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Hank DeGroat

YOU WERE BORN TO THRIVE - PAIN AND PERFORMANCE PROBLEMS SOLVED

Learning to Identify Sabotaging Thoughts and Distractions: POD 7 Loops and Distractions

Today’s guided mindfulness training practice explores the basic types of thought distractions that come and go into our meditation practices. Many times you’ll find yourself daydreaming, or stuck in a thought loop, or being distracted by a sensation arising from your senses. It can be easy to become mad with ourselves or disappointed with our inability to “clear our mind”. However, today we learn to set aside harsh self-criticism and begin to take the first steps to channeling our challenging thoughts and energy into a liberating and relaxing flow.

Thank you for all the positive and constructive feedback. I’ll continue to strive to improve and make content that you enjoy, find useful in your life, like, and share with others.

Cheers,
Hank

CC Transcript Below

CC Transcript Below

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Learning to Identify Sabotaging Thoughts and Distractions: POD 7 Loops and Distractions

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I can do anything, I can reach any goal today,

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I can do what I want,

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I can be what I want to be.

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Yesterday we talked about observing the cats

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and all those loops and thoughts that they are going

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flying through our mind.

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Today, we’re going to come off that Ridgeline,

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instead of just observing the cats,

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we are going to work our way down a little bit

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and we are going to start naming those cats.

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Naming those loops and detractions, one at a time.

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Alright, so let’s go and find our posture where we might be

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and let’s settle in.

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Alright, let’s start with finding our breath.

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Just take a nice deep breath in,

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exhale,

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another nice deep breath in,

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bringing our breath to that diaphragm feeling that belly rise up

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and exhale.

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Just give ourselves permission to say, hey,

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it’s time to turn the ON switch OFF.

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Let go off everything, just bringing our thoughts

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and attention to our breath, bringing us back here now.

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Exhale

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Nice deep breath in.

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Do a quick body scan which start with our toes,

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just going to work up where you’re holding your tension?

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If you feel something is not quite right, make that small adjustment in your posture.

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Just take a deep breath in;

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let’s send that exhale to that tension right now.

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Take a nice deep breath in.

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exhale; send the breath to that tension.

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So our thoughts are loops that herd of cats,

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that are so distracting, so when we talk about mindfulness

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settling this and settling that,

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no, we’re not looking to settle, we’re to looking to make our mind a blank slate

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where we’re much too creative and intelligent beings

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to I just go to a black blank slate in my opinion

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and it’s not so much you know about

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shutting that energy down just I’ve got a rambunctious little 3 year old boy,

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it’s not about shutting that energy down,

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it’s about channeling it and finding the outlets

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that energy and creativity can be put to a

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maybe more positive use than driving me crazy

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when I’m trying to get work done, right?

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So what we’re going to do today is just simply observe what’s going on

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with those cats or those mental loops.

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And we’re just going to name them and we’re not going to name on Bob, Harry, Jim though,

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if you want, that’s what you can do,

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but we’re going to recognize and maybe in better way instead of saying naming

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we’re just going to categorize the types of loops and things that we’ve got going on today. Alright.

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So just take a nice deep breath in.

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So just take a nice deep breath in.

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Right now I just bring your focus to your breath as I kind of go over what these

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three loops are or these three categories are.

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So one is kind of fantasy, you know,

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when you’re trying to come to your breath and allow everything to settle and relax,

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you’re going to identify the thoughts and ideas

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that are really about fantasy of future distractions.

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You know things like what’s going on on Facebook and

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I need to check my ESPN updates or want to flip through a magazine,

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you know, all of these little sort of mental distractions

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and impulses that are all about, say,

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future activities that we may or may not do

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and they’re just there distracting and saying,

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hey let’s go somewhere else, let’s go somewhere else, let’s stimulate, stimulate, stimulate

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because where am I right now is where we’re stimulating. So let’s go.

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Another form of distraction or loop, it’s really loops,

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you know, that thought that, that story

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that were playing over and over and over again in our mind and we’re just there.

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So since we take that deep breath in, we exhale,

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our mind goes somewhere and it just start telling us a story.

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It might be telling a negative story, I’m no good, I’m no good, I can’t believe I did that,

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I can’t believe I did that, I should have done this, I should have done this, we just sit there and

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just iterate on that negative loop over and over.

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But ultimate do were distraction or maybe it’s something else,

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and that’s okay.

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When we get these loops and we start playing, sometimes they’re neutral,

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you know we’re just thinking about something mundane,

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sometimes are real destructive.

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So we just see those and we name it. Oh, I’m looping.

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The other form of awareness is

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to be aware of the senses that are distract us.

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Say, a touch. You know do I feel that?

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I’m being distracted by the way my pants are fitting today,

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my shirts a little riding up, maybe there’s a smell

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where I’m in that’s distracting me.

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If I’m sitting here with my eyes open and being visually just harassed

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and focused on something other than my breath.

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Maybe I’m hearing something in the background

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that’s drawn me away.

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Again, all of these things we’re not looking to judge them and say this is right or wrong

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or getting mad or frustrated and we just want to simply be aware

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of what’s going on, because in later practices,

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we’re going to get very good at is, as we recognize,

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when we’re going to recognize them for what they are – a temporary distraction.

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So we’re going to take a nice deep breath, exhale

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and come back.

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So we can take the next couple of minutes and observe

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and do some categorizing or labeling

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of the thoughts and loops through head.

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Take a deep breath in.

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So are you looping?

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Maybe fantasizing?

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Or you’re hyperaware of some sense?

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Again, we’re not judging, we’re was just simply observing

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and recognizing all the different types of distractions

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and activity may not even all the three categories

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of distractions and activities that can go on.

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Alright just take a nice deep breath in,

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exhale.

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Just come back to our breath for a couple of rounds here.

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With each exhale, I want you just let whatever thought or loop

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or distraction go and just put all the focus on that breath and exhalation.

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Deep breath in,

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and exhale.

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I help you gain a little insight, begin to see the value

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of tools that we will be developing,

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the skills that will be developing and the ones that you’ve already created over the last couple of days

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and how much easier you’re getting into your posture,

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how much easier you’re settling into your breath now,

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it’s just all building.

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We’re creating and working on new skills and building them a little bit, little bit each day,

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to pretty soon they’re your own and they’re automatic.

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Hope you’ve enjoyed your practice today;

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found a valuable in some form or fashion.

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Maybe it wasn’t, maybe it wasn’t fun, maybe it was just work.

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That’s okay. Sometimes learning the skills on that piano or just work.

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Until tomorrow,

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Namaste.

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Filed Under: Blog, POD - Daily Practice, Solutions, Stress Less Tagged With: POD Series, Solutions, Stress Less

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