A Collective Pattern Interrupt

Frances discusses the potential positives from the world’s lockdown, and how this could help our life programs. 

These last few months have been a rollercoaster, right? Emotions swinging all over the place; one minute, anxiety and fear from the threat of this new illness which is tragically claiming the lives of so many, coupled with unease about financial stability. Add to that, being bombarded with messages from the media, all with their own agenda, and trying to sift through and find some truth to stay informed.

The next minute, elation, enormous gratitude and heart-warming happiness at having been given the gift of slowing down. Sitting in the sunshine in the garden watching the children play;  reading to them more than I ever have before. Suddenly there’s a strange clarity aware of how very little we need to feel joy.

An adjustment period in our life programs

And through all this, we are trying to adjust to the situation. Many of our usual routines no longer fit into this new way of living which has been asked of us. I don’t know about you, but I found myself during the last couple of months desperately trying to maintain some sense of normality and routine to get by.

Our daily lives run on patterns of behaviour, subconscious programs which mean that we can get on with things while still using our conscious minds to ponder. And suddenly these programmes have been rattled and some of them broken, now defunct. When these programmes are deep, any change can bring up a lot of resistance.

The Being Busy program

One of the patterns that I notice in myself is the Being Busy program. The idea that I need to be busy in order to be productive/useful/of worth. It gets interesting when you dig down into this stuff, doesn’t it? So, when my usual routines were interrupted by the escalating news of the virus, my subconscious continued to drive me into those same patterns. Stay busy! And, even restricted from my usual work patterns, I managed to succeed at Being Busy.

The Being Busy program isn’t a joyful thing for me though. It is a sense of compulsion, driven from a place of lack: I am not enough therefore I must do more. I don’t have enough therefore I must do more. I don’t make myself busy with stuff that brings me joy, which means also I fall into suffering mode and become resentful that I can’t do the things I want to do.

When a pattern is interrupted

There is a technique used in hypnotherapy called the pattern interrupt. Our automatic patterns are interrupted and the subconscious becomes more receptive and open to change. The sub-conscious doesn’t know what to do next and awaits instruction.

It occurred to me recently that we have all been given a collective pattern interrupt. That’s why even though this is a terrible situation, it is also an opportunity for many of us. This is the perfect time to create new programs, to figure out what we want and what to change. Our subconscious is awaiting new instructions, new programming.

What new habits have you always wanted to install into your routine?

• More time with your children
• Less screen time
• Daily exercise
• A regular mediation practice
• More creativity
• To make healthy, home cooked meals
• To learn a new skill

This doesn’t mean that you should feel under pressure to achieve, this is simply a window of opportunity which can be utilised to form habits for the long term which will add richness to your life now, and beyond lockdown.