Just a thought…About Insight

There have been times in my life when I was trying to find a way to move onward and upward after a divorce, a move, a new job, etc. Often big changes like these require major transformation and it’s not easy, especially when these changes were wrapped up in a lot of uncomfortable feelings…So I read a lot of self-help books. A lot of them.

And when I was banging my head against the wall because nothing was really changing, someone told me, “Insight is not enough.”

Excuse me? What??? I really didn’t understand until I dug deeper and realized that it’s really not enough.

Yes, reading, learning, watching and researching informs us. It feeds and nourishes our brains,  and intellectual selves. It’s good stuff, don’t ever stop or skip the Insight part. But it’s not enough.

We also need Practice.

Many of us are used to doing the Insight part (I’m talking to you, researchers and academics!) and never Practiced what we learned, it’s ok. 

It’s still there. An invitation to take the insight and try it out in real time, to practice. We have to put it into practice. Does’t matter what IT is. For IT to be a THING it needs to be experienced.

The THING could be a million different goals, intentions, changes…

• Eating more plants 

• Noticing red flags

• Getting outside

• Moving

• Leaving an abusive relationship

• Meditating

• Gardening

• Cooking

• Traveling

• Your own personal IT & THING

Ok that wasn’t exactly a million things but I’m sure if you asked yourself what’s the THING you’ve learned about but nothing changes. Why is it not working, changing?

Imagine the surgeon who only read the books, got A’s in their classes and earned the degree without actually experiencing the surgery. Now imagine them doing your brain surgery…Yeah, not. good. That’s a fairly extreme example, how about this one… 

Imagine the Mindful Counselor and Educator (ok, it’s me) and she only read about the skills, the benefits, the science… and never Practiced any of it. Didn’t Practice the mindful skills she read about to see if it worked or if it was helpful for herself or others.

Hmmmmmm. 

So Insight is not “bad.” Do the Insight part, too. And also do the Practice part.

Ok so here’s an example within the Context of Mindfulness (ha, that sounds so Insight’y, doesn’t it? Lol)

Insight: Doing a mindful body scan helps to fall asleep. Here’s some research. Here’s a book. Here’s a video. Here’s a testimonial: Quick and easy release of tension in the body, before bed. Was a wonderful experience to relax my body. Thank you my body needed it. Short and relaxing. Here are step-by-step instructions.

Awesome. You understand the practice and benefits. You’ve done your research and found peer reviews to support the research. Sorry, not enough. To really see for yourself if it works for you to get better sleep, you need to give it a try. 

Practice: A simple & short guided meditation. Did it work? Was it your cup of tea? No? Try one more time to be sure? Still no?  That’s ok, that’s not the one for you. Did it work and the answer is yes, try to work keep practicing for your bedtime routine, maybe 2-3 nights a week…then maybe it’s an every night practice.

And holy crap, get this…you don’t even think about doing IT (the meditation) and the THING (sleep!) become natural, a shift…TRANSFORMATION!! A way of being. You are now being mindful without even thinking about it, it just starts to come naturally. 

Whoa. I can tell you from experience, this is when Insight + Practice = Change

Insight + Practice = Change

I know that was a lot of math, thanks for staying with me. Give it a try and see how truly transformational it can be.

Just a thought…