HABITS: CHANGE YOUR BODY - STILL YOUR MIND
To be honest human beings are very much creatures of habit and routine. We can easily freeze in the rhythms of our lives.
Last night we were talking about playing rock paper scissors when we were little or freeze tag or monopoly and then reflecting on the habits we had as children (did you choose the same monopoly piece each time, did you play the same way over and over, did you pick your nose, bite your nails, procrastinate, brush and floss, eat your vegies). Which habits were healthy? Which one’s were unhealthy. And now as adults what are your habits today? Really most of life is habitual. If we don’t pay attention through yoga and meditation we’ll find that yes we do the same things today we did yesterday, the day before and every day for the last month or our entire lifetime.
Habits, good or bad, make you who you are. The key is controlling them. If you know how to change your habits, then even a small effort can create big changes.
From a yogic perspective a personal hero of mine famed yoga instructor Judith Lasater speaks to this when she writes: THE BODY CRAVES CONSISTENCY; THE MIND CRAVES CHANGE
My interpretation of this is that if we don’t control this key habit then our minds stay hyper active and our bodies get weak or develop patterns of holding tension in the same way promoting imbalance that leads to a lack of ease, “disease” and pain. Through our yoga practice last night we worked the body in fresh ways circling around the mat so as to bring newness to our bodies while staying really focused and consistent in our minds. We can retrain the mind to keep steady on the breath like when we are in svasana and choose the habits that are most healing for our lives! Love to you all, Silvia