Hmm, I’m worried there may be an element of self-coercion lurking here.
Some part of your mind is generating the initial aversion, and for a reason (not necessarily a good one). But presumably it’s because it has some interest in you not doing the task. By the point you’ve actually started the task, consider that it may have recognized that generating the aversive feeling will no longer help it achieve its goals.
If that’s the case, then the underlying issue will not be resolved by this exercise, and will reëmerge once you’re no longer keeping up the pressure.
I imagine in such a situation I’m basically taking my mind by the hand and say “come on, just 3 minutes, let’s try it out and see what happens”, the mind says “okay...” and by the time the three minutes are up, nothing bad happened, my mind is like “everything went better than expected”. I would assume when there’s a deeper underlying reason—which certainly can happen—the mind would not give up that quickly and easily and keep generating feelings of aversion.
So, I agree in the sense that you shouldn’t just push through by all means, and sometimes it may take more reflection and empathy to figure out what’s going on. I view the whole exercise almost as a kind of meditation, focused more on observing your experience and learning about yourself than on actually making progress.
Hmm, I’m worried there may be an element of self-coercion lurking here.
Some part of your mind is generating the initial aversion, and for a reason (not necessarily a good one). But presumably it’s because it has some interest in you not doing the task. By the point you’ve actually started the task, consider that it may have recognized that generating the aversive feeling will no longer help it achieve its goals.
If that’s the case, then the underlying issue will not be resolved by this exercise, and will reëmerge once you’re no longer keeping up the pressure.
I imagine in such a situation I’m basically taking my mind by the hand and say “come on, just 3 minutes, let’s try it out and see what happens”, the mind says “okay...” and by the time the three minutes are up, nothing bad happened, my mind is like “everything went better than expected”. I would assume when there’s a deeper underlying reason—which certainly can happen—the mind would not give up that quickly and easily and keep generating feelings of aversion.
So, I agree in the sense that you shouldn’t just push through by all means, and sometimes it may take more reflection and empathy to figure out what’s going on. I view the whole exercise almost as a kind of meditation, focused more on observing your experience and learning about yourself than on actually making progress.
That sounds like a healthy approach; my point is that those details may be an important part of making this a healthy practice.