Recurring issue #2: My need to be productive/accomplishing. I continue to battle these negative self-criticisms and working on mindfulness this year has brought them to the forefront of my awareness. Sure, I can clean up my diet a bit, but I’m starting from a place of distorted thinking about my body. This is about never feeling thin enough and harsh self-criticisms, which no diet or exercise plan will solve. I’ve gone through this diet-weight loss cycle enough (and previously did some work with a nutritional counselor) to realize this isn’t really about the scale or a particular diet. I’ll have a post on Intuitive Eating, which addresses this, in the future! That being said, I’ve become a stronger proponent of being mindful of what we put in our bodies, honoring our hunger and fullness, and truly getting to the root issues that prevent us from being healthy. We all have a responsibility to our physical and mental health. What I really needed was a better relationship with my body.Īs a side note, I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with dieting if that’s what you need to do. Rather, I would’ve benefitted from cleaning up some unhealthy, mindless eating and drinking habits. Other than post-pregnancies, I probably didn’t need to be on a diet. On multiple occasions throughout my adult life, I’ve gotten serious about weight loss and managed to take off anywhere from ten to thirty pounds. Add on the pressure of the American culture to be rail-thin, and it’s no surprise I developed body shame. I grew up in a household with two parents who also battled their weights, bodies, and body insecurities. As a kid, I went through a chubby phase (or decade) and was very self-conscious about it. I’ve battled my body for as long as I can remember. Recurring issue #1: Thoughts regarding my body These are lifelong issues, and here’s a brief synopsis of each. Several issues continue to trip me up, make me anxious, and foster discontent. However, the real change is happening during the numerous informal mindfulness moments throughout the day in which the formal training is changing the way I think and act. These are what I refer to as formal mindfulness practices, and they’ve been quite helpful in creating more calm in my life. My Commitment to Calm included four behaviors I thought would bring some level of contentment: meditation, yoga, gratitude, and finding pleasurable moments. I wanted to be more mindful and less anxious. When I started Working On Calm in January, my intention was to adopt habits that would help me be present and enjoy the moment. Mindful behavioral change IRL (in real life) My goal in sharing these personal struggles is to help others who wish to change through mindfulness-based practices. I’ll come back to them periodically in this post to illustrate both the challenges and growth opportunities. Developing a compassionate relationship with oneself.īefore I get into these challenges, allow me to give you a few real-world examples from my own change efforts.Awareness of harsh, critical self-talk,.The four challenges I encountered in my mindful behavioral change efforts include: Based on my experience, this post discusses four big challenges one may encounter and specific examples from my journey. Since starting mindfulness practices in January, I’ve learned a lot about both the growth and challenges inherent in this type of change.
Given the ups and downs of any change effort, it’s helpful to know what to expect. It’s important to not let these challenges discourage us, because they are part of the learning process.
It can be messy and reveal all the ways we are our own worst enemies. Aaaaaaaaand, it’s quite difficult at times. It can revolutionize the way we approach problems in our lives. It can also help us identify ineffective thought and behavior patterns and replace them with more effective habits. Mindfulness can help us become aware of our thoughts and get curious about their validity and impact. Mindful behavioral change refers to the use of mindfulness-based practices to create lasting change in thoughts and behaviors. Real transformations can occur when we take a mindful approach to behavioral change, but it’s not easy! Here are four challenges in mindfulness-based change and examples of a mindful change process IRL.
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