Dear Homegrown Yogis,
I hit snooze on my phone every morning at 6:20am twice and then scroll through Instagram before getting out bed. I nap from 1:15-2pm on my couch and then eat some form of chocolate at 2:15pm. (Pretty amazing, right?) I check the studio thermostat from my phone before I go to bed to make sure it’s set to 86. I stand, sit or lay on my yoga mat every day, even if only for two minutes. These are just a few of my daily habits and until recently I didn’t realize they were habits at all.
When I read that 40-45% of our daily actions are not intentional decisions but rather habits, I got curious about what that means in my life. What was most curious, I realized, is that if you had asked me about my habits I would have only told you about getting on my yoga mat each day. I know that’s a habit of mine because it’s one that I intentionally choose every day and one that I sometimes fight against meeting. The rest have somehow become a part of my daily life without me even knowing.
For the past few weeks, I’ve decided to challenge my habits to decide on those that I am letting stick around. And here is what I’ve discovered. If you want to know why you do something every single day, try not doing it and see what comes up for yourself. I hit snooze and look at Instagram every morning to avoid starting the day at 6:20am; I check the thermostat every night because it gives me a sense of control; and the chocolate – well, there was absolutely no reason other than I have always done it. And because… chocolate =) But seriously, bringing mindfulness to my habits opened my eyes and has helped me to decide what actions in my life need to go and which ones I want to reinforce.
August marks the end of the summer and the beginning of getting back into many of our regular habits. I hope you will consider taking advantage of our Get Back Into the Groove Special and making a yoga practice one of your regular habits. I know I am biased but in my recent months of mindfulness, I have found the one habit that I never plan to give up is getting on my mat for those few minutes each day.
With love,
Rachel