Guest Post: Strategies for Forming a New Habit
Today, we really have a treat. We have a guest post by: Vincent Balestrieri from the Autism Movement Project
BJ Fogg is a Stanford professor who studies habit formation. People have difficulty developing new, healthy habits for a variety of reasons. One strategy that I've found particularly useful is to pair a new habit with a specific time and location. In the winter of 2019 I decided that I wanted to practice yoga and meditation daily as opposed to a few times a week which I had been doing for years prior. It's now been two years and I've been extremely consistent in my practice, missing only a few days each year. One strategy that helped me get into the habit and also remain consistent is pairing my practice with a specific time and location. I practice every night before bed (time) and my mat stays rolled out on the floor in my room (location). Keeping the mat rolled out also minimizes the effort required to engage in the behavior and is an environmental cue to practice. It's difficult to form a new habit when too much effort is required. It is also difficult to form new habits when a task is perceived as too difficult. For that reason, I shifted my daily practice to 30 minutes as opposed to the 90 minute classes I was taking 2-3 times weekly prior to that. I knew that 90 minutes daily was an unrealistic expectation and would likely lead to me giving up on daily practice. These concepts are not only simple, but they're also generalizable and applicable to many habits. Think about how you might employ some of these strategies to a new behavior or habit you'd like to engage in. In my experience, a well thought out strategy with an environment set up for success trumps motivation or determination.
Practicing Taking a Break
We’re all looking for creative ways to take a mental break. As we’re in the middle of a more restricted summer, with limitations for kids to join summer camps, restrictions for traveling, parents may find it hard to have some time to themselves. Here are some ideas for the adults to take a mental break
Communicate with your partner/spouse and/or family/caregivers. Talk about different ways you can alternate taking an hour or two to yourself. I know it’s a hectic time for families, but sometimes even taking a walk in the morning for 30 minutes while one parent stays at the house with the kids can be enough to fill your emotional cup. It may not even be daily. Things can come up, but set out a little time for yourself to be able to focus on your mental health.
Gardening
It may seem like something that’s not too motivating, but the sensory experience you get from gardening has been shown to reduce stress. It’s a relaxing time to focus on one task without technology, before shutting it down, try it out for yourself!
A study found that people who garden for 30 mins are found to be in a better mood than those that read for 30 mins. The gardeners also have lower amounts of the stress hormone cortisol. Another study found that participants with Depression, Bipolar II disorder and persistent low moods experienced improved symptoms after 3 months of just gardening 6 hours a week. Also, there’s a harmless bacteria found in soil - Mycobacterium vaccae, which have been found to increase the release and metabolism of serotonin in parts of the brain responsible for mood and cognitive function in mice.
Gardening is a good exercise, it has been shown to reduce your risk of developing Dementia. If you want to be interactive with your kids, it also allows you to teach your child to understand where their food comes from. This fosters a better diet by becoming more involved with different healthy foods. You don’t have to have a large backyard. You can even start small like me- with a few pots of herbs in your apartment.
Mindfulness
It might be a topic that many people brush off, I know I did when I was introduced to it in college. I vaguely remember a man coming into my OT school, he was talking about being more aware of your thoughts and did some mindful exercises. We all participated, but it didn’t stick until later in life... about 8 years later.
I can’t convince anyone to do something that they don’t believe in, just as the presentation didn’t do me a great deal of justice for me as a college kid. But I hope to help people understand new ways of dealing with stress, especially during this time of need. A 2014 study said people would rather get electric shocks to themselves than be alone with their thoughts. Another study shows that most people have a hard time focusing on the present, resulting in stress. I’m not sure about you, but it seems pretty relatable to me. Very few conversations avoid the talk about what’s to come with COVID-19, how the schools will operate, or how our lives are going to look in 3 months. That takes a toll on us, mentally.
Stress can do more than affect our mood, research shows that 8 out of 10 Americans experience stress daily, have difficulty relaxing or calming their minds, which results in high risk of heart disease, stroke and other illnesses. Mindfulness techniques are used by schools, prisons, sports teams, and the U.S. Army to help counter stress, chronic pain, and other conditions. It’s a secular practice that reduces stress and anxiety, improves attention and memory, and promotes self-regulation and empathy. Studies have also shown that mindfulness meditation can change the brain’s gray matter and brain regions responsible for memory, the sense of self, and regulation of emotions.
Here’s a beginner’s guide from The Harvard Gazette:
Settle in: Find a quiet space. Using a cushion or chair, sit up straight but not stiff; allow your head and shoulders to rest comfortably; place your hands on the tops of your legs with upper arms at your side.
Now breathe: Close your eyes, take a deep breath, and relax. Feel the fall and rise of your chest and the expansion and contraction of your belly. With each breath notice the coolness as it enters and the warmth as it exits. Don't control the breath but follow its natural flow.
Stay focused: Thoughts will try to pull your attention away from the breath. Notice them, but don't pass judgment. Gently return your focus to your breath. Some people count their breaths as a way to stay focused.
Take 10: A daily practice will provide the most benefits. It can be 10 minutes per day, however, 20 minutes twice a day is often recommended for maximum benefit.
References
Wilson, T. D., Reinhard, D. A., Westgate, E. C., Gilbert, D. T., Ellerbeck, N., Hahn, C., Brown, C. L., & Shaked, A. (2014). Social psychology. Just think: the challenges of the disengaged mind. Science (New York, N.Y.), 345(6192), 75–77. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1250830
Killingsworth MA, Gilbert DT. A wandering mind is an unhappy mind. Science. 2010;330(6006):932. doi:10.1126/science.1192439
https://www.wbur.org/commonhealth/2018/04/06/harvard-study-relax-genes
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S092549271000288X
http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/07/08/why.gardening.good/index.html