“There is no influence like the influence of habit” Gilbert Parker
I really love that quote because it is so true! We may not always be aware of it, but the reality is, so much of what we do in our day to day lives is down to habit. Your brain actually needs habits to keep up with everything that makes you function. It doesn’t have time to have to mechanically step through each and every action you take each day, it just has to happen.
You jump on a bike for the first time in years, and while you might be a bit rusty, your mind and body clicks into the habit that needs to happen to propel you forward and not fall off. Imagine having to start all over again and learn how to ride a bike again. How much energy, effort and time that wold take. Your brain stores that information for whenever you need it again. All it needs is the cue to trigger it into finding that information
Habit can be defined as “an acquired behaviour pattern regularly followed until it has become almost involuntary”. And they generally follow the same format: Cue, Routine, Reward.
In the above bike example. You sit on you bike (cue), you push down on the pedal and continue doing that with both feet (routine), and you get to travel along much quicker than you would if you were walking (reward).
Or other daily habits. Looking both ways before you cross the street, or the habit of having a shower after waking in the morning.
You get to the edge of the road (cue), you look both ways checking for traffic (routine), you get to the other side safely (reward).
You wake up (cue), you jump in the shower (routine), you feel clean and refreshed (reward)…well maybe not refreshed for the non-morning people!
So putting that into the context of meditation. Meditation is what you are trying to make routine. So if you are struggling to practice regularly, maybe have a think about your cue’s and rewards and focus on what may work for you in these areas.
Some cues may be: Waking up in the morning, finishing breakfast, sitting down to start work, turning off your computer at the end of the day, brushing your teeth before going to bed.
Hopefully the reward will be a calm mind and a relaxed feeling that then evolves into many of the other amazing benefits that you can enjoy through meditation.
Want to know more about habits and their power? I just finished reading a great book titled, “The Power of Habits” by Charles Duhigg where I learned the cue, routine, reward sequence. It also includes amazing real life stories that showed the practical applications of simple but effective habits that can have massive impacts on yourself, organisations and society at large. I highly recommend checking it out if you want to delve further into the topic.
Good luck in creating your very own meditation habit!
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