by Leroy on March 13th, 2025.
Thoughts must be physical because our brains are physical. If the brain is what produces thoughts, and our brain is physical, then thoughts must be the orchestration of the physical symphony of chemicals rushing, receptors activating, and neurons firing. Knowing that thoughts are physical tells us that thoughts must operate under the same law of cause and effect that governs our bodies. Because thoughts are physical then the way we treat our bodies necessarily affects our thoughts.
Most people intuitively understand that our bodies affect our thoughts but we lose that thread of logic somewhere. Most people know that if they haven't eaten recently that they might become angry or irritable. If we know that the cause here is hunger, does it make sense that the effect is strictly an emotion like "irritation" or "anger", or can we say that the thoughts themselves have changed to become angry or irritable? When I'm hungry I'm not only outwardly angry, my inner thoughts are angry and hateful too. I think that the inner thoughts drive the outward acts that people see.
There are two solutions to inner emotional turmoil caused by bodily ailments like being hungry, in pain, too cold, etc. The first solution is to fix whatever is ailing your body. The second is to realize your thoughts have changed and to overcome their negativity: despite being emotionally angry, you can still act kindly. Both of these solutions can be difficult or easy depending on how severe the ailment is or how dire the situation may be.
Having said all of this, I want to point out something less discussed. Controlling yourself physically yields the same benefits towards thoughts. Controlling your body physically allows you to control your thoughts too. This is because thoughts are physical. Thoughts in your head are directly analogous to moving particular body parts, or "thinking" with your body. When an athelete is performing they aren't thinking in full sentences, they are "thinking" with their body by articulating it precisely and usually quickly. You can choose the movement of your body including the movement of your thoughts because both are physical properties controlled by you. This is the foundation of meditation and is the source of all meditative healing.