Rarely do I find a follow up as insightful as its A+ precursor. Well done!!! I’ll be revisiting this often. What a gift to us all that you’ve put your life’s lessons & practices into a piece this clear and digestible.
At times, I definitely noticed a desire not to fall into the classic trap of banger opener -> terrible sequel/season 2. So this means a lot to hear - especially from you, Isabel!
To be honest, much of this is familiar, but it’s incredibly helpful to read it in the way you write and the novel ways you combine different lenses, especially recovery and somatics.
The unfinished activations or thwarted responses bit is particularly interesting. It reminds me of latches from the QRI guy. I’m blanking on his name right now. I’d have to dig it up to see if there’s really any overlap there.
There’s something about this path that’s both completely obvious and something I need to hear again and again and again. Hearing it distilled the way you do helps it sink in a little more deeply.
And it's also got my curiosity going and looking forward to getting back on the cushion :)
Believe you're thinking of Michael Edward Johnson, the latches guy. Fascinating stuff, essentially gives a concrete biological mechanism for the dharma and somatic-trauma-release lens.
Something like: trauma gets stored as semi-permanent clenches in the muscle around our blood vessels, and the right types of meditation can release them, which is basically what I'm trying to get at in this essay series.
Jonny Miller did a breakdown of his most recent research, but can't find it now. Will ping him and send it your way, think you'll dig it.
And thank you so much for this, Haydn, I'm so glad it was helpful. May the sits flow.
"Sit for a moment and listen for the next thought to arrive."
I realized I was an addict when I sat there for a second and then thought "wow this is amazing I'm having no thoughts!" Which took me a few seconds to realize was a thought! Good job on me for catching it though!
There's a book that expands on this even more called The Power of Now By Eckhart Tolle. I don't know much about Tolle himself, but the book touches on this topic quite well. This was a great essay, thanks for writing!
Just a few hours ago I listened to your interview on Feed the Good Wolf as I drove across the expansive miles of Montana in my camper van. And then you popped up here. I graduated from your alma mater but went a very different direction than most of our peers—i.e. semi-feral. I’m kinda blown away by how disconnected—from the natural world, our innate knowing, ourselves, each other—most of the world has become. I have so many questions to ask you.
No way! Still north in our veins. Yeah, I got completely swept into the path most of our peers go down, just following success, and it nearly killed me. There were some good times and elements to living that life, for sure, but it took an insane amount of work to deprogram from - so feel you. Camper vanning in Montana sounds pretty epic.... feral me :)
Yes, the still North in our hearts! I lasted two years at a general management consulting firm in their public policy group (that came with more normal 9-5 hours than the rest of the firm, where my peers were playing video games in their suits until 10pm to put in face time). I felt some competitive urges for a couple weeks when everyone was angling to go to HBS, but quickly understood the source of that drive. I owned that I wanted nothing to do with the whole scene and what it represented and exited then to embark on an entirely different course. My life is rich beyond words (though I’m certainly bringing down the average income curve), deeply connected to the natural world, community, art, and being. I have a hard time being around the spun out energy of many of those peers. I admire you for escaping!
Hah, lately I began noticing my internal yapping, and just last night even asked myself the "what would you do if you could do anything" question 😆 a very timely piece to pop up on my timeline, thank you!
As a child, I thought adulthood meant finally receiving a map. What surprised me most was discovering that most people were carrying the same uncertainty I was. The difference was not that they knew the road, but that they kept walking anyway.
Thanks for this Alex. Definitely one I’ll return to.
I find it quite easy to detach from anxious rumination but what gets me are the juicy pleasurable thoughts (which Im often tempted to compulsively escape to kind of like a little “hit”).
Do you have anything to say about those? The incentives to stop those don’t feel fully stacked up yet
What's your move for detaching from the anxious ones? Do you ever try it on the pleasurable kind?
My first guess is that if you can detach easily from anxious thinking, you may not need to detach from the pleasurable thoughts at all. That's kind of huge, BTW - most people can't do that! So it might help to give yourself radical permission to engage them, let them flow, and let them burn themselves out, which is closer to a Mahamudra move (meditating on the thought stream itself), and can feel immensely pleasurable. You can also ride the pleasure from the pleasurable thoughts into pleasure/lust for life.
However, the one thing in your note worth paying attention to: it's not whether a thought is pleasurable/unpleasurable, but whether reaching for it is a way to escape a more uncomfortable feeling. So when you notice the little hit, instead of going toward the thought content, pause and feel what's in your body, and let the pleasure flow instead of grabbing to extend it.
Related in the topic of FINDING that desire outside of your overthinking once you're somewhat free of it. I really like the analogy of desire as a frightened cat that hasn't been loved in a long time. Kind of the opposite of our addiction to thinking.
Wow, rarely do I read an article that so perfectly articulates the prison of obsessive thinking. This was wonderful and so beautifully written, thank you. I especially appreciate the reference to the spiritual gifts of recovery programmes and how much detail you’ve given about the remedies. Thank you so much.
Recovery was how I got into this whole shebang, so it will forever remain the most dear to my heart. And thank you, Zahira, I'm so glad to hear it was useful. Appreciate you.
babe wake up it’s another revelatory banger for healing our individual and collective consciousness from alex olshonsky 📣
Babe go back to sleep, it's 5.5k words, collective consciousness will have to wait
and you would know :) thank you for everything, truly
Rarely do I find a follow up as insightful as its A+ precursor. Well done!!! I’ll be revisiting this often. What a gift to us all that you’ve put your life’s lessons & practices into a piece this clear and digestible.
At times, I definitely noticed a desire not to fall into the classic trap of banger opener -> terrible sequel/season 2. So this means a lot to hear - especially from you, Isabel!
Alex, ThanksI! This is fantastic.
To be honest, much of this is familiar, but it’s incredibly helpful to read it in the way you write and the novel ways you combine different lenses, especially recovery and somatics.
The unfinished activations or thwarted responses bit is particularly interesting. It reminds me of latches from the QRI guy. I’m blanking on his name right now. I’d have to dig it up to see if there’s really any overlap there.
There’s something about this path that’s both completely obvious and something I need to hear again and again and again. Hearing it distilled the way you do helps it sink in a little more deeply.
And it's also got my curiosity going and looking forward to getting back on the cushion :)
Believe you're thinking of Michael Edward Johnson, the latches guy. Fascinating stuff, essentially gives a concrete biological mechanism for the dharma and somatic-trauma-release lens.
Something like: trauma gets stored as semi-permanent clenches in the muscle around our blood vessels, and the right types of meditation can release them, which is basically what I'm trying to get at in this essay series.
Jonny Miller did a breakdown of his most recent research, but can't find it now. Will ping him and send it your way, think you'll dig it.
And thank you so much for this, Haydn, I'm so glad it was helpful. May the sits flow.
Yes that's him. Thanks!
Excessive noise disrupts the coordination of the hive.
The workers stop working for the whole and are carried away by the panic of the moment.
Respect the bee logic
Yes, that's me.
Yes, that advice is good.
I already know I won't follow it.
Elite-tier honesty
Beautifully written and super helpful article! Love this holistic and compassionate mind-body-spirit approach to overcoming compulsive thoughts.
Thanks so much, Sandi!
"Sit for a moment and listen for the next thought to arrive."
I realized I was an addict when I sat there for a second and then thought "wow this is amazing I'm having no thoughts!" Which took me a few seconds to realize was a thought! Good job on me for catching it though!
Yes, that's literally the move - you did it! Keep catching :)
There's a book that expands on this even more called The Power of Now By Eckhart Tolle. I don't know much about Tolle himself, but the book touches on this topic quite well. This was a great essay, thanks for writing!
Tolle made a cameo in Part I of the series here :)
I have that part saved but yet to read it, should've known haha
found you from the meta game, and glad i did. great writing,
Very glad you did too, Daniel is the man, and thank you!
Just a few hours ago I listened to your interview on Feed the Good Wolf as I drove across the expansive miles of Montana in my camper van. And then you popped up here. I graduated from your alma mater but went a very different direction than most of our peers—i.e. semi-feral. I’m kinda blown away by how disconnected—from the natural world, our innate knowing, ourselves, each other—most of the world has become. I have so many questions to ask you.
No way! Still north in our veins. Yeah, I got completely swept into the path most of our peers go down, just following success, and it nearly killed me. There were some good times and elements to living that life, for sure, but it took an insane amount of work to deprogram from - so feel you. Camper vanning in Montana sounds pretty epic.... feral me :)
Yes, the still North in our hearts! I lasted two years at a general management consulting firm in their public policy group (that came with more normal 9-5 hours than the rest of the firm, where my peers were playing video games in their suits until 10pm to put in face time). I felt some competitive urges for a couple weeks when everyone was angling to go to HBS, but quickly understood the source of that drive. I owned that I wanted nothing to do with the whole scene and what it represented and exited then to embark on an entirely different course. My life is rich beyond words (though I’m certainly bringing down the average income curve), deeply connected to the natural world, community, art, and being. I have a hard time being around the spun out energy of many of those peers. I admire you for escaping!
Hah, lately I began noticing my internal yapping, and just last night even asked myself the "what would you do if you could do anything" question 😆 a very timely piece to pop up on my timeline, thank you!
And....?
What would you do?!!
Aside from "everything I'm procrastinating," lately I decided to learn computer science better :) perhaps I can conquer the tech before it gets me
As a child, I thought adulthood meant finally receiving a map. What surprised me most was discovering that most people were carrying the same uncertainty I was. The difference was not that they knew the road, but that they kept walking anyway.
They kept walking anyway <3
Thanks for this Alex. Definitely one I’ll return to.
I find it quite easy to detach from anxious rumination but what gets me are the juicy pleasurable thoughts (which Im often tempted to compulsively escape to kind of like a little “hit”).
Do you have anything to say about those? The incentives to stop those don’t feel fully stacked up yet
What's your move for detaching from the anxious ones? Do you ever try it on the pleasurable kind?
My first guess is that if you can detach easily from anxious thinking, you may not need to detach from the pleasurable thoughts at all. That's kind of huge, BTW - most people can't do that! So it might help to give yourself radical permission to engage them, let them flow, and let them burn themselves out, which is closer to a Mahamudra move (meditating on the thought stream itself), and can feel immensely pleasurable. You can also ride the pleasure from the pleasurable thoughts into pleasure/lust for life.
However, the one thing in your note worth paying attention to: it's not whether a thought is pleasurable/unpleasurable, but whether reaching for it is a way to escape a more uncomfortable feeling. So when you notice the little hit, instead of going toward the thought content, pause and feel what's in your body, and let the pleasure flow instead of grabbing to extend it.
Hope that helps. And thanks for this, Natalia!
This was an excellent introduction and description into a place of self soothing non-thought.
The journey you have described helped me reorient the whole dang point of my own practice.
Thank you
If it moved the whole dang point even *slightly*, I'll take it. Thank you for sharing this, Red.
Related in the topic of FINDING that desire outside of your overthinking once you're somewhat free of it. I really like the analogy of desire as a frightened cat that hasn't been loved in a long time. Kind of the opposite of our addiction to thinking.
https://natashaanwar.substack.com/p/how-your-reconciliation-with-desire?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=2pxu1
I love cats, so I will likely love this analogy.
Wow, rarely do I read an article that so perfectly articulates the prison of obsessive thinking. This was wonderful and so beautifully written, thank you. I especially appreciate the reference to the spiritual gifts of recovery programmes and how much detail you’ve given about the remedies. Thank you so much.
Recovery was how I got into this whole shebang, so it will forever remain the most dear to my heart. And thank you, Zahira, I'm so glad to hear it was useful. Appreciate you.