Unhooking from Mental Time Travel - A Simple Practice

Relax. Stop overthinking. You’re getting in your own way. Just take a deep breath.

While these may sound like helpful things to say to someone who’s struggling with sticky, looping thoughts about what happened in the past and/or what might happen in the future, they often add fuel to the raging, ruminating fire.

Speaking from experience: Despite the best intentions, being met in that way isn’t necessarily helpful - and can stir up feelings of frustration and shame for not being able to engage in such ‘simple’ solutions.

Here’s the thing: Our thoughts are impacted by the state of our nervous system. When we’re experiencing racing, fear-based thoughts, our nervous system is most likely in a state of fight or flight. That can sound like self-doubt + what-iff’ing + worst-casing.

What we want to remember: When our brain detects a threat - real or imagined - the stress response is activated, also known as fight / flight / freeze / fawn response. When this happens, resources are redirected to ensure survival.

Which means - the part of our brain that intelligently and rationally regulates our thoughts and emotions (the prefrontal cortex - forehead) has gone “offline.”

We cannot think our way out of overthinking.

How do we come back to the present moment and return to our place of power?

One first step to unhooking from Mental Time Travel is to S.T.O.P. and let our brain know we’re safe.

S.

Literally, stop. Pause. Give yourself credit for noticing that your mind wandered off. Remember that’s what minds do, especially when stressed. Our emotional brain can’t differentiate between an internal threat (inner critic) and external threat. If we’re busy beating ourselves up for losing focus, we stay down longer - and continue to drive the stress response. Remind yourself that you’re human.

T.

Take a deep breath. And then another. Big, deep belly breaths help to get the prefrontal cortex back online by activating the parasympathetic nervous system, aka “rest + digest” state. If you’re trying to help someone who’s in a stressed state - instead of saying, take a deep breath, breathe WITH them. Count out the inhales (4 count) - hold (7 count) - and exhale deeply (8 count). Repeat a few more times.

O.

Observe what’s happening internally. Notice any physical sensations you’re experiencing. See if you can catch the thoughts that are surfacing - remembering that thoughts aren’t automatic truths. Name the emotions that are swelling - remembering that our emotions are messengers, not dictators.

P.

Pivot your attention to where you want it to be. Ask yourself: What can I control in this moment? Where do I want to put my attention? What is my Next Best Step? Proceed.

STOPping is one practice to help us soothe our nervous system - bringing it back into a more regulated space. The next time you notice you’re getting hooked by thoughts of the future and/or the past - give it a try and see how it goes. Even better - integrate this practice into your daily routine, even when you’re feeling steady, to strengthen those mental muscles.

In this with you. You’ve got this.

[Read on for related content + another Mental Muscle Gym practice to try!]

Stronger Together

Loved this conversation with Shawn Francis, founder of Team Hoot + One Whole Life, pole vaulting extraordinaire and fellow MH advocate.

In this podcast with Olympic gold medalist turned mental health advocate we discuss the barriers that prevent us from achieving high performance, ways to get there, and how Samantha is helping people break those barriers down. Athlete or not, this is a good one!

The Weightroom for the Brain

Here’s a Mental Muscle Gym exercise to try this week:

Note: There is no “Right Way” to engage with these MMGs.

I used to say I couldn’t “do” mindfulness because my mind was too busy.

Our minds will wander because that’s what they do.

Our power is in the Noticing - because once we notice where our attention has shifted to, we can move it back where we want it to be. When we notice and return our attention back to what we were focusing on - those are Mental Muscle Reps.

This is the WAI we rise.

Samantha Arsenault Livingstone is an Olympic gold medalist, performance consultant, keynote speaker and mental health advocate. In 2016, Samantha founded Livingstone High Performance and the Whole Athlete Initiative (the WAI) to disrupt the old-school model of mental toughness as the path to high achievement. LHP provides pillars of support to organizations, teams and individuals to elevate mental health and improve performance. 

In addition to private coaching, Samantha consults with business leaders and teams on wellness initiatives, mindful leadership, emotional agility and developing high-performance cultures.

In 2022, Samantha + her team welcomed over 350 athletes, and where applicable their coaches, athletic trainers + athletic admins, into the LHP Athlete Academy + Mental Muscle Gym. The Academy + MMG provide the support + structure needed for athletes and teams to integrate the often neglected Mental Pillar into their day-to-day lives to cultivate greater levels of “true mental toughness.”

Samantha holds a maters in science education and is a certified instructor of Mental Health First Aid and a facilitator of Mindful Sports Performance Enhancement. She lives in New England with her husband Rob and their four daughters. To learn more about her offerings, go over to www.samanthalivingstone.com.