Connor Beaton explains how isolation amplifies existing emotional patterns like anxiety and depression by stripping away the routines and social interactions that normally mask them. He uses Vipassana meditation as an example of how removing distractions reveals what's actually happening inside, and suggests using this time for self-awareness instead.
Hi, team. I hope that you are all doing well. I hope that your families are doing well and you're safe during this time of isolation and quarantine. But I wanted to talk to you today about something that I have been noticing in almost all of my clients.
And in some of the men that I've worked with in the alliance group. We had a great call this morning, and there was about 60 guys. We have about 250 guys in the group, but we had about 60 guys in the call this morning, which was great. And we had a really great conversation about facing some of the things that are happening in our life that we were wanting to reject. And I talked about this idea that I wanted to bring to you, which is isolation brings amplification. All right? Isolation brings amplification. So anytime that we are isolated and we remove the normalcy of our habits, of our routines, of the people that we normally interact with, the environments that we normally find ourselves in, we begin to amplify some of inner tendencies and some of the inner habits and patterns that we might otherwise not be present to. What a lot of people are experiencing right now, from what I've noticed, is that they are. The parts of themselves that they would normally not want to interact with are being amplified. They're distraction mechanisms or going on social media constantly or watching porn or playing video games or drinking or whatever the distraction might be is being amplified. A lot of people's anxieties are being amplified because they can't control the circumstances around them. They don't know when they're gonna be able to go back to work or if they're gonna have a job or, you know, when they're gonna be able to get a break from the family members that they are maybe stuck with. So anxiety levels are being amplified. For some people, depression is being amplified because they feel sort of stuck under the circumstances that they're in and unable to sort of get out of it. So just notice that during this isolation, whatever was with you before the isolation, whatever you were dealing with before the isolation, is probably being amplified in some way, shape or form. And you want to use this time, use this isolation as a practice to get in touch with and to get in tune with the parts of you that you normally wouldn't connect with. And so it's why vipassana meditations are so powerful. Right? If you know anyone that has ever gone and done anything like that, vipassana is when you go and do a meditative practice for, you know, usually 10 days where there's no Speaking, there's no talking, there's no interacting with other people. And it can be wildly powerful simply because you're, you're removing all the distractions that you normally have and use and you are allowing yourself to start to really be present with your inner dialogue, with your inner experience. You start to meet the anxiety that's within you or you start to meet the victim within you that's constantly complaining and constantly rejecting the reality that they're in, that you're in. And so start to meet these parts and really start to tune into where are you rejecting reality? Where are you rejecting the reality of your current circumstances? This is what I see a lot of people ruminating about their angry and pissed off because they can't go outside and do what they want to do or they can't go to work, or you know, they're angry and pissed off because they don't know when they're going to go back to go back to work or if they're going to have a job to go back to. And so, you know, there's a lot of ruminating on the things that we can't control. And that might be the thing that's being amplified for you in this isolation. So tune into that. Notice what's being amplified within you. Maybe you're handling this great and your sense of allowing and surrendering to, to life and to the unknown and to the uncertain, maybe that's being amplified and you're able to move through this with a little bit of grace and poise and excitement. So comment below, comment below with what is being amplified for you during this isolation and what you're starting to learn from it. Because again, just like in a Vipassana, we remove all of these distractions, we remove all of these habits and patterns that, so that we can more clearly see our inner nature, our inner dialogue, the stories that are being told internally, the emotions that we're rejecting or avoiding internally. And right now you have this wonderful opportunity, if you have space, if you have time, you have this wonderful opportunity to actually tune into more clearly what is being amplified within you so that you can learn about yourself a little bit, a little bit more. You can expand your awareness about your shadow, what you normally reject and avoid, and you can expand your awareness and connection to your own sense of inner strength and leadership. And that's what this time can be used for. So comment below with what is being amplified for you and we'll talk soon.
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