Feed me dopamine

I woke up this morning and could feel my brain's invitation. Feed me dopamine.

My mind straight away jumped on it. Check your phone, scroll social media, see what others are up to. Get lost in FOMO. In misery. In anxiety for not having the life others have.

Blinding yourself to all that’s already there.

And the body supports keeping you in the loop. It releases cheap dopamine when it gets new information, speed or social recognition. And it makes you addicted to it. I notice that my body and mind work best in synchronicity in these moments when I’m exposed. The body craves the hit, while the mind says: go for it. Just this one last time. And boom. I’m pulled into the vortex.

Of course another voice shows up minutes later, judging me for doing it again. For not respecting my own well-being.

I’ve fallen into this trap too many times and I’m tired of it.

So I remind myself.

Anchor yourself in your breath again.

Every morning is a new opportunity to do it differently. Every moment is an opportunity to anchor myself. Over and over again. Until it becomes part of the muscle and the body automates a different way of being.

This morning i managed to recognize it, and straight away fell into slow nose breathing. Not to numb the discomfort. But to come back from the activation to a place where I can just feel the sensations.

That ability - to notice what’s going on inside the body - is called interoception. You know you’re hungry because of it. You eat. It works the same way with craving. With nervous system activation. And even with messy emotions.

When I let myself fully feel the sensation, the craving becomes less intense. That’s when the other thought had space to arrive: start your morning movement, it’ll give you the healthy kick you need. So I trained. 20-30 minutes of stretching and core. At some point I noticed my body pulling me toward the screen again. I gave in for a second, only to catch myself: what the hell? You’re supposed to be training, mah bro. So I felt the craving and came back to the movement.

The simplest way to train this: bring your attention to the body and notice what’s there. [Message me if you’re interested in an instructional video on this.]

You might find tingling, contraction, tension, space. Some comfortable, some not. The uncomfortable parts will make you want to escape back into your head. Into whatever thought pattern that is ready to cover up what the body is holding. To get you out the discomfort.

When you catch that - come back to the body. Feel it. Let it move through you. Let the thoughts gripping your mind start to quiet.

And in that space, a choice appears.

A choice to respond differently.