Welcome to day six of the burnout and exhaustion challenge here on Insight Timer.
So many of us are always available,
Never switching off and never saying no.
This challenge is a chance to remind your body what stopping actually feels like.
Let's jump in to today's session.
Hello,
And welcome back to the 10 Day Burnout and Exhaustion Challenge.
My name is Dr.
Diana Hill.
And when we are depleted,
Our mind can get into loops.
We can think about things over and over again,
Worry about things we said,
Worry about the future,
Or feel like in general,
We're just not doing a good enough job.
Cognitive Diffusion is a strategy from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy that helps you step back from those thoughts.
You can observe them as not you,
Their passing,
Coming and going,
And rather getting entangled in them.
You can use your energy in places that matter more for you.
Places that will bring you vitality and meaning and purpose.
That's what today's practice will teach.
Go ahead and get into a comfortable position.
You can feel your body making contact with the floor.
Maybe you feel the air on your skin.
Sounds around you.
You can notice this outer world.
But even as you notice the outer world,
There's a whole inner dialogue going on.
All sorts of thoughts in there.
Sometimes those thoughts are helpful.
Can you think of a helpful thought right now?
One that's encouraging and kind?
And sometimes our thoughts actually drag us down more.
Thoughts like,
I should be doing more.
I didn't do a good enough job.
I'll never catch up.
And there's a you.
That's a noticer.
They could notice those thoughts,
Just like you could notice the temperature of the air on your skin.
Where you could notice your own breath.
Today we're going to practice.
How to notice thoughts.
Without getting entangled in that.
Because thoughts are a lot like spiderwebs.
They appear and they disappear.
They're woven over time.
And if you try and rearrange a spiderweb,
You know what happens.
Let's just observe it for what it is.
So begin by noticing your own mind.
Is there a thought that's happening right now in your mind?
Is there a thought that you tend to think a lot about?
Gets stuck in there sometimes?
And our thoughts and our mind can be like right up against us,
Like a sticky note stuck in front of our face.
But I'd like for you to imagine that you could,
In your imagination.
Take that sticky note off of your head.
And take a moment to write a thought.
On that sticky note.
It could be a thought about this meditation.
It could be a thought about you.
It could be a thought.
That really drags you down.
A thought about your body,
A thought about work.
So write that thought on a sticky note in your imagination.
And imagine you could hold that sticky note in front of you.
And read it.
And now the thought's not in your head,
It's on a note,
And you're observing it.
Who's doing the reading?
And imagine you could take that sticky note and you could place it on the floor in front of you.
Imagine you can still see it.
But also imagine bringing your attention to sounds.
To what's happening in front of you or behind you.
And if another sticky thought comes into mind.
Imagine you could take that thought and write it down on another sticky note.
And put it down on the floor in front of you.
And then bring your attention to where you want your attention to go.
Maybe it's to your breath.
Maybe it's to a feeling of spaciousness.
Or to your heart.
Every time a thought comes into your mind,
Imagine you could almost just write that thought down.
And put it on a sticky note in front of you.
You are the chooser of your attention.
Thoughts will continue to come.
In a lot of ways,
That's just how our mind works.
It produces thoughts.
That you are not your thoughts.
You are the observer.
This is how you defuse from thoughts.
Now from time to time,
You may want to look at some of those notes.
You may want to pick them up.
That may be useful to you.
You may want to question them.
You may want to put it in your pocket and carry it into your next meeting because it gives you a nudge to remember something.
But the most important thing to remember.
Is that you get to choose.
Which thoughts you want to use,
Which thoughts you want to listen to,
And which thoughts you just want to write down and notice.
I'm having the thoughts.
Put it on the sticky note.
Instead of right in front of your face.
Because your job.
Is to move your body.
And your being.
And all your energy.
Through your life.
In a way that's aligned with your values.
And sometimes those values match with your thoughts,
And sometimes they don't.
But you get to choose.
You are the chooser.
And you can step back from your thoughts.
Anytime.
You need to.
This skill will get easier with practice.
And it turns out to be one of the more useful things you can do when your mind is running a heavy story.
Tomorrow's practice is perhaps the most unexpected in this challenge,
Working with pleasure and delight,
Not as a goal,
But as a resource.
So good luck with the rest of the challenge.
And remember,
When you get a sticky thought,
Put it where it belongs.
You get to choose whether you listen or not.
