What exactly is an emotion?
Let’s enter the realm of the HPA axis—an intricate network in the body linking the hypothalamus, pituitary gland, and adrenal glands. The hypothalamus acts as the orchestrator, deciphering signals from the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) to sustain internal balance. Once processed, these signals prompt the pituitary gland to dispatch chemical directives to various glands, such as the adrenal glands, encouraging the production of hormones and neurotransmitters. If this process gets out of synch, dysfunctional process begins and the body heads towards diseases.
Sounds rather complex, doesn’t it? Indeed, it is! Yet, here’s the fascinating aspect: While we lack direct control over the chemical and hormonal responses around HPA axis, we possess the capacity to influence them through our conscious decisions.
Let’s enter the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS), the primary responder to external and internal stimuli. ANS is the nervous system and its response influences HPA axis. ANS assimilates sensory inputs—touch, taste, smell, sound, vision, and thoughts.
According to expert analysis, our emotions—be it anger, love, sorrow, or peace—are ignited by chemical compounds generated by the HPA axis. This means our emotions are, after all, the products of HPA axis, which is directed by the signals from ANS. It’s the sense of touch, taste, smell, sound, vision and thoughts that controls HPA axis. In essence, our conscious sensory inputs and thoughts have the capacity to influence our emotional experiences.
As long as you’re trained to control your sensory inputs and thoughts, you can easily navigate your emotional experiences and can also avoid the pathway towards dysfunctional body that is induced by negative emotional states.
Emotions are not mysterious. Emotions are something that you can navigate.
For those who struggle to switch off your negative thoughts, and those who prone to have sensory overload I have made a short audio clip introducing a little exercise you can do daily from today😊
(Daily Practice – switching off your busy mind)
