Changing Stimulus Triggers Intrusive Thoughts
- Saying the same word over and over again and the word stops sounding like a word. It starts sounding like sounds link
- If you stare and don't move your eyes the images starts to get burned in and it almost melts together
- Stay still long enough and your body sensations stop feeling like they are coming from your hand and instead just feel like raw sensations.
When meditating if you wait long enough so that your body sensations feel “stale” in a very similar way to if you stare into space the image starts to become burned in then it is easier to detach the feelings of the body to being the body itself and much easier to step back and view the sensations as they are. As a cloud of inputs into consciousness. This happens for me around 10min of being still. It is like the “story telling” part of my brain that I’m trying to quiet down gets bored of the inputs and lets up a bit on relentlessly trying to applying meaning. The key is to find the same level of letting go in the middle of my life. The hardest of which would be the first few seconds of a cold plunge session. For if I can find equanimity there...If I can let go in that moment I have the confidence to let go anywhere.