To reap the benefits of a habit, you must practice! Most of us have good intentions: meditate daily, eat mindfully, take daily walks, eat healthy meals. So why is it so hard to form a new habit and what’s the best way to do it?

HOMEOSTASIS and NEUROPLASTICITY
Homeostasis is the tendency of the body and mind to keep things the way they are, even if things aren’t so good. We are wired for survival; homeostasis helps us survive. From its perspective, survival is all that matters.

Because we are multi-dimensional creatures with varying tendencies and capacities, we’re built to stay the same AND to change! The human brain is the only organ in the body that changes with experience. This is Neuroplasticity. As one of my meditation teachers notes: “You’re always practicing something. And whatever you’re practicing, you’re getting good at!” You will become “good” at whatever you consistently pay attention to—for better or worse. With neuroplasticity, we can influence what we become “good” at. The elements of change are present-moment awareness, patient persistence, and kindness and compassion towards oneself.

The last part is important; most of us feel guilty when we revert to old habits. Research shows that self-criticism kills motivation and is a big obstacle to change. Mindfulness and self-compassion can be applied in moments of self-criticism to support change.

AUTOMATIC PILOT
How can we train ourselves to “do” the behaviors we want to get good at, and let go of those that aren’t serving us?

Most of our thoughts, choices, and behaviors occur automatically, resulting from old beliefs and patterns. These patterns have well-established roots in our brains because we’ve “practiced” them frequently. They have such hearty neural pathways that simply by choosing them it becomes easier to repeat them. In fact, when we consistently travel down these neural pathways, our brain rewards us with Dopamine, an addictive chemical that helps create memories and controls the part of the brain responsible for desire and decision-making. This chemical process behind Automatic Pilot is the reason change can seem so difficult.

MINDFULNESS
Mindfulness, or present moment non-judgmental awareness, is a skill we can strengthen with meditation practice. Consistently practicing just 5-10 minutes a day makes a big difference in forming and letting go of habits. Don’t have that kind of time? Try 1 minute. Research shows that by breaking down the desired behavior into smaller steps, and committing to just the first step, you’re already on your way to establishing your new habit in the brain.

Once you’ve completed the first step, chances are that the next steps will get easier to take until your new habit is fully implemented. By strengthening your capacity to “attend” to the present moment through regular mindfulness meditation practice, you’ll improve your ability to “be present” when unwanted behaviors surface and will find that you have a choice about what to do next.

THE MIRACLE OF THE PRESENT MOMENT
By dwelling within the present, even if only for a moment, you begin seeing new options. One option may be to take another baby step toward implementing a desired new behavior: savoring this bite of food rather than eating mindlessly, taking a walk now rather than continuing to work at your computer. This is how we re-wire ourselves to create and experience the life we want.

THE SCIENCE OF BEHAVIOR CHANGE
Thanks to research around habit forming and its relationship to neural pathways in the brain there are now many tools to help us replace old habits with new ones. Here are a few, inspired by Gregory Ciotti, author of The Sparring Mind and How to Build Good Habits (and make them stick):

1. Set an intention or name a “purpose” for why you want to develop this habit. The most successful habit-formers are those who are internally motivated.
2. Know that you will fail, and when you do, simply forgive yourself and start over.
3. Start small. The surest way to accomplish goals is to set big goals and small quotas. If you’re brand new to meditation, and would like to develop a regular practice, 3 minutes per day might be a perfect start.