Last Updated on September 30, 2024

Everything is brain training

Many people these days say things like, “Meditation trains your brain.”

And that’s true.

But so does everything else!

Whatever we do repeatedly — with feeling — drives deeper neurological grooves.

Because that’s the very nature of learning.

Or what we hypnotists call “hypnosis.”

The brain doesn’t only make connections when we train it consciously.

It’s happening all the time.

Ruminating as brain training

Sometimes I’ll get coaching clients who have a hidden assumption.

They believe it’s really important to tell me all the details of their problem.

In fact, we all have this hidden assumption sometimes.

We keep telling the same story over and over about our suffering.

But the thing is, every time we tell that story, we are training our brains to feel bad!

We also do this in our own minds.

We think about our problems in the same ways that make us feel bad, over and over and over.

Luckily there is a way out of this.

Pattern interrupts as brain training

Instead of training the brain to go in the same dark loops over and over, we can introduce something different.

We do this by what we call “pattern interrupts” in Neuro-Linguistic Programming.

It’s really quite simple.

First you think about something that makes you feel bad.

You could do this by deliberately bringing up a problem, or simply let your mind wander off to unpleasant thoughts.

You could even speak out loud, or journal about your life’s biggest issue.

But here’s the key:

Only do this for 1-2 minutes max!

Then immediately do something different to interrupt the pattern.

This could be tapping on the body, jumping up and down, or looking out the window and counting all the leaves on the tree.

Anything that distracts you from the thought and feeling and temporarily pops you out of it.

Ideally the pattern interrupt also makes you feel kinda good, and for at least 2 minutes.

After interrupting the pattern, deliberately think about the same thing again.

It might feel a little different already.

Or maybe even not bother you at all!

Repeat this over and over.

Think about the negative thing, then interrupt the pattern.

I’ll often do this for 20-45 minutes straight.

At this point, I can’t even get myself to feel bad…no matter how hard I try!

Training getting unstuck

I’ve written a long article about pattern interrupt methods on my website if you want to learn more.

It’s a simple idea, but it works amazingly well.

In fact, it works far better than just telling the same sad story over and over again.

Why? Because it’s training your brain too.

It’s training, “Yes, I can feel bad sometimes, but that means I’m about to feel better!”

It’s training getting unstuck and into the flow, rather than grooving that same old pattern again and again.

So how do you want to train your brain this week?

Take care,

 

 

 

~Duff
(they/them)

P.S. Got a pattern you want to interrupt? Sign up for a free 30-minute consultation to see if we’re a good fit for working together.