Ban the Gym

“Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it” -Charles R. Swindoll

So grasshopper, are you ready to make a change in your life?  Exercise more, eat better, be a better person, be less stressed… If so you must be completely aware of your current behavior that needs change.  I’m not talking about looking in the mirror and saying “I’m fat and I don’t want to be anymore”.  I’m talking about taking the time to bring all your focus to the behaviors that take you away from who you want to be.

For example, if you weigh more than you’d like to, then what are you doing throughout the day that got you to that point.  Analyze your day.  Do you skip breakfast, have a small lunch and then overeat at dinner?  Once you’ve brought attention to this behavior you will notice when it happens again and you can choose to act differently.  You might not control every situation but you can choose how you react to every situation.

Let’s say your stuck in traffic and you can feel your blood beginning to boil.  Your normal reaction might be to honk the horn, yell out the window, and show people your longest finger.  Now, if you become more in tune with your emotions and sense this behavior coming on you can completely change your reaction to it.  Sure that red SUV just cut you off and nearly swiped you off the road, but do you think they did it on purpose?  Maybe they are rushing to the hospital to tend to their sick child or maybe you realize that it’s just not worth the energy to get angry at a complete stranger.  The exact reason you decide to change your reaction isn’t as important as the awareness of the behavior and the choice to change it.

A simple meditation based on bringing attention to your breathing is a good exercise.  Sit or lie down in a quiet room and close your eyes.  Breath normally and focus on only your breathing- the feeling of your chest rising and falling, the feeling of the breath going in and out of your nose, or perhaps the rate of your breathing.  Your mind will attempt to jump from thought to thought- what was that email about earlier, what’s for dinner later, did I leave the iron on… This is normal so just let the thought enter your mind and then let it go while bringing your attention back to your breathing.  As you fine tune your ability to bring awareness to your breath you will find it is easier to be aware of other behaviors.  Plus you get the tremendous health benefits from a dose of meditation.

Behavior change is all based on awareness.  Pin point what you want to change and what causes you to behave the way you do.  Once you’ve found your triggers you can decide to respond differently to them.  Like breaking any habit this takes time and practice but like any skill can be improved.  If you want to be a healthier person spend some time looking at yourself and your behavior.  You might be surprised at what you find.