"Where the mind goes the energy flows" is a thought that first needs to be understood. It means nothing less than this: what you think, what you feel and what goes through your head affects your actions and your energy. It's also often said that you can adapt your body to your thoughts. In this post we show what exactly that means.
How do thoughts and feelings arise?
First, the hard facts. Our feelings, whether positive or negative, arise in the area of the brain called the limbic system. There are two response paths. On the first path we decide quickly, imprecisely and intuitively; in everyday language you could say we react on impulse. If our limbic system decides that we find something frightening unpleasant, our body reacts directly and our heart starts to pound or we blush. Everyone reacts differently. The second path runs from the thalamus to the cerebral cortex: the experience is looked at more closely, and we react thoughtfully and think beforehand.
The power of thoughts
You can consciously use your thoughts to influence your mood and your body. If you tend to brood and quickly imagine the wildest things in unpleasant situations, your negative thoughts can carry over to your feelings and your body. If you're dreaming up the wildest things that could go wrong 4 weeks before an important appointment and have been occupied with it for 4 weeks in advance, your mood also affects your stomach. Our gastrointestinal tract is more closely linked to our mind than we think. In our post "How your gut and your mind are connected" you can find out more. But it isn't only about the negative. When you have positive thoughts or think positively about things, you spare your body any grief. And not only that, you can also improve your results with a positive mindset. You approach things far more optimistically and, after a small setback, don't think "I knew it" and develop negative feelings.
How are thoughts and feelings connected?
Our feelings, thoughts and actions are all connected. This is easy to explain with a simple example. When something good happens to us, we're in a positive mood and we're happy (feeling). We beam at the whole world with our grin, call our friends and want to tell everyone (action), and our thoughts revolve only around this good feeling, what might follow or what we should do next (thoughts). That can take a positive course as just described, but equally a negative one. Because when we feel depressed (feeling), we don't want to get out of bed (action) and think everything is stupid and negative (thoughts).
Unfortunately we can't control our thoughts and feelings. But we can practise positive thinking. A lot depends on our mindset. Whoever sees the glass as half full tends towards a positive mindset and can consciously steer their thoughts and feelings in a positive direction even in negative situations - of course that doesn't always work.
How to use the positive vibes
A vibe is a positive mood. If you're having a good day in a good mood, you should make use of it. Not only for things you keep putting off, but also to work on yourself and to keep this good mood in future. The challenge is to form a positive thought in difficult situations. But always be aware that the way you think is the way you feel, and your body will adapt to your feelings. So avoid stressing yourself out or overthinking. Often you can't change the situation itself, so try to make the best of it.
“Where the mind goes the energy flows” is a thought that first has to be understood. It means nothing less than this: what you think, what you feel and what goes through your head influences your actions and your energy. It is also often said that you can adapt your body to your thoughts. In this article we illustrate what exactly that means.
How Do Thoughts and Feelings Arise?
First, the hard facts. Our feelings, whether positive or negative, arise in the area of the brain known as the limbic system. There are two response paths. On the first path we decide quickly, imprecisely and intuitively; in everyday language you could say we react on impulse. If our limbic system decides that we find fear unpleasant, our body reacts directly and our heart starts to pound or we blush. Every person reacts differently to it. The second path runs from the thalamus to the cerebral cortex: here the experience is looked at more closely and we react in a considered way, thinking beforehand.
The Power of Thoughts
You can consciously influence your mood and your body with your thoughts. If you tend to brood and quickly picture the wildest things in uncomfortable situations, your negative thoughts can also carry over to your feelings and your body. If you come up with the wildest things that could go wrong 4 weeks before an important appointment and keep thinking about it for 4 weeks in advance, your mood also affects your stomach. Because our gastrointestinal tract is more connected to our mind than we think. In our article “How Your Gut and Your Mind Are Connected” you can find out more. But this isn't only about the negative. If you have positive thoughts or think positively about things, you spare your body any grief. And not only that, you also have the chance to improve your results with a positive mindset. Because you approach things much more optimistically and, after a small setback, you don't think “I knew it” and develop negative feelings.
How Are Thoughts and Feelings Connected?
Our feelings, thoughts and actions are all connected. This can be explained with a simple example. When something good happens to us, we are in a positive mood and we are happy (feeling). We beam our grin at the whole world, call our friends and want to tell everyone (action), and our thoughts revolve around nothing but this good feeling, what might follow or what we should do next (thoughts). This can take a positive course like the one just described, but just as easily a negative one. Because when we feel depressed (feeling), we don't want to get out of bed (action) and think everything is stupid and negative (thoughts).
Unfortunately, we can't control our thoughts and feelings. But we can practise thinking positively. A lot depends on our mindset. For someone who sees the glass as half full, they tend towards a positive mindset and can consciously steer their thoughts and feelings in a positive direction even in negative situations - of course that doesn't always work.
How to Use the Positive Vibes
A vibe is what we call a positive mood. If you are having a good day in a good mood, you should make use of it. Not only for things you keep putting off, but also to work on yourself and to keep this good mood in the future as well. The challenge here is to come up with a positive thought in difficult situations. But always be aware that the way you think is the way you feel, and your body will adapt to your feelings. So avoid stressing yourself out or overthinking too much. Often you can't change the situation itself, so try to make the best of it.
