When looking at my beliefs, the first part is feeling the emotion, really feeeeeling it. Then getting to the end of it, asking "What must I believe is true in order for me to feel this way?", letting wisdom arise, thanking the feeling for showing me how I was, and making a statement about NOW what I prefer instead. Transitioning from the feeling tone to the question is something I am not great at. I get caught up in my stories. I ruminate then plumb forget what I'm doing and just, like, get up and go about my day, still ruminating. Some time later I'll remember, "Oh! I was doing an exercise." So I try it again, starting over, and the same thing happens. Now, I could snap out of it if someone cues me. But I would like to do this as a solitary practice.
I've done Buddhist meditation for years, and this is a huge part of that meditation practice, so you'd think I'd be a pro at it by now, but I most definitely am not.
What would you suggest? Writing this, I thought of setting a 5 minute timer for myself?
What are your insights into this feeling-thinking loop? Thank you.