3Ds To Deal With Urges

Urges are normal and happen to almost everyone. Some are important to our survival and others are the product of our unhelpful behavioral patterns. The 3Ds to cope with urges (Delay, Divert and Decide) is a technique that can be helpful when cravings or urges come to confront us. It is best to do this exercise and the homework it involves in advance, to be able to better deal with them. This exercise is part of session 7 of the 8 weeks mindfulness program "The Art of Being Present".

Transcript

The name of this paper and pencil exercise is the 3 Bs. This exercise is a way to serve urges. The aim is to help you deal with cravings for any unhealthy or addictive behaviors. The idea is that you will complete this exercise today before you experience craving. So you are preparing, You are getting ready for that moment and then you come back to it each time you experience a craving. Let's start with the exercise. The first T stands for delay. The first thing we will do will be to delay the decision to give in to the craving for a certain time. It could be 5, 10, 30 or 60 minutes. Remember that although sometimes it seems like the craving will last forever, Actually it will pass. Research has shown that the craving starts to diminish after 6 to 30 minutes. So it's important to give it time. Let's write down the number of minutes you will delay this craving for. I will delay 4. The second V stands for divert. Here we want to support our intention to serve this urge, To delay this behavior. And to do that we will shift our attention to something that is meaningful to us and that is physical. In this way we will use some of the energy of the craving. You will write down things that you can do and how long you will do these things for. Let's start by asking yourself what action can I take that will help me to navigate this urge, That will enhance my life in the long term. As we want to be ready we will not write down just one thing. Let's write a list of 10 things that you enjoy doing and are meaningful to you and that will help you to deal with this craving that will be good companions. Some ideas are going out for a walk, If you have a dog walk the dog, If your craving is not related to food you can do some cooking or some baking, You can also call a friend or a family member and talk about random stuff, Going for a swim or taking a shower are also good options. Then next time that you experience a craving, Take a moment to come to your body. Feel your body and talk to yourself, Remind yourself that this craving is going to pass and select one of those activities on your list. Of course if on that day you had a new idea that you fancy more go ahead with it. Don't be afraid of being flexible and to try. The third D stands for decide. Once the time you selected has passed decide to do whatever the craving wants you to do or not but before making that decision allow yourself to get in contact with your values. Reflect for a moment what type of qualities would you like to nurture in that moment. You can write down this phrase when you are facing this craving. The qualities in my life I want to nurture are delay, Divert and decide. Allow these three Bs to dance around what is important to you, What you want your life to be about. You can have several copies of this exercise and put it in important places so that you can access them anytime you experience a craving. I hope this has been helpful for you. Thank you.