A Little Unknown Fact About Thinking That Has Big Consequences 

On any given day, we think around 50,000 thoughts.

To put that into context, there are only 86,400 seconds in a day. 

It doesn't take a mathematician to work out that we're thinking thoughts every 1 and half seconds. 

But what's more surprising is that of those 50,000 thoughts, 98% of them are the same thoughts we thought yesterday.

Now, if you're thinking that you must have read that wrong, you didn't. 98% of the thoughts that you and I think today are the same thoughts we thought yesterday. 

That means just 2% of our thoughts that we'll think today are new. And as thoughts and emotions go hand-in-hand, it can be hard to change existing patterns that are being fed by existing thoughts. That's why they're so hard to break.

That's how we literally carry the past into the future. 

"Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become. No single instance will transform your beliefs, but as the votes build up, so does the evidence of your new identity."- James Clear

Now, to the little unknown fact about thinking

The body, on an experiential level, doesn't know the difference between a lived experience or something that's been dreamt up in the mind. 

However, as shocking as this phenomenon is, it's not new.

I'm sure like me, you have also worried about money, stressed about what we need to do in the morning, and dreaded meeting the parents of a new lover in the past. 

But as real as all of these experiences are, they're also not. 

In the end, they're just thoughts. 

However, as thoughts create emotions and emotions drive the way we move in the world, thoughts can very quickly become real. So much so that they can make us laugh out loud or create anxiety. 

And because the body reacts to anxious thoughts in the same way it does an anxious experience, it doesn't matter if it's genuine anxiety or fictitious. It's experiencing anxiety regardless. 

To understand the true significance of this, let's look at how the nervous system works.

The two sides of the autonomic nervous system

The autonomic nervous system is made up of two parts: The sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system. 

The sympathetic nervous system controls our stress response, better known as the fight or flight response. It also monitors the body's temperature, controls saliva levels, inhibits digestion, accelerates our heart rate, dilates pupils, constricts blood vessels, raises blood pressure & perspiration (heat and sweat), creates goose pimples, and makes the body highly alert, sharp, and focused. 

It is also associated with cognitive and analytical thinking.

The parasympathetic nervous system, on the other hand, activates our rest and digest response. It also helps to restore balance, slows and stabilises a resting heart rate, promotes digestion, improves recovery/healing time, produces saliva, expands our pupils, boosts the immune, digestive, and cardiovascular systems, and basically counteracts the work of the sympathetic nervous system. 

It is also associated with relaxation, creativity, and intuition.

Understanding the nervous system 

In every single moment, we are alive the nervous system is alert, engaged, and aware. The speed at which it filters this information is so fast that if our conscious mind had to compute everything that was happening on a moment-to-moment basis, we'd be completely frazzled. 

So, instead, it filters out what's "not important" and leaves the "important" bits. However, those filters can change when it considers something is up. It's hardwired to do so. It's built inside the part of the brain that we have in common with the rest of the animal kingdom - the reptilian brain - and it's the part of the brain that keeps us alert to danger.

The role of the reptilian brain is to keep us safe and alive. Survival is its number task and it's extremely effective at it. 

Bearing that in mind, during the day the nervous system changes where it focuses its attention depending on how important or urgent it considers things to be. 

When something suddenly makes a loud noise, for example, almost all of us instinctively react in the same way: We become tense and alert as our nervous system figures out what's going on. Some of us even jump. 

We can't control this response, and neither should we want to either. That's because if we are in real danger the nervous system responds to get us to safety. It can even save our lives. 

But here's the thing: Our body responds to a loud noise just the same way it does to a negative thought, a strong emotion, or high stress levels. It becomes tense, alert, and focused. 

The trouble nowadays is that many people are living in this stimulated state for long periods of time and they're suffering the consequences because of it. 

Work, money, demanding schedules, social media, current world events, school, social pressure, body image, environmental concerns, and mental health are some of the biggest driving factors in this. 

In short, the nervous system becomes unbalanced when it receives too much stimulation and not enough downtime. 

And the modern world doesn't help. 

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Thankfully, here's some good news… 

As much as we can't control the reptilian brains' reaction, what we can control is our response. And believe it or not, one of the best ways to do this is through breathing. 

To understand why, let's look at how the heart, brain, and breath communicate.

The heart/brain/breath connection

As we breathe in our diaphragm flattens and our heart contracts. This sends an incredibly speedy message up to the brain that then sends an incredibly speedy message back to the heart that says, "you must speed up", so it does. 

Then as we breathe out the reverse is true. Our diaphragm lifts and our heart opens up. This sends an incredibly speedy message up to the brain that then sends an incredibly speedy message back to the heart that says, "you must slow down", so it does. 

Whatever messages are sent thereafter create the thoughts that we think, the emotions that we feel, and the behavioural patterns we act out. 

The body has developed this incredibly fast system because it knows that if the breath ever stops, so do we. So, it knows that it must relay what the breath has to say to the heart and brain as quickly as possible, therefore, every breath carries a message but we are the ones we deliver it. 

Breathing through the nose, taking slow, deep breaths into the belly, engaging the diaphragm, and taking fewer breaths per minute are all fantastic breathing habits that can be cultivated to support this journey. 

They all signal the nervous system that it's okay to relax, so it does. This then slows the heart, relaxes the muscles, relaxes digestion, soothes the mind, and opens up creative and intuitive thinking. 

Its simplicity is its power. 

To recap

• The body, on an experiential level, doesn't know the difference between a lived experience and something that's been dreamt up in the mind. It reacts and responds in the same way. 
• Our breath connects to our heart and brain and communicates via the nervous system. Whatever messages are sent thereafter create the thoughts that we think, the emotions that we feel, and the behavioural patterns we act out. 
• Every breath carries a message but we are the ones who send it.