Our Habitual Patterns
Our same old ways…
Ever try to change something in your life, like eat healthy or exercise regularly, but find yourself slipping back and reverting to the way it’s always been? You start off with great vigor and intention, but you continually fall back into your old ways and habitual patterns, no matter how great your intention and motivation at the start? Maybe you keep finding yourself in toxic relationships. Maybe you continually lose it on the kids, even though you commit to remaining calm. Maybe you can’t stop snacking on chips in the evening.
Most of our day-to-day actions are run on auto-pilot. We wake up on the same side of the bed, shower the same way, travel the same way to work or to the kid’s school, brush our teeth the same way with the same hand, and eat mostly the same foods. Day in and day out. Rinse and repeat.
Neurological programming
To perform an action, neurological connections are made for that action to be possible… essentially, it’s how our brain tells our muscles to move. And each time that action is repeated, the related neurological pattern gets reinforced. Eventually, when repeated enough times, the pattern is etched into our autonomic nervous system, which governs our subconscious behaviors (sub = below & conscious = awareness). Simply put, when we repeatedly perform an action, our bodies automatically create a software program that enables that action to run entirely on its own, without our awareness or conscious attention.
This is wonderful, because we can be super-efficient in our incredibly busy lives! We run the drive-a-car software program so we can drive and, at the same time, focus our attention on a conversation or a podcast. Think about a time, when you were walking or driving while talking to someone. Chances are, that if you suddenly had to pay attention to directions to avoid getting lost, you stopped talking (or listening) to the conversation to pay attention to navigating your route; at that moment, you paused the software program that was driving the car and your conscious mind took over.
Reprogramming dysfunctional, internal software programs
Subconscious programs form the basis of our habits. When we engage in habitual behaviors, we’re not consciously thinking about what we’re doing; we just do it. The software program does it… courtesy of our subconscious mind. If you drive, it’s highly likely that you’ve started drive to work when you were going to the mall. It’s not until our awareness recognizes and interrupts the subconscious program from running.
Some programs/habits serve us well, and some don’t.
To get rid of the weed, you need to get to the root. Subconscious behaviors are driven based on ingrained beliefs about ourselves, and most of the time we’re not even aware of these beliefs… like: I’m not good enough, I’m not smart enough, I’m not worthy, I’m too shy, I’m ugly, etc. We weren’t born with subconscious beliefs and programs; we developed them as a mechanism to feel safe in our environments at some point in our lives, usually childhood.
Continued in Part 2… simple tools to help you catch and release those pesky limiting beliefs and undesirable habits!
Any questions in the meantime? Shoot me an email!