LEARNINGS

We often find ourselves trapped in an infinite loop of thoughts, with our minds gravitating toward negativity—a tendency that has historically aided our survival as a species.

Yet, in this era of abundance, where we have sufficient resources to eat, connect, and flourish, it is paradoxical that we still grapple with anxiety, fear, greed, loneliness, and various emotional challenges.

80% of our thoughts are repetitive and unreal, what a wasted opportunity of human life.

- Vidyamala Burch

Stepping out of your - EMOTIONS

The average time it takes for an emotion to move through the nervous system and body—is only a minute and a half, a mere ninety seconds. After that, we need thoughts to keep the emotion rolling.

When we rehearse a looping set of thoughts and emotions, we create deeply grooved patterns of emotional reactivity. This means that the more you think and rethink about certain experiences, the stronger the memory and the more easily activated the related feelings become.

THOUGHT LOOPS

Stepping out of your - PAIN

Pain signals from the extremities are filtered at the spine before they ever reach the brain. In the case of pain, signals from the brain pass down to the spine and tell the gatekeepers how exclusive they should be. Whether the spinal gatekeepers admit them depends on instructions from on high.

Depending on attitude and expectations, therefore, we can actually filter out pain before it reaches our consciousness. When we pay fearful attention to pain, however, we instruct the gates to open wide. As a result, we feel more intense pain.

Stepping out of your - LIMITATIONS

Perhaps the biggest tragedy in our lives is that freedom is possible, yet we can pass our years trapped in the same old patterns. Entangled in the trance of unworthiness, we grow accustomed to caging ourselves in with self-judgment and anxiety, with restlessness and dissatisfaction.

Unlike Mohini (the tigress), however, we can learn to recognize when we are keeping ourselves trapped by our own beliefs and fears. We can see how we are wasting our precious lives.