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Awakening Out of Autopilot Mode

Personalized support for learning how to integrate mindfulness into your life. Delivered fresh everyday by our world renowned experts. Choose meditation duration:

Hi and welcome to your Daily Mindfulness. Have you ever gone to get something from a room in your house, only to get there and realize that you can't really remember why you're there? Have you ever started to drive to a particular event only to take the turnoff you always take on that route out of habit? So these are examples of when we fall into autopilot mode. And now autopilot mode is when we're no longer fully present in the moment because our attention is caught in our wandering thoughts. And the problem with autopilot mode is that when we're in that mode, we tend to act out of habit in automaticity, and it's frighteningly easy to forget where we're going and get caught up in old habits and reactivity, or completely lose our way when we're stuck on autopilot. So one way to think about autopilot mode is it's more like living your life as a passenger rather than the pilot.

You know, we tend to do things out of habit, instead of making deliberate choices. We tend to stay in the comfort zone and in our routines, even when it's not making us happy. We tend to play out the same kinds of thoughts, emotions and reactive patterns, even if they're painful or harmful. And now here's the thing. Autopilot mode can feel kind of familiar and safe in a way, because you just go through the motions, you go along for the ride.

But when we're not deliberately choosing our path, it's really easy to end up somewhere we didn't want to be. You know, perhaps your relationship ends up breaking down, or you're in a job that's really not right for you. Maybe your health or lifestyle just end up way off course. Or maybe you end up living with that sense of a robot-like existence. You know, just putting one foot in front of the other, but not really living.

Mindfulness wakes us up out of autopilot mode, and therefore it gives us back control of our lives. It puts us back in the pilot seat again. Now we may feel that we have no choice but to be pulled around by our thoughts, our emotions, our habits, and our reactions. And we may feel that we're stuck as passengers, but the truth is we do have a choice, and it's this ability to choose the direction of our lives and not to be pulled around. That we're cultivating through mindfulness.

So in today's meditation practice, we're going to focus on developing our ability to wake up out of autopilot mode and return to a greater awareness of the present moment.

Melli O'Brien

4.3

Awakening Out of Autopilot Mode

Personalized support for learning how to integrate mindfulness into your life. Delivered fresh everyday by our world renowned experts. Choose meditation duration:

Duration

Your default time is based on your progress and is changed automatically as you practice.

Hi and welcome to your Daily Mindfulness. Have you ever gone to get something from a room in your house, only to get there and realize that you can't really remember why you're there? Have you ever started to drive to a particular event only to take the turnoff you always take on that route out of habit? So these are examples of when we fall into autopilot mode. And now autopilot mode is when we're no longer fully present in the moment because our attention is caught in our wandering thoughts. And the problem with autopilot mode is that when we're in that mode, we tend to act out of habit in automaticity, and it's frighteningly easy to forget where we're going and get caught up in old habits and reactivity, or completely lose our way when we're stuck on autopilot. So one way to think about autopilot mode is it's more like living your life as a passenger rather than the pilot.

You know, we tend to do things out of habit, instead of making deliberate choices. We tend to stay in the comfort zone and in our routines, even when it's not making us happy. We tend to play out the same kinds of thoughts, emotions and reactive patterns, even if they're painful or harmful. And now here's the thing. Autopilot mode can feel kind of familiar and safe in a way, because you just go through the motions, you go along for the ride.

But when we're not deliberately choosing our path, it's really easy to end up somewhere we didn't want to be. You know, perhaps your relationship ends up breaking down, or you're in a job that's really not right for you. Maybe your health or lifestyle just end up way off course. Or maybe you end up living with that sense of a robot-like existence. You know, just putting one foot in front of the other, but not really living.

Mindfulness wakes us up out of autopilot mode, and therefore it gives us back control of our lives. It puts us back in the pilot seat again. Now we may feel that we have no choice but to be pulled around by our thoughts, our emotions, our habits, and our reactions. And we may feel that we're stuck as passengers, but the truth is we do have a choice, and it's this ability to choose the direction of our lives and not to be pulled around. That we're cultivating through mindfulness.

So in today's meditation practice, we're going to focus on developing our ability to wake up out of autopilot mode and return to a greater awareness of the present moment.

Melli O'Brien

Melli O'Brien

4.3

Duration

Melli O'Brien

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