The Difference Between Feelings and Body Sensations

One thing that can be confusing is how to effectively define the term “feelings.”  The word is often used interchangeably to mean both physical sensations in our bodies as well as our emotions.  When trying to manage our minds around any challenge, it is super important to understand the difference.   

A big distinction between the two concepts is where each originates.  Simply put, body-sensation types of feelings begin somewhere in the physical body and travel up to our brains.  In contrast, emotion-types of feelings, originate in our brains (from thoughts) and travel from our brains to our physical bodies. 

Body Messages 

A feeling that is a body sensation is simply a form of communication between the body and the brain about what’s going on with us, physically.   

Some examples of these types of body sensation messages might be a stomach ache, the feeling of hunger, a sore muscle, the feeling of being too hot or too cold, or even the tiny prick of a needle. These sensations are messages that your physical body is giving your brain as a type of check-in.  They are purely physical and have nothing to do with our emotions that are the results of our thoughts. 

Emotions 

On the other hand, unlike a physical sensation, an emotion-type feeling is a message that will start in your brain and move down to your body.  Here is an example of what this might look like: 

Let’s say you receive a phone call at 10:00 pm from your neighbor who after a late-night store run, is sitting in their car at the busy intersection right outside of your neighborhood.  They’re calling to tell you that there has been a horrendous car accident.  He says that one of the cars involved is a small white hatchback and that it could possibly be the Ford Focus that your 17-year-old daughter drives.   

As you listen on the phone, you start to hear the sirens of the emergency vehicles as they arrive down the street.  You know your daughter was supposed to be at a friend’s house all night and isn’t due home for an hour. 

Your neighbor says he can’t tell if it is your daughter’s car for sure, though, and encourages you to either try to get ahold of her on her cell or for you and your husband to come down to the corner and see for yourselves. 

Even before hanging up the phone, you begin having many, many thoughts about what you’ve just heard, “What if it is Jessie’s car in the accident?” “Oh my God, what if she’s hurt?” “What if she’s dead?” “What if we can’t get her help in time?” 

As a result of those thoughts, chemical reactions occur in your brain and begin to spread throughout your body.  This cascade of reactions reaches different parts of your body and a number of physical responses may occur.  

In this situation the responses might be things like a rapid heart rate, tension in your muscles, pounding in your head or feelings of nausea to the point of wanting to throw up.  A word that might describe this combination of physical responses is: FEAR. 

The tricky point that must be understood here is that the feeling of fear is a result of your thoughts about your daughter possibly being in a car accident, not the actual accident itself.   

Let’s say that immediately after hanging up with your neighbor, you speed-dial your daughter’s cell number.  After three rings, the phone picks up and you hear “Hey Mom, what’s up?  I’m still at Annie’s - you told me I didn’t have to be home until 11.”   

What do you think you would be feeling then?  My guess would be that your head might stop pounding, your heartbeat might slow a bit, and your nausea might subside.  In other words, you might feel RELIEF.  

But the reason you’d feel relief is not because of hearing your daughter’s voice on the other end of the phone. The reason you’d feel relief is because of new thoughts that you would have about the fact that your daughter answered the phone and was still at her friend’s house.  You might think something like, “Phew, she answered her phone,” or “she’s safe at Annie’s house,” or “thank God, my baby’s not dead!” 

Because emotional feelings start in our brains, thoughts ALWAYS trigger them.  Every time.  At first, it might be difficult to determine what those thoughts are, however being curious and doing a little investigating are good ways to start discovering what they might be. 

Observe Your Feelings 

Getting the results you want in your life – buying a house, increasing sales in your business, or losing 15 pounds - occur when you are able to think the thoughts that create the feelings you need to take the appropriate actions.  As you become more adept at identifying and understanding the different kinds of feelings you experience from your thoughts, rather than physical sensations in your body, it will become easier to avoid bad habits like running late or procrastinating.  

Take some time today and try to notice how you feel when faced with some sort of activity that you’d rather avoid – like going to exercise class or putting away the dishes.  Why do you want to avoid these activities?   What feelings do you have when thinking about doing them?  Developing the habit of noticing these kinds of feelings can be super helpful in your journey to achieving whatever results you want in your life.