Any change seems difficult. We generally do not like changes. We prefer staying in our comfort zone and just repeating old patterns over and over again. For a lot of us it seems easier.
We live on an automatic pilot. The patterns are engraved in our bodies and also in our minds.
Any tweak needs energy to be invested. But it is not as difficult as it seems, if we have a set out system for it.
I will use a simple example from my life of the set patterns being changed.
When I first moved back to four seasons, after living in tropics for 15 years, my body did not handle it very well. For the first few months of the cold season I was freezing all the time, no matter what I wore. My body craved totally different things or different quantities to what I was used to eating in a hot weather. A funny one was extra virgin olive oil, when I would see the bottle of it I felt like literally just downing all of it in one go :)) That was a sign for me. The body needed a change in the diet. More warming foods, more healthy fat, more spices. I did just that.
I also went to see my Tibetan Medicine doctor and he told me that my body forgot its warming function, as it was not using it for so many years. Now I needed to give it time to readjust. And it sure did, after a few months.
But what I struggled with for longer was my head, that is the mental pattern. Each year, around the same time, I would just totally resist the change of seasons. Just denying it. Funny right, as it is not really possible to avoid, yet my head for a long time was struggling. I even would refuse to buy Autumn flowers. When I would see them in the shops it would create panic and sadness. I know it sounds quite dramatic.
Then, one sunny day as I was looking at the beautiful, colourful autumn leaves waving to me in the wind when it suddenly hit me. The beauty of the nature’s cycle. How the flora blooms in the Spring, is totally out there throughout the Summer, till Autumn comes. Then it slowly starts closing up again. Getting into a winter rest. A reflective and restoring vibe.
It is needed for us too. After the Summer and all its craziness it is time to go within, reflect and restore.
So I focused on all the positives of that change. The cosiness of the couch, the softness of the blanket, the warmth and flavours of tea, the taste of all the colder season spiced foods, the pleasantness of the candle lights and last but not least the luxury of more time to go within. The Danish call this cosiness hygge. So that is what I gave in to.
Suddenly it all seemed so amazing and highly needed. It was just at that time when I felt a shift. The resistance in my head started to melt away, exactly the same way it happened earlier in my body, naturally, with no objection.
So based on my experience I would like to share with you the process of the change. It can be used to initiate any change in your life that you set yourself up for.
Step 1 – Identify the Resistance
So for example, if your change would be to eat healthier, just pause and see what is stopping you from it? Is it lack of time, lack of knowledge, lack of interest in cooking. Find that exact obstacle.
Step 2 – Soften Around that Resistance
Focus on all the positives of the change. In our example focus on how would you feel after you make your dietary changes. Maybe feeling more energy, maybe sleeping better or maybe just finally stopping to worry about your weight, as it will be all taken care of by your body, working super efficiently. Just dwell on those for a moment. Imagine that you already have it, feel it, be in that energy of success.
Step 3 – Write down 1-2 Small Steps towards your goal, that you can start right now
Maybe you could focus on adding more healthy foods first, before you start cutting out what does not serve you. For example adding more vegetables to each of your meals. Or focusing daily on drinking more water. It is that simple.
The above steps will work for initiating any change. Just take a moment, sit down, rect on what would you like to change and go through the steps.
If you need support you can always book a free chat with me here
And remember “Great things never come from comfort zone”
Step out of it! You can do it!