Practical Insights To Fuse Your Mind And Emotions

I wish I knew this sooner!

I remember going up to a girl at a train station in London and trying to get her number. It was horrible.

I was so nervous and I experienced a wave of emotions at the center of my being. It was so intense that I felt paralyzed. The only communication I could manage in my words and actions felt semi-robotic.

Looking back I could tell she felt it, and come to think of it, that might be why she told me, after a big sigh of discomfort, “The truth is I’m just not interested.”

Oooooooh that hurt.

The issue was that I didn’t allow myself to feel many of my emotions back then, I was blocking them out. That’s a silent killer.

These days, no matter what I’m doing, my priority is to really feel the emotions flowing through me at every instant and it’s completely changing the results in my life for the better.

I want to give you some background about emotions from my own understanding. This will help you better understand your own emotions and how to make them work for you instead of against you.

Although emotions are becoming a bigger part of our conversations as a society, a lot of people still reject their own and haven’t a clue how to really feel them consciously.

We all seem to be caught up in having the right mindset for productivity, abundance, or wealth. The list goes on. The truth is that, while you’re thinking is of paramount importance, emotions are always tied in with the thoughts. They are fused together.

We must learn both sides of the coin.

Because the thoughts and emotions are fused together we must learn to feel the emotions we’re experiencing and analyze the thoughts that come up alongside them.

You want to feel your emotions, this is how you feel after all, and it’s vital to be aware of that. Doing so means you’re not rejecting the emotions that come up, you’re embracing them and looking at the perspective (thoughts) you have in your mind when those emotions come up.

The understanding you gain about yourself as you do that in the present moment is very valuable.

If I was paying more attention to my mind and emotions when talking with that girl I could have consciously changed my thoughts and my emotional state that very instant.

That’s how fast that process is.

If you’re aware of something you can change it instantly. That change is what creates a different result for you. In other words, this shows you your power to get what you want faster, in fact, instantly.

If you see a cup dangerously close to the edge of a desk or table and you think it may fall onto the floor, I always notice this, you can instantly move it away from the edge. You don’t wait to do it further down the line. If you’re smart you do it instantly.

Preventing the accident makes you happier. You realise you won’t need to clean up a mess, pay for the cost and go through any cleaning process.

It’s the same with your emotions and thoughts. If you pay attention to them you can change them. If it makes your life better why not do it?

This may seem daunting and a bit esoteric. “How am I supposed to do all that while I’m doing all the other things in my life?”

That’s a great question. Here’s my answer.

You’re already doing this. There is a part of you that’s always feeling the emotions and seeing the thoughts. It often happens on an unconscious level, however.

We make a lot of decisions based on this unconscious analysis so making this process more conscious allows us to make better decisions in our lives. The kind that are in line with who we are and what we really want.

Take it 1% at a time

I recently watched The Social Dilemma and the thing that stood out to me the most was how big tech companies are getting their users to make small changes and often, over long periods of time.

Think about that. The biggest companies in the world, Amazon, Google and Facebook, are trying to get us to make small incremental changes which can go, and do go, unnoticed.

It got me thinking. All I need to do is look for how to bridge the gap between where I’m at and the 1% in front of me. This is the approach you want to take with this.

Try different techniques that help you pay attention to this process, I’ve included some below, and simply aim to get 1% better at a time.

Play the long game like the experts do and validate this process for yourself. That’s all that really matters.

If your life is getting better, who can take that away from you? Nobody!

Practical steps

The honest truth is that it doesn’t matter how you get to the shop, running, walking, driving, skipping, or cycling. If you get there in a safe way that makes you happy, all the power to you.

It’s the same with this process. You want to try this out and experiment for yourself. Everyone is different, so get creative and find what enhances your ability to pay attention to your mind and emotions.

The reason I say this is because knowing what works for you is part of this process of uncovering who you are, the emotions you’re feeling and the thoughts you are having.

If you have this approach, to experiment, keep going and focussing on the next 1%, it doesn’t really matter what techniques you use, because you’ll get there eventually.

For me, it’s writing.

With that being said here is what I recommend from my own experience.

Writing

Journaling or morning pages are excellent ways to let out how you’re feeling and to better understand your emotions and thoughts. This is my favourite way to see this process playing out inside me.

They help me gain immense clarity and it’s that clarity I’m looking to act on.

Pranayama

Pranayama or breathing exercises are a powerful way to become more aware of the present moment. Being aware of this process requires being present because this increases the attention you place on yourself.

I wrote an article on a simple breathing exercise you can use throughout the day.

Meditation

Meditation is very powerful. It helps calm the mind and you come to the realisation that you’re happier when your mind is calm. It takes practice like anything but it’s easier when you think of it in terms of 1%.

My brother Archie makes music and this helps him see this process going on within him more clearly, my sister Holly draws, and my guru, Michael Weir, is a roofer and talks to his students.

Find what works for you. I’d like to hear any questions you may have about this, have you ever seen this process playing out in your life and what techniques do you use? You may have exactly what I’m looking for!