Hello, happy humans, and welcome to a special episode of the Choosing Happy Podcast.

We're on day four of our Breaking Pattern series as part of the international Coaching Week.

And today we're taking our first steps to shift the patterns and problems that we've explored over the last three days so you can break free and choose joy.

So if you're a techie, entrepreneur or, or a creative or you're a founder or anyone else who's feeling stuck, this episode is for you.

So grab a pen, some paper, and find a quiet space when you can be undisturbed.

Grab a cuppa even, and let's get started in today's Choosing Happy Podcast.

Foreign.

Welcome to day four of the Choosing Happy Podcast, and we're loosening our patterns on our Breaking Patterns series.

So let's begin with the deep work we started in the past few days.

I want you to take a deep breath and center yourself and just ask your unconscious mind if it's willing to release this pattern or problem today.

And notice what comes up for you, whether it's a yes, no, if there's some resistance, and also notice how you're feeling in your body when you think about that pattern of problem.

We're kind of getting practiced at dropping into it.

So just notice any anxiety, fear or tension.

Just notice where it is and how ready are you to let this go now?

Now, I know for me, I've had patterns that have left me exhausted and I've had to face some hard truths to move me forward.

One of them is, you know, I have full responsibility for this pattern and it is up to me to shift it.

So using some of these techniques helps to loosen it and helps us to move forward.

So take a moment to reflect on your answers about whether you're willing to let it go and just where the pattern is.

How ready are you?

And if you're ready, let's move on to the first step to shifting that pattern.

So we've loosened the pattern with the questions and the presence in yesterday's episode.

So let's take your first step to shifting it, because awareness is the start, but really it's the action that creates change.

Today we're going to explore pattern interrupts, which are simple yet powerful ways to break out of a pattern or a problem that we run repeatedly.

Like the patterns and problems we've spoken about over the last few days, you should probably have a real clear idea of the pattern that you're dealing with.

A pan interrupt.

Let's do discuss what a pattern interrupt is first.

A pattern Interrupt in neuro linguistic programming are techniques used to disrupt an automatic or habitual thought, a behaviour or an emotional pattern.

It creates an opportunity to redirect the attention or shift to a more resourceful state.

And these are particularly useful when we become aware that an unhelpful pattern is starting to run.

Now, if we think about dog training, for instance, I have a sighthound and I know that their natural instinct when they see a wild animal is to go into chase mode.

And one of the ways that we break that pattern, we get them out of that super, super focus, is to either use a dog whistle or touch them gently or break them out of that state.

And that's what we're trying to do here.

That's the example of breaking that pattern.

There's a brilliant advert in the UK about a child in a supermarket throwing himself on the floor and screaming.

And then the mother does the same and the child gets up and stares.

It's a brilliant pattern interrupt.

It's a pure example of a great pattern interrupt.

So today we're looking at three practical examples of pattern interrupts that are grounded in NLP principles.

So if you're ready, we'll take a look at number one, which is physical movement or gestures.

If we change our physical state, we can break the mental or emotional pattern.

For example, if you notice yourself spiraling into negative self talk or you feel your emotions spiraling, you can clap your hands sharply, stand up or do a quick shake of your body and this sudden movement interrupts the neurological loop.

For instance, if you're ruminating while you're sitting down, if you're going into a spiral while you're in the office at work, you might jump up and spin in a circle while saying something like switch.

Maybe not in the office at work, we don't know.

And this disrupts the pattern and shifts your focus.

One other way is if you are in a more formal state, you could jump up and stretch your legs and shake your legs and just say cramp, cramp, as if you've got cramps in your legs.

So that can really shift your state.

The second one is verbal disruptions.

And these are unexpected or nonsensical phrases that can derail a pattern.

So if you catch yourself starting an anxiety driven thought loop, you can say something outlier like purple elephants dancing.

Again, you might not want to say that in the office, but you could ask yourself, what's the smell of rain like?

And the absurdity or randomness of the statement breaks the flow of the automatic pattern.

Other Things you can say is that, you know, what if this is working out?

And the thing is, it asks your unconscious mind to ponder it, and it creates a moment of confusion that allows you to redirect your thoughts thoughts to something neutral or positive.

Now, the third one is mental imagery, visualizing something vivid and unrelated to the pattern that'll help you snap out of it.

For example, if you're feeling overwhelmed, you could imagine a red stop sign flashing in your mind, followed by picturing yourself on a calm beach or in a humorous scenario, like a cartoon character slipping on a banana peel.

And that quick mental switch leverages the brain's visual processing to interrupt the emotional or cognitive pattern and create space for a new response.

There's lots of other examples that you can use for these, like imagining if you're listening to thoughts that are on repeat, that it's a funny character who you don't want to listen to.

You can turn the volume down and make the voice squeaky so that you change the way that the message has been received.

For fear responses, for instance, a good pattern interrupt is snapping your fingers while saying a positive anchor phrase.

And when you notice the fear response starting, for instance, if you've got racing thoughts, tight chest, maybe your throat is starting to dry up, then you can snap your finger sharply and say something like, I'm safe, I'm here, out loud, or just keep it in your mind.

And the snap creates a sudden sensory disruption.

And the phrase anchors you to a calmer state, breaking the fear spiral.

And one of the things that you can do, and some people do, is put an elastic band around their wrist, and they use that to create the snap.

And pairing the snap with deep breathing and with the phrase can enhance the effect.

And you can pract this in calm moments and private calm moments to make it instinctive during fe few responses, if it's something that you suffer from on a regular basis.

Now, these techniques work best when practiced and tailored on an individual basis.

So their effectiveness depends on yourself plus the surprise and novelty of the interruption.

And you can research additional examples or have a look at other alternatives.

There are lots of things that actually are pattern interrupts out there.

And just play with these.

You can kind of mix them up so that you're using all three to cause the interrupt and to redirect your state, your thoughts, your whole being.

Now, for a bonus, we're going to look at reframing the pattern.

If we think about the answers you've chosen over the last few days, let's say that the benefit of running your pattern.

Something like procrastination, for instance, is that it keeps you safe from failure, but it could be costing you opportunities so you can reframe it.

So instead of procrastinating or when you notice yourself beginning to procrastinate, you can ask yourself, what if I saw every action as a chance to learn, not fail, and you can write down this new belief.

Every step I take is a chance to grow.

And you can say it out loud three times or you can write it down multiple times.

I have a phrase that I write down 21 times every morning, so it's really coming ingrained in my unconscious mind.

And feel the change in your energy and in your emotions as you do it.

Feel the joy and anchor them as you do.

We'll go into anchoring a bit more tomorrow, so finally set a small intention for the rest of today.

What's one tiny action you can take to shift this pattern?

Maybe it's writing for five minutes if you've been procrastinating.

Or maybe it's practicing one of the techniques to break the pattern through a pattern interrupt.

Choose a pattern interrupt and practice it for a few days.

Write it down and commit to doing it today.

Small steps build big changes.

I just want to recognize you.

You've done some amazing work, not just today, but over the last four days.

I'm so proud of you.

If you keep practicing all of the techniques we've mentioned, you should begin to feel your pattern loosening and you should discover that you have options that maybe you didn't notice you had before.

You're already beginning to choose happiness.

So join me tomorrow for the next minisode in this Breaking Pattern Pattern series.

And don't forget, I am offering my Pattern Breaker coaching program until May 19th and there's some special offers especially for the first few people who sign up.

So if you want to go deeper, do take a moment to look at that.

The link is in the show notes.

Let me know how things are going.

I'd love to hear from you.

My email is in the show notes as well, as are my samples socials and if you loved this episode, please leave a review for me.

It really helps me reach more people who are ready to choose happy and might really benefit from some of these episodes.

So until tomorrow, keep breaking free and thriving together.

Thank you so much for taking the time to listen to this week's episode.

If you enjoyed it or think it would be valuable to others, please do share.

And if you really enjoyed it, please leave me a review.

It really helps the podcast.

All of the links are in the show notes, and I look forward to seeing you next week on the Choosing Happy Podcast.