The Cycle Tool

More Emotional Brain Training

The Cycle Tool for Brain State 4

"State the facts about your upset.
No feelings. Just the facts.
Keep it short, however, long enough to arouse strong emotions in your body.

Then launch into the Natural Flow of Feelings
I feel angry that . . .
I feel sad that . . .
I feel afraid that . . .
I feel guilty that . . .
Express short choppy sentences to express your feelings.
Your stress will begin to quiet down, and you will be in the portal of your emotional brain.

At that point, you can use deductive reasoning to identify your Unreasonable Expectation.

Then find a Reasonable Expectation — the opposite of the unreasonable one — which squashes the wiring of that old unreasonable expectation.

In a flash you will go into a stress response, which is why we use Encouraging Words, a short statement of support to keep you thinking about the reasonable expectation.

The most powerful part of The Cycle is to identify the Essential Pain, the change, loss, upset, reality to face, and grow from, in order to switch your brain to joy, and feel the joy response.

The Essential Pain is the truth about the human condition or my life that I must face in order to follow through with this new reasonable expectation, in a state of balance and joy.

The Earned Reward is your reason for following through with that reasonable expectation, and if that reward is not more pleasurable than the Essential Pain then the expectation needs some tweaking. It’s not reasonable.

Last, as you return to Brain State 1, ask What do I need? (including need for support from others).

If you like, check to see if there is a circuit you want to break that was revealed by the Cycle. That’s your positive affirmation or Grind In. Repeat it 10 times, 1 to 3 times per day to help break that old neural circuit and build a new one that leads to joy.

Here’s a demonstration of The Cycle Tool by the founder of Emotional Brain Training, Laurel Mellin, MA, RD, Associate Clinical Professor of Family and Community Medicine and Pediatrics at UCSF.

Our unconscious emotional expectations hold us in a stress response.

Use the Cycle Tool to nab that unconscious unreasonable expectation, bring it to a conscious level and rewire it.

Just the Facts:
My shoulder hurts from playing golf, my brother is in the hospital after open heart surgery, I am going to visit a friend tomorrow morning in LA, and see her daughter’s wedding reception, and I am missing my mother, who passed away a little more than two years ago.

Natural Flow of Feelings
I feel angry that my shoulder hurts. I hate it that my mother is gone . . .
I feel sad that my brother is sick. I feel sad that my shoulder hurts.
I feel afraid that I will keep having losses, my mother . . . more . . .
I feel guilty that I feel bad.

My Unreasonable Expectation is that I shouldn’t feel bad when I am in the midst of loss.

My Reasonable Expectation? I expect myself to feel as bad as I need to feel for as long as I need to feel it.

Encouraging Words? I can do that!

The Essential Pain is that: Life can be difficult. I will have pain.

The Earned Reward (of accepting that): I can see myself. I can honor myself.

Now, I can feel a sense of sanctuary within. I am at Brain State 1.

Now that I have switched my brain from stress to joy, what do I need (including what do I need from others)?

What do I need? To enjoy my life. To appreciate how much love I feel for my mother, my brother, my family. I need to call the hospital and find out how my brother is doing (it’s still a “no visitor” day as he is in intensive care and in discomfort).

Grind In: I feel full of love and gratitude right now, just as I am.
Repeat your affirmation 10 times, 1 to 3 times per day, to help break that old neural circuit and build a new one that leads to joy.

The Cycle Tool gives us the power to rewire our unconscious memory systems, and using it simply as in the example or in ways that target healing of our early trauma and most challenging situation, such as with addictions, rejections, and survival needs. It guides us through the natural processing of stress through the brain, sending that electrical and chemical energy through stress and back to joy."