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Summer
Time! |
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I hope everyone is having a great summer (or winter for those of you who are in the southern hemisphere!) I am off for a week at the lake with my beloved sister and I am so excited! A week of good food, great company and non-stop relaxation! I will be sure to have a little toast to all of you! Cheers! |
By virtue of its name, Peaceful Ponderings, the intention of this e-zine is to pose questions, evoke thought, and give you points to ponder. I would like to include ideas from some of you. What is giving you pause? I have a few gifts to give away to those who are willing to share! Send me an email with a thought, a quote, an article you wrote...
I have some exciting things planned for this year!
I may be looking to take a group to Peru next year. Ever wanted to be part of a Spiritual Retreat to ancient lands? Let me know if you think you might be interested Barbara@PeacefulSpirit.ca
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Do you have a blog or a facebook group? I'd love to see how you are sharing your light with the world!
Add me as a friend on facebook or... if you are on Twitter find me @PeacefulSpirit or of course you can email me at
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Peaceful Ponderings
July 9, 2009 |
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Shake Off Those Old Habits
Time for Something New!
Habits are sometimes hard to change. What are habits anyway? A habit is simply something that we do so often that it becomes our routine way of responding to certain stimulus. It is like a well worn pathway, it is the easy route to take, often the route we take without even thinking about it just because it is the way we have gone so many times before.
Until we consciously start to forge new pathways we will continue to follow our old habits even when we think we want to change. Like so many things in life until we recognize what we are doing we cannot make the change.
I remember years ago when my Mom went to a smoking cessation program. One of the first things she was to do was to hold her cigarette in her left hand. She was also to document what she was doing each time she lit a cigarette. They didn't try to tell her to cut down on how much she smoked right off the bat, they made her aware of when she was smoking. I wonder how often before that she smoked a cigarette without even being conscious that she was smoking.
What habits would you like to change?
How do you form new pathways, new habits?
You can start by getting clear on what alternate routine you would like to replace the old habit with.
Want to quit smoking, what will you do each time you want to have a cigarette? Want to quick unhealthy snacking, what will you do when you are wanting to reach for a snack? To be most effective, it needs to be something that you feel some sense of reward in, rather than something that is making you feel like you are settling or that it is somehow a punishment for wanting a snack.
Another helpful tactic is visualization. You are wanting to change a habit for a reason, whether it is to become healthier, change your appearance, attract something new into your life... so spend a little time each day visualizing what you will have when you change your habit. What will be different and how exactly will that look and feel? Have a clear picture of what you want and why and check in with that vision each time you choose the new habit over the old.
Have an accountability buddy. There is something very special about being able to share your successes with someone who will be genuinely happy for you. Choose someone who you can also confide in when you backslide, who won't judge or reprimand you but help you to jump back in with renewed enthusiasm. Changing behaviours may not be easy but with the support of others and a clear understanding of what you want instead will make it much more achievable.
If you are willing to share a habit you are wanting to change add a comment to my blog and we will all work together as our own little accountability group... come on join in, we'll have fun!
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The more we practice, within the safe and supportive container of a workshop, and with active facilitation and coaching, the quicker we are able to change our habits. Changing old habits will be one of the areas of focus in our upcoming group coaching program Women of Wonder.
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Abundant Blessings: In this spot each newsletter I will feature a website I feel is worth checking out. They will be sites where you can share your abundant blessings. As we share our gifts with the world, our lives are enriched. This week you might want to check out how you can make a difference through
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