“The harder the struggle, the more glorious the triumph.”
Swami Sivananda
It is 5:30 am. The alarm in my cell phone rings. (I have always been a sleepyhead for as long as I can remember.) I have added a google assistant routine to make the waking up process easier. It goes something like “Good morning Vasanti. Remind yourself of your vision for yourself. Refresh your mental vision board” followed by daily updates. For some some reason it doesn’t seem to be working and I have to struggle to wake up on most mornings because the silly AI assistant isn’t doing her job. So when the alarm goes off, somedays I wake up to the next alarm that is set to go off fifteen minutes later. A teeny weeny voice says, It’s okay Vasanti, you can sleep in today, there’s always tomorrow. The stern voice says – No! Get you ass off the bed and start yoga. I groggily open my eyes, lift myself up and sit at the edge of the bed to say a morning prayer – कराग्रे वसते लक्ष्मीः करमध्ये सरस्वती ।
करमूले तु गोविन्दः प्रभाते करदर्शनम् ॥
Kara-Agre Vasate Lakssmiih Kara-Madhye Sarasvatii |
Kara-Muule Tu Govindah Prabhaate Kara-Darshanam || (Which means God resides within your hands and when you wake up in the morning, the first thing you should do is look at your hands and contemplate on them.) While I sit up at the edge of my bed and say this prayer I also ensure that my circulatory system is adapting to the change in my posture.
Huzzah! Minutes later I finally shake out of all that laziness and get on with my routine.
Your victory is right around the corner. Never give up.
Nicki Minaj
Why is it difficult for many of us to do things that are actually good for us? Why is it difficult to maintain discipline in our lives to follow a healthy lifestyle? I am a health conscious person and have been living a healthy lifestyle for quite sometime. I ditched a few vices and started treating my body and mind with more respect.
Change means discomfort. Discomfort means pain. Pain means suffering. The brain is just not ready to take all that trouble. The brain loves to dwell in a state of inertia and is rather tenacious at that. Evolution has trained our brains to see change as a threat to survival and therefore continue to be until really compelled to do otherwise. However, humanity has reached a stage where all the information we want is available to us. We need not fear the unknown because we know that we will somehow find out what we need to know. At the same time we are constantly evolving and changing at a larger scale. Science has facilitated change, yet at a personal level we all resist change.
So what is the game changer? It is motivation, will power, focus and relevance. What we need is motivation and relevance to keep at it. Daily morning motivations to continue the good work, to change certain beliefs, a mindset, behaviours and more! What’s great is science has ensured we can get a daily dose of motivation right on our palms.
Will power and focus will help you drive through the uncharted areas. Your neurons make new connections and that is going to help you rewire your brain.
One of the most important factors in change is relevance. Most adults need to understand relevance of any new activity or change. Unless it’s relevant they do find it hard to embrace change. So go inward to find relevance. Mindfulness and contemplation often show the way.
What you need to do when you are faced with such a dilemma. Ask youself – Is it going to kill you or hurt anyone? – NO! Is it going to help you grow? YES! If those are the answers you get, then what’s stopping you? Go forth and do that one thing your mind desists. Push yourself harder. Shut out the STOP button in your mind until your body and mind embrace this as the new normal. Push youself past the uncomfortable and discover a new side of you. How long does it take? Well there is no one size fits all. Keep at it until it becomes a part of you
And so dear readers, I have been practicing my morning exercise for nearly nine months. I have also started intermittent fasting in Feb this year and managed to lose nearly 8 kilos and stay fit and energetic. I am a vegetarian. On most days I eat two balanced North Karnataka meals within an 8 hour gap. It is high in fiber and nutrients It was a struggle in the beginning but I got there eventually and made it a habit. If a lazy person like me could do it then you can do it too!
VasantiLifeCoach 