This idea was lent to me by a client, who gave me permission to tell other people about it.The practice
Every day, note down the things that were easy. For example:
'There was no queue at the post office.'
'That sore throat I had just went away all by itself.'
'My yoga class felt so relaxing.'
'The meeting I was dreading ended up only lasting fifteen minutes, and Steve agreed to everything I needed.'
The theory
We all have habitual neural networks, that correspond to our usual ways of operating. They fire off at the slightest thing. The result is that we tend to interpret the world according to our habitual view. When something happens that doesn't fit that view, we classify it as an exception, and fire the habitual network anyway!
In order to change our habitual perception, we have to flesh out a different neural network. By focusing on easeful things, you begin to build out a new neural network of ease. Every easeful experience you spend a moment of awareness on builds it more. Gradually, it will supercede your old network of anxiety--the one that is convinced that things will be tough, and that life is always a battle.
The result
My client has been doing this for a couple of weeks, and says that already, her life just feels more easy. She is building a new neural network, that's now beginning to fire all by itself, noticing ease as much as difficulty. This is turn is giving her a new set of beliefs and predictions for how things will be, based on the evidence of ease that she's now collecting, rather than discarding. And that makes her calmer, and happier.
Try it. It will take you maybe four minutes a day. What could be easier?
