It is called Mindfulness and studies have shown it works as you describe.
[Every thought is followed by an emotion]
They go hand and hand. Some are more powerful than others. Some people become trapped by what their brain tells them and how that makes their body feel. Every time you repeat a thought pattern and emotion, it becomes a stronger connection in your brain. A deeper emotion in your body. If you don't nip it in the bud, these conditioned thought patterns repeat and can grow into debilitating responses.
Like a Youtube video, each frame of the movie is a moment in your life. The playhead moves forward in time and can only let you view one frame of the movie at a time. the one you are currently in. We need to be like the playhead and focus on what is happening in the room we are actually in, instead of lost in thought in made up arguments and worry of past/future: misery..
[Make space inside]
There is a space between something alive in you (self) and your thoughts. Realize your mind is running on its own leaving you to react. Every thought it has the body makes an emotion to match. Instead don't give your thoughts attention and they will evaporate along with the emotions that are associated to them. There are real chemicals released by our brains after having thoughts. These go into all the cells in our body and we feel along with our cells. When the time is right to think about something and feel, do it. But when you have thought enough, don't be a hostage to your mind. It is 4am, there is nothing you can do, yet your mind will not let you sleep instead you must worry about a problem. We can become hostage to our own minds..
The body believes whatever the brain thinks is really happening and reacts to protect us
A scary movie is a good example. watch one late at night alone and you will be scared for hours after. Even though it is not real!
[Your thoughts are not you]
By controlling your thoughts, realizing they are like strands of hair, they are a manifestation of your form and mental conditioning (culture/daily thought cycles), these thoughts are not you, you are the one who hears them, the form that lets them exist. Realize you are the one alive, not your thoughts and you don't have to listen to them.
Put space between yourself and your thoughts and you will realize the true essence of who you are is not what you believe or think, but a timeless life force, an awareness that transcends time and life or death. This feeling of aliveness and your awareness of the world (without judgement) is all you need to focus on to remove all misery and align yourself with "god", which is this shared consciousness (awareness) that is manifest in all of us.
When you look at people, they are all you. The same aliveness is in them too. They just have mental conditioning and live by their emotions instead of sensing the same aliveness and love deep down we all share. This is how you reach god, by finding it in everyone else is the same as what is deep in ourselves. The universe becomes flat around you and you fill its entire space. This is the most profound experience that a human can have. Become one with everything.
[Awareness is the key]
we want to slow and silence the thoughts of the conditioned mind down and increase awareness of all the senses. The more aware you are, the larger your conciseness will be. Like a Jedi, you will see more in a normal scene than most can stop long enough to appreciate. Sitting still, breathing slowly, fill your soul with all that is around you. become everything with full acceptance. No judgement or memories, just exist and appreciate life and existence itself. It is all very marvelous once you remove the human condition and only observe things 'as is'. When you have done this for a long time you can have deep self introspection on heavy thoughts.
There are many tools to this path, breathing is a natural thing we all do, it is the essence of life and helps us become one with the current moment. When you actually contemplate your chest will not always fill with air for eternity. Someday, it will stop rising. Everything is transient. Thoughts, products we buy, relationships, life and earth, nothing stays the same.
[Acceptance and letting go]
of identification with any form other than your life force awareness. You are not your job, you are not your marriage, you are not your thoughts. you are a marval of the universe. All your ancestors, the people that had to meet, have children and survive so your parents can have you. All the billions of people that existed and died. All the possibilities and yet here you are. You have been given a ticket to the ultimate show, life.
Everyone that ever existed wants to have the chance to be you again, to live. Marval in life, in existence. How fragile yet resilient. The pressure of bills and life drama fade easily when you let them go and realize their is a whole universe inside of you. Centered, calm and assertive, you can then act in the moment and affect your life positively with meaningful action. Not only will this save you from being over emotional during times of crisis, but, in the state of meditation the universe, the god consciousness, it gives you answers and coincidence to bring success.
It is about what you believe, and say to yourself that will have a large impact on the state and direction of your life. The decisions you make in life, dictate the life you live. Change the way you look at things, and the things you look at will change.
[Meditation - Mindfulness]
The voice in your head, who is doing the talking? who is doing the listening? Who am "I". Is it the voice or the listener? Lets find the listener..
Forget everything. Forget you. Just be like before you had names for things.
The act of being mindful is the art of watching yourself think. with this comes a clear view of thoughts the ability to see them for what they are, allowing you to ignore your them and actually enjoy the forms around you in the current moment without judgement.
Focus on our breathing is free, always with us and we can do effortlessly. There are many methods that include counting and other patterns of breath, but the oldest traditions keep things very simple, no fighting our thoughts or breath, instead breath normal and relax...
Breathe normal through your nose.
Place your awareness on your nostrils, right at the spot you feel the air touch our nose. Like a tiny guard at a gate, only focus on the normal breath coming past your nose at that point. Leave your complete awareness there at that spot. Don't think of anything else. Just watch your breath using the feeling of touch. Some find counting the inhale or exhale cycle easier to stop their mind from thinking. It is up to you to find what works best. Counting can also be boring and drive an expectation of the next numbers. This is good for stoping chatter but adds a presence of mind that some may find boring or too much effort.
Note: The irony here is you are trying to get to a place of no effort, an oasis in the soul. A place to just being alive. It can recharge your life essence, like exercise for cardiovascular health, your energy is also very important. By practicing mindfulness and avoiding suffering, you will rewire your brain and learn deep levels of pleasure. Like stress is directly related to fatigue and sickness, happiness is directly related to health and success. This is not voodoo, many studies show the benefits of meditation and spiritual health.
Back to breathing.. Calm assertion. Your mind will wander and start talking, gently ignore that thought and bring it back to your breath. Relax.. the mind starts again. again you maintain no emotion of failure, just ignore the thought and come back to the breath.
Like sitting in a great giant domed cathedral. It has two windows high up near the ceiling. The empty space is your still mind. A bird comes in one window. This is a thought. If you focus on the bird it will keep circling the dome. Instead ignore it and it will leave out of the other window. The art is let the bird fly in one window and right out the other. It becomes effortless over time. It is life changing.
You don't have to change your pace of breath or think about it entering your body. By placing your focus on the point where the air touches, you feel the air, it is much easier and relaxing than fighting your natural breathing and remember what you are doing or not doing. Less is more.
It is a trick you can play with yourself. Can I place my awareness there without letting my breath aware I am looking?!
As soon as you even touch the idea of your breath, it hands it to you and now YOU are breathing consciously. The trick is to watch your natural breath without breathing it in and out yourself.
When you can make it this far, your breath will disappear and you can then enter into your body completely. It is amazing.
You can read more here:
Long Text: Mindfulness in plain English
Good luck, all the best.
The 7 videos below will save you months of reading. Watch them over and over, all the answers are here. It takes some time living with new ideas for them to sink in. Be kind to yourself and always have patience.
1) Video - Eckart Tolle - Introduction: thoughts and the now - excellent lesson!
2) Video - Eckhart Tolle - Closer look at living in the now