Sometimes a mind rut can sneak up on us. While we were stretching at the beginning of the kids Wushu class yesterday, I mentioned the test coming up. One of the kids in the front row said, “I don’t think I’m going to be very good in the test.” This seemed like a great opportunity to talk about something I discuss with the kids on a regular basis: practicing confidence. As I always tell them, confidence is how we feel in our bodies and the thoughts we have. We stand up straight, make eye contact (“eyes like lasers!”) and feel strong. We also practice having thoughts that are helpful; instead of I can’t do this, think, I’ll do my best! This creates a habitual thought that leaves us feeling more powerful.
What about when you get in a “bad” mind rut?
As I was talking, I realized I hardly ever mention that it’s ok to tell someone when you’re feeling bad or have a lack of confidence. I told the kids that, so I mention it here. If you’re feeling like you will fail a test, tell me! We don’t want to repress and pretend nothing bad is going through our minds, that everything is rainbows and unicorns. Being aware of our thoughts is the first step. Telling someone else and getting help may be the second step. For example, if you don’t know how to do a side kick, please get help from me or a senior student. If you don’t know how to deal with a negative thought or emotion, you can get help with that as well.
After you recognize a thought, you may decide to do something about it. If your side kick is bad, figure out what you need to do to improve it and start repping it. Yet sometimes you realize that there’s no action to take, that you’re just stuck in a mind rut. If you have an important presentation coming up and you just keep imagining all the ways it will go wrong, you are not helping anything. You are only reinforcing that thought and making it more likely to come up during the presentation, and therefore making it more likely that you will mess up in real life. You’re more likely to bring about the thing you’re worried about! You must get out of this mind rut.
Get out of a mind rut
One of the best ways to get out of a mind rut is to replace it with a different, deeper one. Think of pulling a cart down a dirt path the same way every day. A rut forms under the wheels and gets deeper every time you take that route. Then imagine you find a faster route. It can be hard to get out of that rut, but if you are able to take the new path more times than the old, that will become the easier route. Your wheels fall more naturally into that new rut.
It’s more or less the same thing with our thoughts. We don’t have actual ruts in our minds (thank goodness) but we do have neural connections that get strengthened every time we have the same thought. It works the same with the movement of our bodies. Every time we practice a technique, we ingrain it in our muscle memory (actually a function of our neural connections). If we have been doing something the same way for a long time, we are in a rut. It can be hard to change that habitual thought, but with practice we can create more useful habits for mind and body. Recognize that you’re starting down that same old path of worrying about that presentation or a test and choose a new path. Actually practice imagining yourself killing that presentation or test.
The interruption point
Now just like a physical rut, it may be hard to get out once you’re in it. It may take some real energy to pull the mental wheels out into a new direction. You may need a big change. Even better, if you are able to catch yourself before you get into that mind rut, it’s easy to change directions. Through meditation and mindfulness you may recognize the moment you are headed into your old habitual way of thinking and move your thoughts in a direction you want them to go. Also through meditation we are able to create a clearing free of ruts. We may find ourselves completely free to move in any direction or simply to sit in the middle of that clearing and just be.
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