This is a big topic and we’ll split it into 3 posts. Let’s talk about these three things that are ruling your life maybe without even noticing! How to be more aware about all three? Let’s dive in!
What are thoughts?
The Oxford English Dictionary defines thinking as “the act or process of forming thoughts”. Thinking is defined as “a state of being mentally active; esp., the exercise of the faculties of perception, conception, reasoning, etc.”
In psychology, the term thinking is used to describe a set of cognitive functions such as planning, problem solving, decision making, and memory retrieval. Thinking is often contrasted with feeling, which refers to emotional responses.
In philosophy, thinking is generally considered to be one of three components of consciousness, along with sensation and emotion. Thinking is also closely related to knowledge, since it involves both knowing what something is and knowing how to do something.
How many thoughts do you have a day?
Us as human and energetic beings we all have more thoughts a day that we can even imagine! There are different different studies out there that were using brain imagining scans to track thoughts … in general it looks like we have around 6000 thoughts per day! If you think that you’re awake for 16 hours (I give you your 8 hours of good sleep!) while awake, you’d have a thought every 10 seconds! We likely don’t stop thinking even when we’re asleep either but we’re in altered state then.
This just shows that when we are awake, the thoughts just keep coming! And if we stimulate our brains by external inputs, we can get even more thoughts coming in! That’s pretty much why our attention span is so small! We keep distracting ourselves! And that’s why I highly recommend meditation because it helps us to slow down our thoughts and the whole impact on our well being is just incredible! And yes, it’s a practice so please don’t beat yourself up for not being able to sit still and meditate. It comes with time, some of us need less and some need more to achieve the meditative state and enjoy the benefits.
Can I control my thoughts?
We don’t have control over what thought pops up. So please stop judging yourself for those thoughts. But we have control over what we take away from them and how they further impact our feelings and emotions.
So for now, I’d like you to do a few things. Remember this: You are not your thoughts. You are a creator of your thoughts. And you can choose what you’re gonna do with your thoughts and how they’ll impact you – your feelings and your emotions. We will talk about the feelings and emotions and link this all together for you in the next 2 posts so stay tuned!
Until then, you can practice your meditation, you can observe your thoughts and you can start recognizing what thoughts are coming to you, how they are impacting your feelings and your life in general. Let’s take baby steps! Less is sometimes better!