How to Untie Mental Knots

SF

Sean FargoPublished January 11, 2015 · Updated March 27, 2024 · 1 min read

Printable Worksheet

How to Untie Mental Knots

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A mindful companion to this worksheet

A mindful approach to how to untie mental knots

“How to Untie Mental Knots” is an invitation to slow down and meet your experience with curiosity, honesty, and kindness — three qualities that quietly transform everything they touch.

How mindfulness can help

Mindfulness offers a steady inner ground from which to engage any topic. Instead of being swept along by reaction, we learn to notice what is here — sensations, thoughts, feelings — and respond from a place of presence rather than pressure.

Gentle steps to try

Begin with the breath. Take three slow breaths before opening the worksheet. Let your body remember it is here.
Read with curiosity. Move through each prompt slowly. Notice which questions soften you, and which ones tighten you.
Write what is true now. There are no right answers — only honest ones. The truth at this moment is what the worksheet is asking for.
Close with one breath. When you finish, pause. Place a hand on your heart and acknowledge yourself for showing up.

Insight does not arrive on a schedule. Trust the practice of returning, the courage of honesty, and the slow unfolding of your own becoming.

Download PDF

Now that you know how to untie mental knots, learn about the mental barriers.

About 99 percent of the people who start marathons in the United States finish them. That’s an astoundingly high number considering the pain and turmoil that every marathon runner faces. What each runner has in common is that they hit a wall where their mental resources are exhausted. At this point, sheer physical will maintains their strength — and this is the will that everyone has, but we seldom know how to tap into it.

Our way to break through our own mental barriers was to invite a Navy SEAL to live with him and his family for a month. The first item on the agenda? Doing over 100 pull-ups. The lesson wasn’t about physical fitness, but about mental fitness and how we each have an unused reservoir of strength and determination inside of us.

How to Untie Mental Knots