Go easy. Go slow. Go simple. Go small.
When we’re creating a new habit, it’s usually easy at first. We’re excited to be doing something new and good for ourselves!
And then the honeymoon wears off and we slide back into our old habits. Have we failed?
Continue reading(video: 5:31 min) Does mindfulness ever become permanent? Will I ever be mindful all the time with out having to practice it regularly?
Well yes. And no.
Yes in that you can reach a stage where mindfulness is something you’re doing all of the time, as a behavior, a habit or an state of being.
And no in that until it becomes an ingrained habit, you need to keep reinforcing the behavior by practicing it!
Why? Because your brain learns and changes based on your behaviors. What you do today is changing your brain. You’re either creating & maintaining neurological structures for mindfulness today or you’re creating structures for something else.
Thanks to Dr Lara Boyd on TEDxVancouver for making the relationship between our daily behaviors and our brain so clear.
(4:01) Why are you practicing mindfulness? Do you want to be less stressed, more focused or have better relationships? Maybe you want to sleep better?
And is mindfulness helping you with this? Are you getting better? How do you know?
Sometimes the answer to these questions are obvious, especially if we’ve been practicing mindfulness for a while and we can see lots of change over time. Sometimes it is less clear if our practice is helping or not.
If you aren’t sure, there are a few simple things that you can do… First, it helps to get clear about your motivation: why are you doing it? Get clear about what you want to improve.
Second, identify something about it that you can measure over time. For instance, if you want less stress, pick something that stresses you like every time you get a new project at work, and notice if your stress reduces over time. You can do something like give yourself a number from 1 to 10 each time it happens, write it down, and see if your number goes up or down overtime (from 1= not stressed to 10= really stressed) .
If you see positive change, you’ll be motivated to keep practicing! If not, then think about doing something different than mindfulness to address your issue or consider adjusting your mindfulness practice to suit you better. I specialize tailoring practices to suit individuals, so check other videos or email me for suggestions!
Happy Improving!
(video) How do we acknowledge fear with out cultivating more of it?
(video) Many of us have a strong habit of focusing on fear… on controlling, fixing, finding fault, etc. Once we realize that we can choose to focus on fun… the first step is noticing!
(video) Sometimes in the middle of turmoil it helps to remember that my thoughts and feelings are things. They are objects. That I am separate from them.
Elena
theJoyLab.net
(video) It just takes a bit of practice, some time…
