How do someone produce a feeling without visualizing/thinking?

FIrst of all sorry for my English, second language here.. So I'm doing the tuning into new potentions meditations, and I read on another thread that we're not supposed to visualize bc Joe DIspenza asks us to feel, not to see it. So, I always understood that what creates the feeling is the thought, so how can i generate a feeling of gratitude if I don't think on something that I'm grateful for? I thought I was supposed to think about something that brings me joy, freedom and gratitude, to then notice the emotion/feeling in my body.. but some people are saying that I should only focus on the feelings, which I can't understand how can someone bring a feeling to the body without thinking.