What Happens In Our Body When We Think?

What happens to the body when we think? Sometimes we overlook the effect that what goes through the mind has on the body. We can’t just activate the engine of emotions, well-being, calm… Stress is also a dimension orchestrated by our thoughts.

Writer and philosopher Henry David Thoreau said that people create their own destiny with everything they think. That’s true. Without a doubt, it’s amazing how this hyperactive machine that is the brain is able not only to mediate our future with every decision we make, but also to determine our physical balance.

Because the body is no stranger to what goes on in the mind. Because you think like you feel and feel like you think, and that’s something we should keep in mind to mediate our happiness.

Let’s analyze.

This is what happens to the body when we think

Knowing what happens in our bodies when we think has been a subject that has been of interest to scientists for decades. What happens in the body when a thought comes to us? How much energy do we need to think? Do we think better at rest or in motion, during sports, for example?

These and others are questions that make us curious, and it is worth thinking about the subject.

What is a thought and why can it affect the body?

Some define a thought as an electrical wave, a mental spark capable of generating changes in the brain to orchestrate some kind of response. Edward Chace Tolman, a psychologist who specializes in human cognition, pointed out, for example, that a thought generates a change, even if it is not always visible.

In other words,  anything that is fabricated in the mind for five or ten seconds will influence us in some way, whether it is causing a greater concern or making a plan, evoking a memory and an emotion, etc. In essence: every mental flow shapes and conditions us.

If we now ask ourselves what a thought really is, we must think of a sequence of various parts and structures weaving together this wonderful process.

These structures and elements that make up the anatomy of a thought  have the inescapable power to change what happens in the body. In what way? Modulating emotions, releasing hormones that modify behavior and sometimes even affecting our health.

This is what happens in the body when we think a lot

If we ask ourselves what happens in our body when we think, we must take into account one aspect. Every time we activate the “thinking factory”, we consume a lot of energy. Thinking too much has a serious impact on the body.

Psychologist Catherine Pittman, a professor at Indiana University, points out something very interesting in her book Rewire Your Anxious Brain : almost 50% of the population thinks excessively, and doing so chronically increases stress and anxiety. Health, little by little, is affected.

Furthermore, most of us, when we think excessively, also experience what is known as analysis paralysis. What does this term consist of?

The more you think, worry and rethink things, the less you act. Cortisol levels rise and cause stress, physical exhaustion and mental block. Far from finding an answer to a problem, you will be stuck in a cycle of constant worry and immobility.

think slowly and you will live better

The psychologist Daniel Kahneman, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, presented us with an exceptional book some time ago: Fast and Slow: Two Ways of Thinking . In this work, he describes how the  human being has reached a point in its evolution it is confined to act through an impulsive thought, governed by intuition and is this automatism that abound biases, prejudices and errors.

We do this because the context around us compels us to do it. We must react quickly, external demands are manifold, stimuli infinite, and we are urged to act. In the short term, this style of reaction results not only in bad decisions, but also in states of stress and anxiety, an increase in the level of cortisol in the blood, which translates into physical and mental exhaustion and an increased risk of heart attacks. , etc.

What happens to the body when we think quickly is highly harmful, especially if we make this mental focus our habit of life. It is necessary to use a more deliberate and careful cognitive approach.

In conclusion, while taking control of everything the mind does is not always easy, we should try. What happens inside the mind influences our health and happiness. Let’s take the reins, let’s make sure that everything that goes on inside is healthy, productive and reflective.