Welcome to this week’s edition of The Source!
Did you know that in just under a minute, you can take a powerful step toward destressifying?
The formal terminology for 16 seconds is called introducing a pattern interrupt. You actually just jam the brakes on a potential surge of stress hormones and all the negative mindbody reactions you start to feel in a stressful moment. You break the flow of conditioned physical and emotional responses.
Sometimes, even just the thought of an irritating situation or person can trigger a stress response; but in 16 seconds you can connect to the present moment. Become a bit calmer… a bit lighter…
When we introduce a pattern interrupt into our flow of thoughts, we can gently step aside from the uneasy memories of the past or the anxious thoughts of the future – and truly ground ourselves back into the present moment – our bodymind moves beyond all that irritation, anger, discomfort, anxiety, less-than, or “it’s not fair” thinking. The constriction vanishes instantly and our next thought, word, or action will come from a less conditioned, more expansive place. Now we are primed for greater possibilities, novel solutions, and infinite potential. Whatever limiting belief was holding us back is momentarily suspended.
Once destressifying becomes part of your daily routine, this state of restful awareness occurs naturally; calm and balance become the norm; anxieties, anger, emotional turbulence, and knee-jerk reactions drift away, as your physical body relaxes and your innate emotional intelligence gently returns to guide your choices.
However, in times of extreme stress, when the body experiences constant physiological arousal over numerous perceived threats that are not life-threatening, the destressified response can be created through techniques like the one I show you in the video. I call it “16 seconds to clarity” because four seconds in, four seconds of hold, four seconds out, four seconds of hold equals 16 seconds. And in the 17th second, we are clearer – beyond the moment of emotion!
This week, as you are introducing the 16 second pattern interrupt into your daily routine, I encourage you to share 16 Seconds to Clarity with at least five people. They can be your coworkers, kids, classmates or spouses, but whomever they are, spread the word! In the meantime I’ll see you in the gap.
Peace. -davidji