Once you learn that in order to live the life of your dreams, you must become the person living that life, you begin to notice moments where events, habits, and patterns might take you out of your embodied state.

Each of these instances is an opportunity to show yourself that you think, believe and behave from the future version of yourself, not the present. But now and then, you might think, “There are moments in the day that glitch me back into my old self and the old timeline”. These are time loops. In this article, we will discuss how to identify a time loop and interrupt it to become your future self, thereby collapsing this timeline.

Understanding the Time Loop

The construction of a time loop is a pattern of energy and a bodily sensation, resulting in a specific behavior. These are so automatic that it can be challenging to slow down the pattern to identify each component. And if the pattern is an old one, sometimes the identification can feel painful, as it addresses an old hurt or a coping mechanism.

Identifying

Repeating the same behavior without a new result.
Urgency to complete a task without being completely present.
The feeling of moving and thinking faster than your breathing.
Needing confirmation or validation from others before taking the next step

If you can begin to recognize the signs of looping, you can start to catch yourself in the act during the day. Bringing presence into the beginning, middle and end of your day will create the space in your mind to notice when you move to the automatic mind.

Advice given to others.

One way the authentic voice can bypass the egoic mind is by offering advice intended for oneself, but delivered to others. The authentic mind knows where you are stuck and looping, but can’t find a way to provide the truth, except by seeing where the same advice could apply to someone else. And the ego is happy to let this advice slip out because it knows that each person has their own guidance, and the advice will probably be rejected on its face. Therefore, the ego can say, “See! It’s a bad idea. It was so quickly rejected!” And the ego gets to keep you in the loop for longer. However, if you were to examine this advice and absorb the person who enacts it, the loop would stop, and you would spiral up the timeline.

Examine the Loop

Bringing presence into the beginning, middle and end of your day will create the space in your mind to notice when you move to the automatic mind.

Presence is simply the art of existing fully in each present moment. Each breath, movement, thought, and behavior is considered, noticed, and deliberate. The pause needed in this moment causes the loop to freeze. And in this freeze, you can examine and pick apart the components of your loop.

Once you have paused a looping behavior, the first step to deconstructing it is to question it. The best part of asking the loop is that you don’t even need an answer; the whole point is to make the loop aware of itself. In awareness, it begins to lose its hold.

Ask one of these out loud:

“Is this mine or inherited?”
“Am I doing this to stay safe or to stay true?”
“What would happen if I did nothing right now?”
“Who am I being when I do this?”

The behavior is no longer automatic, and it is no longer safe to operate freely. It is now in the bright sunlight. And under this intense light, you can see the loop is tiny, fragile, and powerless.

Notice the Body

Often, you will start to notice a loop is forming in the body before it is in the mind. Your speech might speed up, along with your heart rate. The breath will move shallowly in the top part of the lungs, and your jaw might tighten.

To catch a loop before it begins, you can slow down your breath and move it to the diaphragm. Unclench your jaw, lower your shoulders, and soften your eyes. Imagine every thought in your head falling away from you like it's a raft over a waterfall. One by one until they stop.

You have now stopped the loop before it can even get started. Once you have noticed the body, you can examine it all before the behavior begins.

Understand the Secret Payoff

Every loop has something it is doing to afford the rent in your head. There is something you get from this automatic behavior. If you find that your loop is going into a performance of a character, the payoff might be to protect you from rejection. Perhaps you might loop into overthinking. A rapid series of chaotic, fear-based thoughts that rarely lead to a positive conclusion, and the payoff for this behavior is feeling in control.

Understand the Timing

Typically, our loops operate on a schedule. When we first wake up or after a stressful day at work, we may notice ourselves performing automatic behaviors. You may notice that you become inauthentic around certain people or when speaking in public. Keeping a journal or noting automatic, mindless behaviors in your schedule might help you identify what needs to be examined.

When you Identify A Loop

The best way to learn how to stop a looping event is to nudge it. It may be too deep, too familiar, or too safe to cut off altogether. Or too strong to stop all at once. However, if you can adjust your behavior in the loop by speaking 20% slower or using fewer words if you feel yourself slipping into performance, focus your attention on your toes in your shoes, rather than seeking validation from the person across from you. This will start to provide enough distance from the automation to begin dismantling it over time.

Conclusion

By dropping down into the body, breathing deeply, and noticing new things around you, it is possible to slow our automatic loops before the behavior starts.

Creating a sense of authentic presence first thing in the morning, along with lunch and evening check-ins, will establish an environment that can prevent loops from even forming before they are examined. Once you develop a sound relationship with presence and the present moment, you will find that noticing the invisible loops of inauthentic behavior can be transmuted into more awareness. And in this heightened awareness of the self, you will begin to merge into your future self.

By using pattern interruption questions, paying attention to bodily signals, naming the hidden payoffs of these behaviors, and tracking trigger times, one can begin to dismantle them.

Time loops are unconscious patterns of energy, body sensation, and behavior that prevent us from living our dream life. Identifying these "invisible loops"—which often feel like an inherent part of ourselves—is crucial for personal growth. Recognizing these loops through physical cues, repetitive behaviors, and internal sensations of urgency or a need for external validation is essential.

By using pattern interruption questions, paying attention to bodily signals, naming the hidden payoffs of these behaviors, and tracking trigger times, one can begin to dismantle them. The key is to make small, consistent micro-shifts rather than attempting to fix everything at once. Ultimately, cultivating presence and awareness enables us to break free from these loops and step into our authentic, future selves.

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