Emotions, sensations, thoughts… oh my!

Let’s talk about feelings.

It’s a catch-all word used to talk about emotions, sensations, and sometimes thoughts.

You might be thinking who cares? If you overeat and want to stop, the answer is you.

Because they’re different things. And they have different causes, meanings, and solutions.

Emotions are vibrations in the body that start in the mind with a thought and travel to the body. They’re single words we use to describe how we experience that vibration.

Happy is an emotion. So is sad. Both are created by thoughts you have about something.

Sensations are vibrations in the body that start there. They’re created in response to something physiological.

Hunger is a sensation. So is fatigue, pain, hot, cold, etc.

Then we have thoughts we use instead of emotions. Mid-afternoon you might say “I always feel starving at 3pm.” 

That’s a thought, not an emotion. But it creates an emotion like overdesire or maybe panic, depending on your access to food.

Emotions, sensations, thoughts… different things, different messages, different solutions.

Emotions don’t need solving. They should be processed and understood. Used well they’re like a compass that guides us to what we do and don’t want in life. 

Sensations might need solutions, depending on what they are. Hunger is solved with chicken (not Cheetos). Fatigue is solved with a nap. Cold is solved with a sweater.

And thoughts can be put under the microscope. Are you really starving? Unquestioned that thought might create an emotion like overdesire that’ll have you feasting in response to your perceived famine.