached to the thoughts try to observe them. You will find that a thought comes in and that it goes nowhere and another thought follows it - try following that too - with same results. This way you will find that your thoughts gradually subside. Do not try to force out your thoughts.\n\nOf course do not expect results in one or two days. Practise it for at least 40 minutes every day for at least 2 months you find that you have 'killed' your train of thoughts. I have practised for 1 1/2 years and still vagrant thoughts come in.\n\nThereafter start concentrating on your breath. Notice the breath coming in and going out. You should not concentrate only on the tip of your nose. Notice the breath coming in and thereafter your lungs getting filled and then gradually exhaling the breath.\n\nAfter you finish that for the day start to think of a person or several persons whom you hate most. Having those people in mind start to think in a compassionate manner "may he be healthy, may he be happy, may he go up in life, may he live long". Keep on doing this for about 10 minutes a day for a few months you will find that you do not get angry even when you have to get angry.\n\nYou should be able to get some guidance from the following sites,\n\n1. http://www.dhamma.org/vipassan.htm\n2. http://www.meditationexpert.com/     and click on the free articles on yoga meditation - it includes articles on all types of meditations including christian and muslim meditation.
336554
Thinking with emotions is something that I found to be the source of a lot of my problems. When I started to pause and think I found myself making better decisions. This usually comes with the desire to change as well as just being a natural part of growing up.
360485
I started to realize the difference between things I could control, and things I can't control.  This helped me sort out my negative feelings towards some things because I can't help it and neither can anyone else help it if someting just is.  Then I realized that your whole day could be considered great if you think positively through it and accomplish things for you. A situation that you are feeling negatively about or that ruins your day could be simply a 5 minute downer instead of something that lasts the whole day, or continuous negative thoughts.  The key is to realize you are thinking negative thoughts when they appear.  Anytime you are feeling down, take a step back and think... 'wait.  i just told myself something negative'  acknowledge that you were thinking something negative.  this gives the little voice inside your head validation that something seems unjust, angers you, or depresses you.  Then you need to divert your attention immediately to anything you can think of.  It coudl be a pre-planned positive thought that may take your mind off of it, or it could be anthing that will distract you.  start a crossword, watch tv, surf the internet, do anything that will distract you from that thought and move on in the day.  any time a negative thought appears to you you need to remember to acknowledge it for a moment and then distract yourself to think positively.  pretty soon you will be thinking positively more often and a negative thought will come by less often and be tons easier to pick out.  at first you may go for a long time before you remember to stop your thoughts, but thats because you are used to negative tendancies.  just keep trying and you will improve
156125
Depends on the person.  Some people can brush of feelings like turning off a lightswitch.  Other people can't.  Work through your emotions but make sure you get out and meet new people and move on with your life.  Don't get hung up on what might have been.  It's nice to think It would have been nice if... but thinking too much, dwelling on it too much only consumes yourself with doubt and fears that you will never find something like it again.