Yes there is some sort of willingness intention that can start this experience to happen. With regard to what is said, I have those experiences on a daily basis now and the fear is gone that I am becoming a mindless robot. No actually emotional experiences is still there but it is less grasping to the content regardless of the emotional tone.For a moment take note of exactly what is being experienced in this moment: Notice all sound, all sensation, all smell, all taste, all colour. Notice how you're making absolutely no effort to be aware of them. And notice that you're not making them happen. You're not conducting the orchestra of experience that you're aware of. And notice that thought is exactly the same as the rest of experience. You're effortlessly aware of it, but you're not orchestrating it. You're not even orchestrating the thoughts which say that you're able to orchestrate thoughts.
Thought is similar, word thought stops for quite some time (5-10 seconds) it is like a dripping sink. The drop is seen but it disappears quickly. If no grasping is on the thought there is also almost no memory trace as well.
What is curious though ist the starting point. It has great similarity with cold shower start. There is this thought with an expectation that something will happen. In case of cold shower, it is the thought that it is going to be uncomfortable first. So thought is starting a story about a one entity which is willing to do it, strong enough, a tough guy, he has to overcome the lazy other part, the comfortable part. But when looking at this what really happens is, that thought is making a good story out of what is happening. At some point a hand comes and turns the cold on. Bang! Why did this happen? Unclear, but the thought story is already gone. The cold takes it toll.
What I want to say is that there is no willing in the actual start of cold showering, but a conditioning of the moment to become more possible. Is that a consequence of thought? Partially yes I would say. There is an intentionality that is steered by thought processes. E.g. I read about Tummo and about cold-showers and the beneficial effects, that is why I started it.
So "take note of" is similar. I learned to make the shift happen less randomly. I can prime the conditions so that this shift is allowed to happen. The quality of "control" is new for me. Before that happened sometimes during meditation or in beautiful nature, now I can think of this shift and relax the body and pull attention down. Hmm no it is more like a letting loose of attention with this focused eye-position perspective and it drops down to breast area first. If it drops below to belly, thought is almost stopped, feels very comfortable but also a bit dumb, like a couch potato or tired. It is good though. But to stay active the drop has to be more to the breast region. Then there is this noticing of the sensation field, much broader (still sequential, not parallel, one sensation at each time, but rapid like 3-10 impressions per seconds??? Hard to tell, not slower but also not continuous. Visually it is sometimes like a very mild strobe effect or like migraine aura effects). Anyway, if the shift is this mixture in the breast area one can be even in extremely busy environments and still being broad for some 5-10 seconds before something disturbs it. In quiet areas unfortunately it doesn't stay longer before thought is interrupting or an image. Rarely it is longer.
Result: Can shift into this by priming or improving the conditions for this to happen. Thought is part of that if the shift is more to breast area. Below thought almost dies out (word-thought). Usually not much longer than 5-10 seconds.
