Thinking: An Emergent Phenomena

Ritesh Bawri

27 Oct 2025 — 2 min read

Thoughts are what we call emergent. They arise as an outcome of something else occurring. This may come as a surprise, but the primary driver of thought is your physical body.

Breath, heart rate, hormones. Nutrition even.

Thinking is not just something your brain does. It emerges as your brain recognizes the patterns of what is happening to the body. The quality of your thinking, therefore, depends on the quality of your internal state.

Food regulates mood, so to speak.

When you are calm, your breathing slows. This rhythm tells your vagus nerve you are safe, lowering cortisol and inflammation.

In such a state, your sense of creativity and logic comes alive. You can think clearly, connect ideas, and make better decisions.

When you are nutrition or sleep deprived, the opposite happens. Stress hormones flood your system, diverting blood away from the thinking brain toward survival circuits.

You cannot think your way out of stress because your body has hijacked your mind. So, the state of your body regulates the state of your mind.

How can you use this to your benefit?

If you want to control your thinking, practice interoception. Interoception is the ability to look within and understand the state of your body.

Typically, this capacity is switched off. More accurately switched to autonomous mode. You need to override the switch and actively pay attention.

Pay attention to the rhythm of your breath, the state of your gut or your posture. Pay attention to your muscles or the way your eyes move from place to place.

That is what Yog Nidra is doing, for example. Making you pay attention to your physiology. The mind follows.

The mind is not a separate entity floating above the body. It is born from it, moment by moment.

Emergent.

So, the next time you find your thoughts racing or your focus fading, don’t fight your mind. Change your physiology.

Breathe slower. Move. Eat clean. Sleep deeply. When your body is in harmony, your thoughts align naturally.

Reach out to me on twitter @rbawri Instagram @riteshbawriofficial and YouTube at www.youtube.com/breatheagain

Pollution: what does it do to you exactly?

We breathe approximately 25,000 times every day. Depending on where you live, the air you breathe contains microscopic particles known as particulate matter. Tiny fragments of dust, soot, smoke, and metal travel deep into the lungs and eventually enter the bloodstream. How does this really affect you? When foreign

Keto Diet: is it for you?

The ketogenic diet has captured the global imagination. It promises weight loss, mental clarity, and metabolic transformation. By pushing the body into ketosis, we switch from burning sugar to burning fat. But before you jump on, consider the effect on your gall bladder. Your gallbladder stores bile, necessary to digest

Friends: They can help improve memory

If you are above the age of forty and have experienced the beginnings of memory loss, pay attention. Relationships may help improve memory. Counterintuitive as it may sound, having social relationships plays an important role in preserving memory. When you are engaged with another person, you need to recall all

Nitric Oxide: the role in oral health

Nitric oxide is a simple molecule with a powerful impact on your oral health. Inside your mouth, it acts as a guardian and regulator. It balances your microbiome, supports healthy gums and prevents disease. So how can you get nitric oxide for your mouth? Most people believe nitric oxide comes

Read more

Pollution: what does it do to you exactly?

Keto Diet: is it for you?

Friends: They can help improve memory

Nitric Oxide: the role in oral health