How To Unwind Your Unwanted Patterns

Anthony and I met at Sundance. We bonded over our mutual obsession for the Spiral Jetty, an earthwork sculpture jutting into the Great Salt Lake. 

To get to the Spiral Jetty we drove in darkness to the middle of nowhere over unpaved roads. We waited for dawn in silence. Liminal moments like this are fleeting and precious. 

The Spiral Jetty is a perfect site for a ritual of release. We walked 1500 ft. to the center of the spiral, thinking of what we wanted to let go. We offered prayers and called in blessings for our new paths. And then we walked back to shore, without looking back. 

The good news? You don't need to go to Utah to let go of something that no longer serves you. You just need to draw spirals. But you must draw them counterclockwise. 

These spirals can be actual doodles with a pen, or traced with a finger in the air or on a surface. Spiral when you think of an unwanted thought, a pattern you want broken or anything that needs to go. 

Moving counterclockwise primes your unconscious for unwinding and release. It reinforces your intention. 

Now add oomph by doing it with your non-dominant hand. It's unexpected! This will startle your brain into paying attention, cementing your intention. 

Then turbocharge your desired release by thinking "righty tighty and lefty loosey". This will reinforce opening up and letting go. By spiraling you will train yourself to release with ease.

Sculpture: Robert Smithson 1938-1973
Image: Soren.harward at en.wikipedia, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons