Shadowing Practice: 7 Dopamine Habits That Saved Me From Brain Rot - Learn English Speaking with Video

I think we all need to be honest right now and admit that a lot of us are suffering from brain rot.

You know those moments when you're feeling a certain emotion and without even thinking, you open social media and start scrolling?

I do that too and that's exactly why I wanted to make this video.

Because recently I started introducing new habits and new coping strategies

so that social media isn't the only way I deal with boredom, stress, and fatigue.

I know scrolling is easier.

I know, it gives you dopamine quickly, but after 30 minutes of scrolling a feed and barely remembering what you just watched, it doesn't actually feel good.

So in this video, I want to share 7 habits

that genuinely help me stop brain rot

and build healthier ways to deal with those moments when my brain is looking for stimulation.

If you're new here, I'm Veronica, a polyglot yoga teacher and plant-based nutrition advocate, and on this channel we talk about the habits and mindset changes to help us live with more intention.

So in this video I'll be sharing what emotional triggers cause brain rot, how we can interrupt this habit loop and relearn to feel bored again,

and finally why doing things badly and imperfectly with other people is so effective when it comes to fighting brain rot.

Alright, so the first habit is track your scroll triggers.

I deeply believe that brain rot happens during predictable moments.

When we feel bored, overwhelmed, tired, fatigued.

And in those moments, our phones and social media act as digital pacifiers.

At least this is how I like to call all of this.

They calm us down.

They offer a quick escape.

They make us laugh when we feel sad.

They became our portable comfort devices.

Pacifiers.

Because we use them as a way to self-soothe.

And so that is why the first thing that I decided to do to help myself without being judgmental,

without, you know, saying, why can't I just stop using my phone and scrolling on social media?

I started noticing all of those moments

when I was most likely to reach for my phone and to have this urge to just scroll the feed.

So for me, I noticed that I was most likely to be doom scrolling

when something difficult was going on in my life.

But the problem with using my phone as a digital pacifier is that it replaces healthy coping strategies,

things that are actually sustainable, habits that are actually teaching us real skills.

When I only rely on brain rot and doom scrolling to make me feel better, I notice that it only makes my anxiety worse over time.

In psychology, this is related to emotional regulation through avoidance.

Instead of processing my emotions, I distract myself from them by using my phone.

And so writing down when and why you scroll is very useful because it helps you notice patterns.

All of those emotional moments that cause your brain rot.

When we try to quit doom scrolling with guilt and shame and discipline, we don't really get to the bottom of things.

Like, we're not really understanding why we're doing it in the first place.

And I feel like for a lot of us, the causes of doom scrolling and brain rot are going to be slightly different.

And so that is why I like to approach it with curiosity instead, with asking myself, what is my brain looking for right now?

And how can I satisfy this need in a different way?

When you understand the need behind your habit, it becomes so much easier to change the behavior.

The next dopamine habit that's been really helpful for me is using the app one sec to interrupt the habit loop.

Let's be honest, you can obviously go this route.

Just delete all of the social media apps from your phone.

That's it.

But it gets a little bit complicated when you use social media

because you want to post something or because you want to connect to friends who live in different countries, like in my case.

But at the same time, I'm a human being too, and sometimes I notice that I'm doom scrolling, which I don't like.

So I started using an app to interrupt this automatic habit loop.

You can use any app that basically restricts your social media usage.

The one that I'm using is one sec, and if you're using it for, I think, one app, it's absolutely free.

The social media app that I'm using it for is Instagram and I created a shortcut where every time I open Instagram,

first this app kicks in and it asks me to take a breath in, breathe out, and then it asks me,

do I really want to use Instagram right now?

The thing is, right now social media is designed to be frictionless.

So that is why I'm always trying to add barriers. At first, I was a little bit skeptical I was like okay you

know I'm gonna use this app it's gonna tell me do

you really want to use Instagram I'm gonna say yes

but to be honest in most cases when this happens I start to reflect

when I see the screen the question I'm like do I really want to use Instagram right now

and what for because it asks you like what do you want to use Instagram for

and then I really have to be honest with myself

because yes I know there's no one watching me and I can still click yes I want to use Instagram and yes, I'm just curious so that's why I'm using this app.

But in most cases, because habits depend on ease of access,

I feel less likely to use Instagram just because I'm using the app OneSec to run the shortcut.

And so this pause forces our brains to wake up.

The next dopamine habit that most of us really hate is being bored.

When I was preparing for this video, I read a lot of research articles on feeling bored and using social media because we feel bored.

One research article said that 77% of smartphone owners reported that they turned to their phone to avoid being bored.

Also, I read another article that said that this urge can be so severe that in one study,

people prefer to self-administer electric shocks rather than being left alone with their thoughts for a few minutes.

Let it sink in for a second.

This is how much we hate feeling bored.

This is how much we don't want to be daydreaming and not doing anything.

Given that bored people long for stimuli and that human attention has become scarce and increasingly valuable,

there also is commercial value in knowing when a person is bored.

And that is very interesting because that is exactly how social media apps are built

and that is exactly why we feel so hooked in.

When we feel bored, we unlock our phone more often.

We open more apps and we interact with our phone more intensely.

Boredom pushes us to look for stimulation and our phones are the easiest place to find it.

So that is why the first thing

that I started doing is I started noticing all of those micro moments of boredom in my day

and I intentionally said no to my phone in those moments.

The examples of those micro moments of boredom that we all experience every single day are waiting in line,

drinking coffee or drinking tea, walking somewhere without being on your phone, without listening to music, without your headphones,

sitting on a balcony or maybe taking a small five-minute break, waiting for the elevator.

This is so real because we check our phones even if the wait is just a few seconds, like when you're waiting for the elevator.

To be honest, this habit is helping me so much when it comes to rebuilding my attention span.

Yes, it's natural for all of us to feel bored in those moments, but the question is, what are you going to do with that boredom.

You can just stand and wait and people watch or maybe notice the trees around you, the birds.

Be truly, really present.

Or you can be bored and immediately grab your phone and, let's be honest, not be in the moment.

Dopamine habit number four that truly saved me from brain rot is creating a novelty menu.

Social media works on something called a variable reward system.

It's not a secret that it's the same mechanism casinos use in slot machines.

When you scroll, you never know if the next post is going to be boring, funny, shocking, or really interesting.

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That uncertainty and that feeling of, I'm going to get something new, I'm going to watch something new,

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is exactly something that keeps your brain pulling the lever again and again.

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So that is why one thing that I'm working on right now is creating this novelty menu for myself.

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It doesn't have to be anything crazy.

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You already probably have those things that make you feel safe in your everyday life,

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those habits or hobbies that make you reconnect with yourself

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and allow you to process your emotions in a healthier and more sustainable way.

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We're basically redirecting our attention to our own novelty menu instead of getting all that novelty from an algorithm.

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One thing that I added to my novelty menu, something that I reintroduced, is doing a Wordle of the day.

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I used to love playing this game when I was super popular in like 2022, but then obviously when we're choosing between Wordle and social media,

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social media is way easier and way more exciting.

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But long term, how does it make me feel?

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And I know that brain rot and doom scrolling is not really good for me long term, like it doesn't make me feel good.

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And so when I feel like my brain is fatigued and is craving this sense of novelty, I do a wordle of the day.

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It's fun.

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It's actually good for me.

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It doesn't take a very long time and I can also do it with friends, with family members.

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It can be like a whole activity.

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You know, everyone is doing a wordle of the day every single day, something like that.

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Now let's talk about habit number five.

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Reach out to a friend instead of stalking them on social media.

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One of the arguments I use as to why I continue using Instagram

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and social media in general is because I want to see what my friends are up to because my family,

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my friends, like we all live in different countries all around the world and so

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that is why I really like to watch my friends Instagram

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stories for example to see how their days are going and what they're doing and what's new with them.

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But then one day I realized

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that watching my friends instagram stories actually made me message them

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less it gives me this illusion of connection it creates this

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parasocial relationship like i feel like i know what my friends are doing

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when in reality it's just you know the highlights of their day something

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that they decided to post online

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and i don't actually know how they're truly feeling right now like what's actually going on in their everyday lives

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and also they don't know what i up to now

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when i go online to check out my friends i first ask myself

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if i've texted that person recently and if the answer is no i do

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that first i send them a text

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or maybe an audio message sharing what i've been up to

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and asking them how they're doing scrolling gives us this elusive feeling of social connection

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when in reality

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if we really think about it it doesn't really deepen our

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relationship with the people who truly matter dopamine habit number six

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that's been helping me find brain rot is doing things badly with other people.

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Right now I keep on hearing and I keep on noticing

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that we feel really embarrassed to be bad at things even when no one is watching.

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We don't want to try new things.

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We don't want to be bad at them.

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We don't know how to enjoy doing something just because.

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And I think the reason why is because we feel this constant pressure to

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maybe perform so that we can post things on social media.

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And obviously, when we're trying something new, we're not going to be good at it.

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That is completely natural, let's be honest.

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Like, it happens to every single one of us.

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And I think trying something new just

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because you want to be really good at it from the very beginning takes all the fun out of it.

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Like, if I think about starting a new hobby

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and the only reason why I want to do it is

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because I want to be great at it from the very beginning.

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I want to post about it on social media.

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That just feels so tiring.

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Like where is the fun in it?

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You guys know that I like doing yoga a lot and my handstands as well.

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And so one thing

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that I started doing a few months ago was I started going to different yoga studios to feel like I'm not alone,

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to be in a group surrounded by other people.

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Because when I look at yoga content online, most of the time it's perfect, it's flawless.

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But when I go to a real class, I'm surrounded by real people.

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Last weekend, for example, I went to a jewelry making workshop that my friend was organizing and I made this necklace myself.

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And it felt so nice being surrounded by people who were doing something together and doing something new.

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Because it was my first time making jewelry.

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It should be imperfect.

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It should be filled with flaws.

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It's a new hobby for me and I'm allowed.

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Or I would even say I must make mistakes.

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So once I started doing things badly with other people, all of those expectations I had of myself just dropped.

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I saw real people practicing a hobby they loved and that allowed me to treat myself like a real human being too.

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If I start dancing right here in my room, I'm completely alone but I think the reason why I'm gonna feel more embarrassed to do

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that alone is because I'm always comparing myself with people I saw on social media.

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Like, I'm not truly alone, at least not in my mind.

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But when I go to a studio, when I learn how to dance with other people, I can see that, okay, I'm a beginner.

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All of those other people are beginners too.

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And this is exactly how a beginner dances.

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It looks awkward, but that's the beauty of it.

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This is how it's supposed to look.

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All right, and finally, habit number seven, write a ta-da list every night.

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I saw this idea on Reddit and I really liked it.

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We all know that we can journal before going to bed and you know, you can write three things that you accomplished.

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But I feel like if we rename this list to a ta-da list, somehow it feels more exciting.

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Somehow it immediately makes me want to do it so much more.

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The thing is, most of us doom scroll and consume all of this brain rot content right before going to bed.

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Statistically, we feel more boredom later in the day, especially when we're located in darker environments.

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Our brain is fatigued, stimulation is low, and boredom increases.

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And so that is why right now, at the end of the day, what I like to do is I like to write this ta-da list.

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It can include one thing that I'm really proud of today

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or three or five or however many things I want to write.

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It's nice to think about the things that you have accomplished today, especially when we put this fun spin to it, when we add whimsy and excitement.

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This really helps fight boredom right before going to bed.

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All right guys, I think it's going to be it for today's video.

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These are all the dopamine habits that are really helping me fight brain rot right now.

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If you like this video, don't forget to give a thumbs up and subscribe to my YouTube channel.

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If you want to share your thoughts, your ideas on today's video, please do so in the comments.

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I really, really appreciate your feedback.

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If you want to continue watching something, you can click right here.

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Otherwise, thank you so much for being here.

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I'll see you in my next video.

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

Shadowing Practice: 7 Dopamine Habits That Saved Me From Brain Rot - Learn English Speaking with Video

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What is the Shadowing Technique?