The emotion comes first

When something happens around you, your body reacts before your mind has time to process it. This is because emotions are built into your biology — they’re rapid, automatic responses that evolved to help you survive.

Imagine hearing a sudden loud bang. Before you can even think about it, your heart races, your breathing changes, and your muscles tense. This is your body’s emotional reaction — a built-in alarm system that prepares you to respond to a potential threat.

Only after this reaction does your thinking brain step in to figure out what’s happening.

Emotion vs. Feeling

• Emotion is the raw, biological signal — a surge of physical changes triggered by your brain, especially the amygdala.
  
  
• Feeling is what you consciously experience after interpreting that emotion.
  
  

The difference comes down to meaning:

• If you think the bang was a firework, you might feel excited.
  
  
• If you think it was a gunshot, you might feel afraid.
  
  

Same emotion, different feeling — because your mind assigns the meaning.

The Chain: Emotion → Thought → Belief → Feeling

Your experience unfolds in this order:

1. Emotion: Your body’s immediate biological reaction.
   Example: Heart rate spikes.
   
   
2. Thought: Your mind interprets what’s happening.
   Example: “That sound could be dangerous.”
   
   
3. Belief: The deeper assumption shaping your thought.
   Example: “Sudden loud noises usually signal trouble.”
   
   
4. Feeling: The conscious emotional experience.
   Example: Fear.
   
   

How Beliefs Shape Your Feelings

Here are some real-life examples:

1. Rain on your way home
   
   

• Emotion: Calmness (slow breathing, relaxed muscles)
• Thought A: “Rain makes everything fresh.” → Belief: “Nature is soothing.” → Feeling: Peaceful
• Thought B: “This will ruin my shoes.” → Belief: “Rain is inconvenient.” → Feeling: Annoyed
  
  

1. Someone calls your name loudly
   
   

• Emotion: Startle (fast heartbeat, alertness)
• Thought A: “That’s my best friend!” → Belief: “Friends bring joy.” → Feeling: Excited
• Thought B: “That’s rude.” → Belief: “Respect means speaking calmly.” → Feeling: Irritated
  
  

1. Unexpected work email late at night
   
   

• Emotion: Stress (tight stomach, faster heart rate)
• Thought A: “This might be bad news.” → Belief: “Late-night messages mean problems.” → Feeling: Nervous
• Thought B: “Maybe it’s a new project.” → Belief: “Unexpected work brings opportunities.” → Feeling: Curious
  
  

Why the Emotion Comes First

Research in neuroscience shows that the brain’s emotional centre (the amygdala) can trigger a response before the thinking part of the brain (the cortex) has processed the information (LeDoux, 1996; LeDoux, 2000). This “low road” pathway is fast and protective; it evolved to keep you alive.

Your body sends out an urgent alert (“something’s happening!”), And then your thinking brain writes the story of what it means. That story is shaped by your beliefs — patterns you’ve learned from your earliest environment, culture, and even family history.

Key Takeaway

Emotions aren’t caused by your thoughts or feelings; they precede them. They’re your body’s raw survival signals, translated by your mind into feelings through the lens of your beliefs. The more you understand this process, the more you can work with your emotions instead of being swept away by them.

Author: Estefanía Cultrera-Elfring

References

• LeDoux, J.E. (1996). The Emotional Brain: The Mysterious Underpinnings of Emotional Life. New York: Simon & Schuster.
  
  
• LeDoux, J.E. (2000). Emotion circuits in the brain. Annual Review of Neuroscience, 23(1), 155–184. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.neuro.23.1.155
  
  
• American Psychological Association. (n.d.). What are emotions?
• Damasio, A.R. (1994). Descartes’ Error: Emotion, Reason, and the Human Brain. New York: Putnam.