Waking up this morning, I smile. Twenty-four brand new hours are before me. I vow to live fully in each moment and to look at all beings with eyes of compassion.” ― Thich Nhat Hanh
The year is progressing swiftly and we are definitely here for it! As the year progresses, there should come a time when we pause and reflect on the goals we set when it started. Have we been achieving those goals and have we found a way to balance our daily activities with the holistic regimens we adopted?
We all have the same 24 hours, the only difference is how we look at it and what we do with it. By balancing our daily routines with our holistic regimens, we are living out the fullness of each moment. All of us are definitely living proof that life happens, we get overwhelmed, and we get carried away.
We start to wonder, why should I bring out my mat and practice meditation when I have work staring at my face? In times like this, we almost always take the easy way out; choosing to work rather than spend 10 minutes stretching, meditating, or practicing yoga. That’s the easy way out because it's actually harder to build new habits but here's how you can make it easier. The secret is not to try to separate your holistic regimen from your daily life but to fully incorporate it.
Set Goals for Incorporating your Holistic Regimen Everyday
Many of us have been running all our lives. Practice stopping. - Thich Nhat Hanh
The first question we need to ask ourselves here is, what’s our regimen though? Take a look at your regimen again, reduce the numbers if you have to. For instance, reducing your meditation time from 30 to 20 minutes or practicing mindfulness in the evenings rather than mornings? It’s always great to follow a holistic lifestyle regimen that works for you.
The entire purpose of having a holistic regimen is to work on your whole person, from the spiritual and emotional to the physical and mental. The goal is to develop into a more peaceful and joyful person. Start by achieving little goals and building them into something bigger as you go. Your regimen might be the only time you have to practice stopping whenyou’ve been running all day.
Attach your Regimen to Something you do Daily
This is one of the easiest ways to stick to something you just started and we will tell you how it works. If meditating is a part of your holistic living regimen and you have to say take the kids to school or work; attach your meditation routine to finishing up work. Here’s how it works; Say once I finish writing 1000 words of this report, I will meditate for 15 minutes.
If you planned to listen to a wellness podcast, attach it to doing the dishes. I will listen to the podcast while I do the dishes or laundry. Attach your holistic regimen to your daily activities. That’s how it becomes a habit, that you can now practice easily.
Reward yourself Differently every time you follow through with It
Hope is important because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear. If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today. - Thich Nhat Hanh
Who doesn’t love a good gift? Save that treat for later. Here’s how this works; when you follow through on your regimen, reward yourself with something you’ve been craving. Don’t try that new attractive vegan recipe until you’ve met your regimen goals for the day.
Rewards are meant to motivate you, to do more and there's a scientific explanation for it. I love this compilation of everyday things you can do to reward yourself. It doesn’t have to be too big, it's just so that you can give yourself something to look forward to; hope.
Always Look Back and Evaluate
As long as you stick to your holistic regimen, you will definitely see progress. Progress (whether mind or body) is a solid form of inspiration that’s often underrated. As humans, we will always be drawn to things that make us better.
Once you're able to track your progress, how peaceful you’ve become from your daily meditations. How you no longer allow your present circumstance to affect your disposition, then you’d want to stick to your regimen more.
It’s the same in all aspects of our lives, we love to see progress. So, track it! Look back on the week and how something you did in your regimen helped you achieve something else. This is how we develop and grow into the peaceful, joyful people we want to be.
If you want to know more about setting up a holistic lifestyle regimen that would work for you, talk to someone who has been there and is still doing that.
Peace my beautiful Divinez~