The No inner monologue misunderstanding…...

You’ve probably seen the ’no inner monologue’ posts going around on socials for the last few days.

People are having their mind blown that some people don’t have an inner voice… __

I think this is far less ‘mind-blowing’ and maybe more ‘misunderstanding’. I think the misunderstanding is coming from reading the tweet referencing the 2011 Dr Russell T Hurlburt blog, instead of reading the blog itself…

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All people have an inner voice (barring damage to a region of the brain). The study is more referring to ‘how’ a persons inner voice communicates the majority of the time.

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Some people may claim to have no inner voice or thoughts at all, however many times this is from having pushed it down so far they simply are unaware of it until they sit back and are shown how to observe. IMO if somebody tells you they have no inner thoughts this is definitely not a sign that their mind is zen and they were buddha in a past life. Part of the entire practice of meditation, mindfulness is learning how to quieten the inner voice/thoughts however it communicates.

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I have been working with the inner voice and how it affects the lives, moods, emotions, physical and mental health of my clients since 2004. I can honestly say In the last 15-16 years since, I have had ZERO clients that are not eventually aware of the presence of an inner voice/self (despite as mentioned above if initially, they swear there is nothing at all). It may not be a monologue as such and may just be words or images, but there is a 'subconscious voice'.

I normally reference the voice as ’thinking self’ as per ACT protocol. Your ’thinking self’ can still be incredibly negative, positive, loud and/or distracting even if it isn’t speaking to you in your own voice.

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So, I’m not sure this latest tweet is as mind-blowing as its being perceived to be. It’s more-so like being surprised that... I can’t believe people aren’t all visual learners, or I can’t believe people aren’t auditory learners or I can’t believe people don’t all learn in English.

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Food for thought anyway… #mindset #mindbodyhq #themindbodyguy #happinesshabit #mindfulness