Make or Break a Habit through Mindfulness
By Barbara (Bobbie) Purvis
I came across an article titled, “Making Happiness a Habit Through Mindfulness,” written by Susan Kaiser Greenland, author of the book “The Mindful Child.” Even though the article was written primarily to encourage parents to teach mindfulness to their children as a foundation for future happiness, the more I read, the more I could see that certain facts clearly applied to adults as well.
In her article, Greenland posed the question, “What if happiness was a habit that we could teach children?” She goes on to explain that it can actually be taught, and she shares examples of how our “habits” influence our lives.
According to Greenland, “qualities that lead away from happiness (strong negative emotions) and qualities that lead toward happiness (ethical actions) are all rooted in habits developed in the past.” She said practicing mindfulness helps spur recognition of the habits that lead to happiness and helps break the habits that don’t.
Most people would agree with Greenland’s assessment that “habits are easy to make, hard to break and [that] everybody has them.” She gave examples of physical habits (cracking knuckles and twirling hair), verbal habits (using certain words or phrases), and psychological habits (worrying, daydreaming, judging or over-analyzing).”
One of the most interesting aspects of her article was her explanation of how we can create or break a habit. She explained that whenever we repeat an action or thought, we are actually “reinforcing the brain circuits associated with it and make the habit stronger. The stronger the habit, the stronger the neural pathways, and the stronger the effort and determination required to break it.” She offered this example: “If we check Facebook first thing in the morning, every morning, then checking Facebook will soon become our default, automatic response to waking up.”
Applying this idea logically, if we wanted to create the habit of meditating or practicing Tai Chi every morning, we have to actually do it (since thinking about doing it doesn’t count), and it would soon become the default, automatic response to waking up. Greenland said the more a habit is repeated, the stronger it becomes and the more likely it is to become a person’s automatic response to a specific experience.
What are you doing about your habits? Are you breaking old habits and creating new ones? Take a moment each day to check in with yourself, set a few goals, and begin creating the habits that will best serve you the rest of your life.