A Simple Way to Break a Bad Habit | Judson Brewer | TED

Paying Attention to Our Breath

In this section, the speaker talks about his experience with meditation and how paying attention to our breath can be challenging. He explains that studies show that even when we're trying to pay attention, we tend to drift off into a daydream or have an urge to check our social media feed.

The Reward-Based Learning Process

• Our brains are wired for positive and negative reinforcement.

• We learn through context-dependent memory and repetition.

• This same process can lead us from learning to survive to developing unhealthy habits like smoking or overeating.

Mindfulness Training

• Instead of fighting our brains, we should tap into the natural reward-based learning process but add a twist.

• Mindfulness training can help people quit smoking by focusing on being curious instead of forcing themselves to quit.

• By being mindful while smoking, smokers noticed unpleasant sensations like the smell of stinky cheese and taste of chemicals.

The Power of Curiosity

In this section, the speaker talks about how curiosity can help us break free from unhealthy habits. He explains that by being curious about our experiences, we can become more aware of our thoughts and emotions.

Breaking Free from Unhealthy Habits

• Curiosity helps us become more aware of our thoughts and emotions.

• By being curious about what triggers our unhealthy habits, we can learn to respond differently.

• We can use curiosity as a tool for breaking free from addiction.

Cultivating Mindfulness in Daily Life

In this section, the speaker talks about how we can cultivate mindfulness in our daily lives. He explains that by being present and curious, we can become more aware of our experiences.

Being Present

• Being present means paying attention to what's happening right now.

• We can cultivate presence by focusing on our breath or body sensations.

Being Curious

• Being curious means being open to new experiences and perspectives.

• We can cultivate curiosity by asking questions and exploring our experiences.

Bringing Mindfulness into Daily Life

• We can bring mindfulness into daily life by practicing mindful breathing, eating, and listening.

• By being mindful in our interactions with others, we can improve our relationships.

Mindfulness and Breaking Bad Habits

In this section, the speaker discusses how mindfulness can help break bad habits by becoming disenchanted with our behavior and seeing what we get from our habits.

Disenchantment with Behavior

• Smoking tastes like shit. (Laughter)

• Moving from knowledge to wisdom helps us become disenchanted with our behavior.

• The prefrontal cortex understands on an intellectual level that we shouldn't smoke, but it goes offline when we get stressed out.

• Cognitive control is using cognition to control our behavior.

Curiosity and Letting Go

• When the prefrontal cortex goes offline, we fall back into old habits. Seeing what we get from our habits helps us understand them at a deeper level -- to know it in our bones so we don't have to force ourselves to hold back or restrain ourselves from behavior.

• Mindfulness is about seeing really clearly what we get when we get caught up in our behaviors, becoming disenchanted on a visceral level and naturally letting go.

• Curiosity is naturally rewarding and helps us turn toward our experience rather than trying to make unpleasant cravings go away as quickly as possible.

Inner Scientist

• When we get curious, we step out of old fear-based reactive habit patterns and become this inner scientist where we're eagerly awaiting that next data point. This willingness to turn toward our experience is supported by curiosity which feels good.

Mindfulness Training

• Mindfulness training was twice as good as gold standard therapy at helping people quit smoking.

• Experienced meditators' brains showed that parts of a neural network of self-referential processing called the default mode network were at play.

• Mindfulness training programs target core mechanisms and use technology to help us step out of our unhealthy habit patterns of smoking, stress eating, and other addictive behaviors.

Being Curiously Aware

In this section, the speaker encourages us to tap into our natural capacity by being curiously aware of what's happening in our body and mind. We can either perpetuate our habit loops or step out of them.

Tapping into Natural Capacity

• By being curiously aware of what's happening in our body and mind, we can tap into our natural capacity.

• We have the choice to either perpetuate one of our endless and exhaustive habit loops or step out of it.

Breaking Habit Loops

• To break a habit loop, we need to notice the urge and get curious about it.

• Instead of compulsively texting back when we receive a text message, we should feel the joy of letting go and repeat this process.

Conclusion

The speaker concludes his talk by thanking the audience for their attention.