Have you ever given thoughts to your particular habits and why you have the habits you do?

Have you ever tried to change a habit but struggled to make it stick?

Or, like me, do you wonder why you can't stick to a habit? e.g a regular yoga practice!

We seem to be curious creatures that, slowly over time, create repetitive behaviours that don’t always serve our greater good. When trying to change a habit the best way forward is to understand how they are first formed.

So lets take a quick look at The Science behind Habits and how we can apply that to create a regular yoga practice.

The book Atomic Habits tells us that the process of building habits is broken down to 4 steps: Cue, Craving, Response, Reward.

In summary:

The Cue triggers the brain to initiate behaviour.

The Craving is the motivational force behind your habit.

The Response is the habit you form.

And Reward is the end goal of every habit.

For example: (and this is exactly my habit!)
1. Cue: I wake up
2. Craving: I want to feel alert
3. Response: I drink a cup of coffee
4. Reward: I satisfy my craving to feel alert but now drinking coffee is associated with waking up.

And now I have this wonderful habit of making a cuppa BEFORE I even think about starting my day! Its really up to me whether I feel this is a habit I want to keep or change but at least I understand how I formed that habit to start with.

With the power of that knowledge, I can start to review the how, when and where of my yoga habits and how I can understand the triggers to slowly build new habits that bring me positive results.

If you want to delve deeper in to your habits, check out the amazing book, Atomic Habits. Atomic Habits is the most comprehensive and practical guide on how to create good habits, break bad ones, and get 1% better every day.

I look forward to seeing you on the mat soon,

Tracy