Where Do Our Thoughts Come From?

It turns out that the answer to this question might be a little too philo-neurological.

But as promised, we will always keep things simple on this blog. Thoughts occur when neurons (brain cells) inside our brain communicate with each other. What’s interesting though, is where these neurons get their trigger.

We can say that there are two main sources of information that can trigger our thoughts:

• External Triggers: Information we get through our senses.
• Internal Triggers: Information that comes from within us, like memories, emotions, reflections, and our internal narrative.

Now, external triggers are pretty straightforward. For example, you see a car. The information travels from your eyes to your brain, which then processes that this object is a car.

But let’s say you were recently in a car accident. You’re not going to think of it as “just a car.” The sensory input of the car is going to trigger a memory of the accident, and out of protection, you’re going to be alert. Maybe scared, maybe anxious, maybe panicked.

This is important for us to become aware of so we can be more mindful of our “chatter” and all the noises and thoughts we have during our day. Our brains never stop working. Even when we are asleep, our brains are working—so imagine how much stuff we’ve got up there!

Let’s say I wake up in a certain mood, a rather negative one, and I can’t understand why. I go about my busy day with such heaviness and annoyance, without even knowing or understanding what is going on. But if I take a moment in a quiet place with as few distractions as possible (thought triggering distractions), I can sit with myself and my thoughts and examine them:

“Why do I have this annoyed mood?”

And my thoughts would respond:

“It’s the nightmare you had, silly. You were trapped in a hospital room and all you could hear was a loud alarm which you didn’t know what it was for.”

And then you remember that before you went to sleep, you scheduled an appointment with your doctor early in the morning, which meant you’d have to wake up earlier than usual.

And it all makes sense. You are relieved of your annoyance and you can relax now. Or maybe you’re not, and you need to take other measures (soothing self-care techniques).

The first step to solving any problem is to face it. But how many times do we face our thoughts? How many times a day do we stop the thought spirals and say “hey… maybe that’s not true?”. 

In this space, you are always encouraged to get yourself in the habit of acknowledging, examining, tracing, investigating your own thoughts. We all sometimes get stuck inside our heads, ruminate on thoughts that are bothersome to us, and that’s not very helpful to our mental wellness. 

So, sit back, relax, and recognize what triggers your thoughts!