Forming or changing habits is not an easy task even though our favourite guru or the ever concerned family doctor has advised. The Japanese have a great system called Kaizen where Kai means change, Zen means good. It is a relentless pursuit to excellence, better habits and better life skills.
We are very happy in our comfort zones; hence it is very painful to change a habit. Management, production at work or health keeps deteriorating as resolutions fail in the first week itself. Eating habits and exercise routines go back to old bad habits as soon as we get back from various health or reform centres.
The Japanese believe in continuous change which is minimum but continuous. Say if you want to start an exercise routine and can’t do it, just go the kaizen way, say you decide to do one push up as soon as you wake up the first day, or do one push up before a bath, do two the next day and keep increasing, but there should be no missing day. Scientists believe that a habit can be formed in a second, 365 days or even a life time; depending on the intensity you perceive the situation. Say if you once got burnt with hot water in childhood you will always be careful while handling it , this habit is formed instantly. A habit of keeping your food plates in the wash yourself is inculcated, if your parents have taught you from childhood. So once you inculcate a good habit let it grow on you slowly and let the change be conscious as a life time process. This habit changing formula applies to relationships, carrier, health or any facet of life. In a relationship a person decides to smile, hug or say a few good words as soon as he wakes up in the morning. The habit of sharing happy notes, appreciation, remembering to fulfil the smallest of wish of a loved one becomes a habit, the consciousness of fulfilling one’s friends wish as soon as the time permits is a conscious decision which is a continuous affair. Caring about one’s health becomes a habit, a way of life starting with any small step which is closest to your heart, it could be eating your favourite healthy food, going for a long morning walk, waking up early in the morning, going for a marathon or a sport, eating a healthy breakfast, drinking water first thing in the morning to drinking warm water every few hours, the list can and must grow . The beauty of this system is that you keep adding to your present list of good eating habits all through your life. I must add that the secret of staying young is change, new ideas and desire to keep moving on, always remember stagnation makes you old.
But what if one finds it difficult to stick to the healthy habits they adopted newly; say one wants to reduce their weight and the sight of an ice-cream throws at wind their conviction & their indulgence resurfaces. A Bach Flower Remedy Cherry Plum may be of help at such times. What if you form a repeated pattern of breaking your resolution to inculcate healthy habit? A Bach Flower Remedy Chestnut bud may be of help at such times. There are many more Bach Flower Remedies which could be of help in such situations and it is prudent to seek an appointment of Bach Foundation Registered Practitioner; a complete list of which is available at https://www.bachcentre.com/found/rp_list.php