The Cult of Meaning-Making: When Thinking Hijacks Feeling

In our fast-paced culture, thinking is often elevated as the highest human function—our prized problem-solver, meaning-maker, and escape hatch. But thinking, as necessary as it is, can become a trap. Especially when it overrides our capacity to feel.

Neuroscience tells us that emotions come first. Literally. We feel before we think. Research by Jaak Panksepp and Lucy Biven (2012) demonstrates that emotional experience arises from deep subcortical structures in the brain—what they call the “core self”—before the neocortex (the seat of conscious thought) even gets involved.

Yet when we feel overwhelmed, vulnerable, or dysregulated, we often reach for thinking as a shield. We lean into analysis, planning, interpreting—often without realizing we're doing it to avoid the raw intensity of emotion. This pattern shows up neurologically in the dominance of the left prefrontal cortex—what psychiatrist and philosopher Iain McGilchrist (2010) describes as the left hemisphere’s narrow, detail-focused grasp on the world.

McGilchrist’s work reveals that the left hemisphere, especially the top-left-frontal region, tends to "make meaning" even when it lacks full data. It creates interpretations to soothe uncertainty—even if the result is distorted, fragmented, or, frankly, wrong. It favors coherence over truth. It would rather invent an answer than admit it doesn't know.

And here’s the rub: the left brain doesn’t have direct access to the richness of lived experience. It depends on the right hemisphere—our embodied, relational, and emotionally attuned brain—for that. The left side is secondary. A translator. A map-maker, not a navigator. As McGilchrist puts it, “The right hemisphere sees the whole, the left sees the parts and confuses the map for the territory” (McGilchrist, 2010).

The danger is cultural as well as personal. A society dominated by left-brain modes of thought can become obsessed with control, explanation, and certainty. Feeling is dismissed as irrational. Intuition is sidelined. Opinion replaces embodied knowing. As a result, we become more reactive, less reflective—and more cut off from ourselves.

But there’s another way.

Like many in the fields of affective neuroscience and psychotherapy, I invite a return to the wisdom of the body. As developmental neuropsychologist Allan Schore (2012) suggests, we can "shift down and to the right"—from the high-speed highways of left-brain cognition to the slower, more relational terrain of the right hemisphere and subcortical brain.

This shift asks us to pause. To feel. To listen to our body’s signals—its tension, breath, heart rate, gut response—before rushing to interpret or explain. It’s in this space, Schore says, that self-regulation becomes possible. And once we’re regulated, the deeper wisdom stored in our emotional and somatic systems begins to rise.

Our nervous systems are not just reactive—they're adaptive. But they need time. Time to feel before we think. Time to notice before we narrate. Time to allow the truth of our experience to emerge from the inside out—not be forced from the top down.

So let’s resist the cult of premature meaning-making. Let’s be willing to not know for a little while longer. In that not-knowing, something truer may take shape.

References

• Panksepp, J., & Biven, L. (2012). The Archaeology of Mind: Neuroevolutionary Origins of Human Emotion. W. W. Norton & Company.

• McGilchrist, I. (2010). The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World. Yale University Press.

• Schore, A. N. (2012). The Science of the Art of Psychotherapy. W. W. Norton & Company.

Why You Keep Reacting Like That: How Memory and Emotion Get Stuck—and How to Heal

Have you ever found yourself overreacting to something small, only to realize later that it reminded you of something bigger, something painful? You're not alone. There’s a reason for this—one that neuroscience and somatic therapy help us understand deeply.

Your Brain is a Prediction Machine

Your brain is always trying to help you survive. One of the ways it does this is by using the past to predict the future. This is efficient: instead of evaluating every situation from scratch, your brain compares new experiences to old ones to figure out what to do next. This is the core of how memory works.

As neuropsychologist Mark Solms explains, the brain is organized around affective (emotional) needs, and it constantly builds mental maps to keep us safe and satisfied. In this way, memory becomes a survival tool. [Solms, The Hidden Spring, 2021]

The Problem with Trauma

But here's the issue. Not all memories are accurate or helpful. When you go through a trauma—defined not by what happened, but by your nervous system’s inability to return to balance afterward—your brain records not just the event, but the emergency coping strategies you used in the moment.

Instead of remembering a completed emotional response (like a full cry or a protective act), your nervous system may remember a stuck state—fight, flight, or freeze energy that never got to finish. According to Peter Levine, this is the hallmark of trauma: incomplete survival responses held in the body. [Levine, Waking the Tiger, 1997]

So when something in the present even vaguely resembles that traumatic past, your brain says, “I’ve seen this before—danger!” and launches the same coping pattern, even if it’s not actually needed.

How Emotion Shapes Memory

Jaak Panksepp, a pioneer in affective neuroscience, identified core emotional systems in the brain that are shared across mammals, such as FEAR, SEEKING, RAGE, and CARE. These are deeply embodied—not just ideas in your head, but powerful forces in your nervous system. [Panksepp, The Archaeology of Mind, 2012]

When trauma distorts how these emotional systems operate, it can cause you to misinterpret present situations through the lens of old pain. You might withdraw in fear during a conflict, lash out in frustration, or numb out altogether—not because of what's happening now, but because of what your body remembers.

So How Do You Change This?

Healing involves interrupting that old survival loop. Here’s how to start:

1. Notice what happens in your body, emotions, impulses, and thoughts when you’re triggered. This builds awareness.

2. Support your nervous system with tools that create safety—slowing your breath, grounding yourself, using soothing touch or movement.

3. Work with your body to help it finish incomplete survival responses—shaking, crying, pushing, or other instinctive actions.

4. Let the emotions express. When you feel safe enough, those stuck feelings can finally move and release.

5. Reflect gently. Ask what meaning you attached to the event—were you unsafe, unloved, powerless? Are those meanings still true today?

6. Revisit the present moment and see it with fresh eyes. Is this current situation truly dangerous, or is it echoing something old?

This process doesn’t usually happen all at once. It’s slow, layered, and best done in the safety of a therapy relationship. Somatic Experiencing, developed by Peter Levine, is specifically designed to help you do this in a regulated, embodied way. With the presence of a therapist, your nervous system can borrow calm from theirs—a process known as co-regulation.

Sources:

• Levine, P. A. (1997). Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma.

• Panksepp, J., & Biven, L. (2012). The Archaeology of Mind: Neuroevolutionary Origins of Human Emotions.

• Solms, M. (2021). The Hidden Spring: A Journey to the Source of Consciousness.

Walking with the storm: Helping your loved ones when they’re overwhelmed

Download our free guide to relating to your loved ones when they’re on edge!

Understanding emotions: a deeper look

Emotions are complex and intriguing aspects of our human experience. They're not inherently good or bad; they simply are. Let’s explore what emotions really entail and how they influence us.

The Purpose of Emotions

Dr. Antonio Damasio, a renowned neuroscientist, suggests that emotions are essential for our survival. They provide feedback about the health and sustainability of our bodies, our relationships, and our environments. Emotions prompt us to act, helping us adapt to our current circumstances and ultimately, relieve emotional tension. For instance, sadness might encourage us to seek comfort through tears or hugs, while anger might provoke reactions like yelling or expressing frustration physically.

The Basics of Emotions

Emotions start as physical sensations in our body, akin to how our body regulates temperature. If emotional stimuli are too intense or too subtle, they cross a threshold, making us aware of our feelings. These sensations—like a twist in your stomach or a flutter in your heart—can evolve into conscious emotions if they're not overwhelming or suppressed due to fear.

Emotions and Trauma

Trauma can trap emotions in the physical body, leading to avoidance of bodily awareness. This avoidance is a defense mechanism against re-experiencing discomfort or pain.

Emotional Intelligence and Mindfulness

While emotions are crucial for survival and adaptation, not all emotional reactions are beneficial in a social context. Some can isolate us or cause trouble. Moreover, trauma can skew our perception of the present, making us relive past threats and perpetuate pain. This highlights the importance of being both attentive to and cautious with our emotions.

The Brain’s Pathways for Emotions

Our brains process emotions in two main ways: the slow road and the fast road. The slow road involves thought and reflection before action, allowing us time to assess whether our responses are appropriate. The fast road is instinctive and immediate, driven by primal urges. Both pathways are adaptive, depending on the situation.

Navigating Trauma and the Present

By spending time with ourselves, we can learn to distinguish between being present and operating automatically—a mode often influenced by past trauma. Mindfulness—recognizing how we feel, rather than simply experiencing emotions—empowers us to differentiate between past triggers and present realities.

Practicing mindfulness isn't an instant solution but a gradual process that builds the awareness necessary to make conscious choices. This awareness can lead to new behaviors and healthier automatic responses that are more aligned with our current needs.

In Conclusion

Emotions are not just reactions but signals that guide us through the complexities of life. By understanding and managing them, we can lead more fulfilling and adaptive lives.

Are these feelings shadows or real?

Here is this post summarized in three sentences:

1. Our brains are prediction machines using the past to predict the future and un-healed past events cloud those predictions and can cause un-adaptive emotions.

2. Slowing down and reflecting using non judgement and lots of self acceptance helps us suss out whether our feelings are adaptive or not.

3. Working on our past helps our present be clearer.

It’s popular to say that you won’t let fear drive your life. While that’s maybe an important counter balance to living too much in fear or giving away your personal power it’s also a misnomer. The goal shouldn’t be to get rid of any core emotion, instead it should be to slow down when we are sped up and automatic so that we can listen to what we’re feeling (this might take a lot of self acceptance and be alarming to do). That is how we start to be truly adaptive. Remember what we feel is going to be based on both the present moment and your past. So it takes some time to suss out whether your intuition is adaptive emotions to the present moment or out of date feelings from the past being put on the current moment. Our brains are prediction machines. Their job is to efficiently predict what will happen based on the past. When the past is incomplete then we inaccurately predict. So in order to be more present we need to not only slow down we also need to process and complete or re-complete the past. Fear is important, without fear we would be much more vulnerable to being taken advantages of. That said, unnecessary fear keeps us small and under selling ourselves.

So to recap once again in those three sentences:

1. Our brains are prediction machines using the past to predict the future and un-healed past events cloud those predictions and can cause un-adaptive emotions.

2. Slowing down and reflecting using non judgement and lots of self acceptance helps us suss out whether our feelings are adaptive or not.

3. Working on our past helps our present be clearer.