Welcome to your dopamine detox,
Today's meditation will guide you through the benefits of balancing your dopamine release.
Let's first get very centered and then I will discuss dopamine and how it works.
Find yourself seated,
Turn off notifications immediately.
You are starting your detox now.
Notifications of any kind give you a dopamine hit,
So turn them off and know they will not disturb you.
Let your eyes close now and tune into your breath,
Breathing in through the nose and breathing out through your lips,
Like you are blowing out a birthday candle.
Inhale through your nose,
Breathe out through your lips,
Blowing out that candle.
Inhale through the nose,
Exhale slowly through the lips.
Nice.
See if you can make your exhale twice as long as your inhale.
Nice.
Without opening your eyes,
Can you remember your surroundings?
Visualize where you are sitting.
What does the room around you look like?
Nice.
You're so good at visualizing.
Now let's talk about dopamine,
As you just rest in a moment of stillness.
Don't move the body,
Just listen to my words.
Dopamine is a neurotransmitter,
It is produced in the brain,
And it acts as a chemical messenger.
It releases when you do an activity that is pleasurable or that brings you a reward feeling.
The more anticipation that is built up,
The higher the odds of the dopamine being released.
This causes your brain to put more focus on seeking pleasurable experiences.
It's just like eating a cookie instead of studying,
Which one brings you more pleasure?
But the more that you seek pleasurable experiences,
Your brain can become dependent on dopamine.
And then it develops a tolerance,
Which requires more and more dopamine.
It becomes difficult to find experiences that release the dopamine that your body is seeking.
So we are going to reset your dopamine levels.
This means going on a detox.
Simply put,
Avoiding anything that gives you pleasure.
It could be watching a TV show,
Scrolling social media,
Eating a sweet treat,
Playing video games,
Or even things you know you're not supposed to do.
Any activity that brings you pleasure,
You are going to avoid.
And instead,
You are going to do the boring things,
Reading,
Writing,
Making art,
Learning a new activity.
With time,
The boring activity will end up being fun.
You just gotta get used to it.
The brain will start to love it.
Think of it this way.
Any time you are consuming,
You are releasing dopamine.
So that applies to screen time,
Food,
And even negative thoughts.
You are able to have awareness of times when you are consuming,
And avoid them.
When you catch yourself wanting to check a notification,
Do something else instead.
Go for a walk,
Read a book,
Retrain your mind.
Many high thinkers and intellectuals follow a detox plan.
This means for each day of the week,
Choose one thing to detox from.
It could be social media,
Pornography,
Television shows or movies.
Anything that gives you that pleasurable experience.
Just avoid it,
And instead do something that you don't like to do.
It is so wise to do one thing every day that you don't like to do.
It could be exercising,
Eating healthy,
Or reading.
Reading a book that has pages you turn with your fingers can be extremely rewarding.
If you are addicted to dopamine,
At first it will be difficult.
You may find it very boring,
But continue training your mind to consume new information,
Learning to be less dependent on pleasure.
Let's tune back into your breath for a few moments,
Breathing in through your nose,
Imagining that candle burning,
Blow out through your lips,
Extinguishing the flame.
Another candle is lit,
Inhale through your nose,
And blow it out.
Do this once more,
And then rest in the darkness.
Very good,
Let your body settle,
And you may notice your mind already wandering,
Wanting that dopamine fix.
You are going to resist the pleasure,
Which increases your productivity levels.
You are going to resist the pleasure,
Which reduces your distractions.
You are going to resist the pleasure,
Which makes you healthier.
Any time you have a craving,
Notice it,
What is it trying to tell you to do?
Typically,
A craving is letting you know what you shouldn't do,
Even though it feels like you should.
If you have a craving to eat a cookie,
It pretty much means,
Don't eat the cookie.
Think of it this way,
And it will change your life.
Anything that you feel like you are addicted to,
Put it out of your reach,
Away,
And deliberately engage in another activity that's completely unrelated,
Like going on a walk,
Exercising,
Or,
As I said before,
Reading.
Reading an informational book about how the mind works.
There are plenty out there.
With practice and time,
You will feel the great benefits of a dopamine detox,
And you don't even have a desire to go for those things anymore,
Just have consistency and feel the benefits.
One last breath in through your nose,
And out through your lips as you open your eyes.
