Wellbeing Elixir: The Power of Habits!

Greetings! Namaste!

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Aristotle, the ancient Greek Philosopher, is believed to have said, "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." But forming habits and sticking with them is never easy! It often takes 30 days, and sometimes longer, to build a new habit. And sometimes we get knocked off track and we need to rebuild a habit that we somehow lost.

According to the best selling book Atomic Habits by James Clear:

Your life today is essentially the sum of your habits.

• How in shape (or out of shape) are you? It's a result of your habits.
• How happy (or unhappy) are you? It's a product of your habits.
• How successful (or unsuccessful) are you? It's related to your habits.

Habits are formed by repeated cycles of these 4 elements:

1. A cue or trigger - the first part of a habit loop is a cue in the external environment
2. Craving - the motivational force or desire to act (or, in some cases, not act).
3. An action - you move to act (or, in some cases, don't act)
4. A reward - you experience a rewarding feeling after completing the action

Eventually you no longer need to think consciously about taking action because it becomes automated. The cue triggers a craving which causes you to take action. Although you may continue to experience a reward, once a habit is formed, the reward is no longer a necessary element.

Let's look at a very simple but very real habit you probably have - your morning a cup of joe ☕️ (or tea!)

1. Cue - You wake up ⏰
2. Craving - You want to feel more alert
3. Response - You drink a cup of coffee
4. Reward - You feel more alert 🎆

Our brains are reward detectors!

Of course, not all habits are so easy to form. The cues might not be apparent enough. The craving (motivation) might not be strong enough. The action might be too difficult. And the reward insufficient ... or too distant, in either time or place, from the effort.

Consider the 4 Laws of Behavior Change

• Make it obvious
• Create visual cues. Create a vision board and place it in a really prominent place where you will see it every day. Use your calendar to purposefully carve out time or set reminders like, drink water! Consistency is critical to success.
• Baby steps
• Start small - set yourself up for success and make your new habits easy to achieve.
• Decide that the habit is simply part of your NEW identity. Each small win is a way to demonstrate it’s who you are.
• Anticipate barriers
• Think about your triggers. What's likely to get you off track? For example, what leads you to eat things you had hoped to avoid? Or what sucks your time and attention away thereby distracting you from your goal(s)?
• How can you change your environment to remove the old triggers or create new triggers instead?
• Who can provide encouragement and support? And hold you accountable?
• Rewards
• Feelings of pleasure and disappointment helps your brain distinguish the useful from the unhelpful.
• How will you reward yourself? Make it satisfying!
• Chart your progress. It doesn't need to be anything fancy. A simple X on a wall calendar or use a habit tracker app. But be sure to track it and regularly review it.
• Once a week pause and appreciate what you have accomplished! It will motivate you to keep pushing onward and upward.

In the book The Happiness Hypothesis, Jonathan Haidt uses a metaphor - an elephant and a rider. The elephant represents our emotional, intuitive self: it’s big, powerful, and stubborn. The tiny rider atop the elephant represents our rational self, coaxing and guiding the elephant toward our goals.

Together, the elephant and the rider govern our behaviors.

When you find yourself losing motivation, it usually means your elephant has gone HUNGRY - so it’s time to get re-inspired, refresh your commitments, and feed your soul!

If you can relate to this analogy, here are some tips to FEED YOUR ELEPHANT as you try to build a new habit or when your motivation wains. Think about your why. Why is this habit important? What are you trying to achieve? Set up new clues. Tweak your habits - can you achieve the same goal by doing something in new ways? Consider giving yourself different rewards. Variety can renew your interest and resolve.

If you are interested in learning more about how to form healthy habits or get rid of unwanted ones, read The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg!

And if you are looking for some physical activity, check out the Yoga Flow H = Habits in the A to Z Wellbeing series on the Yoga Apothecary YouTube Channel.

Yoga and physical fitness are a big part of my life. But by engaging in a variety of physical activities, setting new goals to reach personal records or achieve new postures, tracking my progress using My Fitness Pal app, and working with accountability partners have really helped me stick with my habit!

Your beliefs become your thoughts, Your thoughts become your words, Your words become your actions, Your actions become your habits, Your habits become your values, Your values become your destiny. ― Mahatma Gandhi

Cheers-

Seena

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Seena and Stuart Haines

Yoga Apothecary

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