Kick the Habit

Our lives are filled with habits layer upon layer of habits.In most situations, we have a usual tendency, or a habitual way of reacting to the highs and lows of life. We also react to our habits. If we say well go to the gym three times a week and dont, we have a habitual reaction to that. Perhaps well say well never skip again. Maybe well beat ourselves up or make a list of 431 reasons why skipping the workouts was beyond our control.

Habits say a lot about yourself what you care about, what makes you angry, what makes you tick. Breaking those habits gives you lots and lots of choices in life. YOU have the power to choose your reactions, choose the words that come of your mouth, even choose your choices.

What am I talking about? When we hit a same-old situation or circumstances, many of us let our minds slip into automatic pilot and we lose the ability to consciously choose our reactions. Its like dropping a marble into a groove in our brains over and over. Each time, the same old thoughts generate the same old emotions, and we say or do the same old things over and over and over again. Sounds tiresome, doesnt it?

If you actually assessed how much reacting habitually costs you in intellectual, emotional and physical energy, youd stop right now. Today. There would be no habit to even break.

Consider your habits:

- What do you give yourself?

- Where do you deprive yourself?

- How do you use food, alcohol, sex and money in your life?

- What are your emotions of choice?

- What are your default reactions?

- What assumptions do you make?

- How often do you make fear-based decisions?

- How often do you make decisions based in joy?

Which of your habits are knee-jerk responses? When youre in seemingly identical circumstances, do you react in identical ways without stopping to notice if the situation is actually the same? For example, is your response to a potential conflict to run and hide under the nearest barrel? (If it smells like conflict, looks like conflict it must be conflict). Do you react to stress with a sprint for the closest candy bar?

Unconscious, habitual responses stop us from acknowledging and honoring what we really think, feel and believe. They keep us from feeling uncomfortable, or as mad, sad, bad or glad as we probably do. They are effective avoidance techniques.

Instead try to form healthy habits like exercise, meditation, honoring your feelings and taking good care of yourself. The level of consciousness is what distinguishes these habits from the knee-jerk habits. Once exercise becomes a firmly formed habit in your life, you cant do it unconsciously. You still have to pack up your gym clothes and water bottle and drive to the gym or tie on your tennis shoes and go out for a run. And after a while, certain positive habits do become automatic, but dont mask thoughts, feelings and desires.

A note of caution: Watch out for healthy habits that become a should. If taking good care of yourself becomes a should, it might become fear-driven rather than motivated by the desire to give yourself what you deserve.

Its helpful to remember that everything you do is for a reason. You reengage in your habits repeatedly because you get something out of doing it pleasure, pain, health, avoidance, repression, expression. We all do. Rather than being hard on yourself because you didnt go the gym again, ask yourself what you got out of staying home. Do you get to keep a comfortable identity even if its not the one you want?

Look deeply at your habits and youll find new information about yourself. Look at the habits that you like and the habits that you dont; youll find where youre stuck, what youre avoiding, what energizes you, and what you value. What could be better?

Starting today, form a new habit of examining your habits and youll be surprised at what you uncover and discover about yourself.

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About the Author
Claudette Rowley,
claudette@metavoice.org
More Details about http://www.metavoice.org here. Claudette Rowley is a professional coach, speaker and author who helps savvy professionals like you identify their true purpose and calling and mobilize the courage to pursue it. Sign up for her free monthly ezine "Insights for the Savvy" at http://www.metavoice.org or contact her directly at info@metavoice.org.

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What is meditation?

Meditation usually refers to a state in which the body is consciously relaxed and the mind is allowed to become calm and focused. Several major religions include ritual meditation; however, meditation itself need not be a religious or spiritual activity. Most of the more popular systems of meditation are of Eastern origin, though there exists also various forms of Christian, Jewish and Muslim meditation.
Meditation as a form of alternative medicine brings about mental calmness and physical relaxation by suspending the stream of thoughts that normally occupy the mind. Generally performed once or twice a day for approximately 20 minutes at a time, meditation is used to reduce stress, alter hormone levels, and elevate one's mood.
A discipline in which the mind is focused on a single point of reference. Employed since ancient times in various forms by all religions, the practice gained greater notice in the post war US as interest in Zen Buddhism rose. Meditation is now used by many nonreligious adherents as a method of stress reduction; known to lower levels of cortisol, a hormone released in response to stress. Enhances recuperation and improves the body’s resistance to disease.
Meditation is an easy and simple way to balance a person's physical, emotional, and mental states. It is easily learned and has been used as an aid in treating stress, anxiety, pain management, and as part of an overall treatment for other conditions including hypertension and heart disease. Research shows that meditation decreases the heart rate, respiratory rate, oxygen consumption, and even decreases blood pressure.