Breaking Muscle Memory To Find New Choices

Change can be hard because your body often operates on muscle memory, moving through habits without engaging your mind. This meditation can help you reconnect thought and action, offering you back the freedom to choose how you respond.

Transcript

So I played basketball in high school. I was definitely not great, But what I most remember is watching from the bench players set up at the free throw line. They did pretty much the exact same thing every time. Kind of looked like bounce, Bounce, Bounce, Flip the ball in the air, Check the palm placement, Do two mini squat pulses, Release, Cool hand flip thing, Shoot. We all can kind of see that in our mind there. This is quite often helpful, Say in a basketball game. Well today I want you to consider this same type of muscle memory within our habits and within this concept of change. So my habits, Your habits, They go through the same motions just like the free throw line. They're fluid, One to the next, One thought, Then less thought, And the body just kind of takes over. So for a basketball game, This is great. In a worn conflict with someone you love, Gosh this muscle memory is exhausting. Muscle memory is one of the things that make change really difficult. It's that part of us when our thoughts become less connected to our actions. Your body kind of finds this place of autopilot and just kind of remains there. So the offering today is to consider this opportunity of change that can happen when we re-engage the body. This is a place where when we can decline and disrupt muscle memory, We can have some perspective. We have options. We find ourselves having the capability to interpret how we want to engage, How we respond to different stimulations. You know, This as I know you know does not mean that everything works out, But it offers freedom to allow flexibility and change to occur if we can anchor ourselves in our physical body. So finding change really comes from reconnecting with thoughtful movement or reconnecting to the body to interrupt that muscle memory. So just for today, I want you to bring out your hands in front of you. Go ahead, Put them up near your face, Maybe a foot or so away. Take a look at them. I want you to notice something different there. I want you to let your fingers stretch out. I want you to find some expansiveness there. Something different. I want you to see something different. Maybe turn your hands to the front and the back. These incredible appendages set right in front of you. They're capable of so very much. They take on so very much. Take a finger and outline the gaps in between the fingers. You have choice to engage with your hands differently today. You can take a different perspective. You can notice your hands differently. Bring some awareness that we have similar choices in how we show up in the world. So as we close in this reflection, I want to give you a few moments to reflect using these prompts. So come back to your hands. My muscle memory tends to lead me to. . . Does it tend to lead you to do things really quickly? To ignore self-care? If I were to disrupt my muscle memory, I would. . . What would you do? Would you give yourself perhaps more time in between appointments? Would you listen closely to your body? Would breaks come sooner for you? Would you volunteer for a little bit less? What would it look like to disrupt your muscle memory to try things differently? I hope that provided some reflection, Gentle reflection, Right? We aren't going down this criticism space, But gentle reflection. I want to thank you for joining today, And I encourage you to come back to your hands a couple times today to anchor you in your choice.