Emotions

I don't know if this post will be very clear. I'm still processing some of what Sifu Brinker was talking to us about in black belt class; the difference between reacting and responding.

I understand the concept, although I'm not sure if I'm responding or reacting sometimes. Usually if I can analyze it afterwards, I can see what my mindset was. He brought up the different brain function and was talking about how the alpha brainwaves are different than the beta that we generally walk around in. He mentioned that martial artists spend more time in Alpha than the average person and he also said something about how Zen masters like Thich Nhat Hanh walk around in Alpha all the time and I got to thinking about emotions and the way I deal with stress.

If I can be in a more alpha state of mind generally, I assume that rather than reacting to stressful situations and confrontation, I would have more ability to choose to respond to those situations. I like to think that I'm pretty cool and collected but I know sometimes I speak too soon, or I can antagonize people unintentionally. Would this mindset give me the power to be more aware and in control of my thoughts and feelings? Would I be able to deal with irrational thoughts before they really get under my skin?