Emerging research suggests that meditation can help break bad habits.
Habits are basically behavioral traits repeated over a course of time that the brain sets our actions and reactions on auto-pilot. It is also called a habit loop.
Most people live life on this habit loop, circling around the same situations and problems, unable to break free. Whether it’s smoking a cigarette or checking the phone, again and again, people do it out of habit.
These habits are mostly formed while dealing with difficult emotions. For example, when a person experiences loss, loneliness, stress, or anxiousness, they turn to smoking, alcohol, sweet cravings, or binge-watching TV. They chose to zone out and let the emotion pass rather than deal with it. Over a course of time, our brain automatically associates that emotion or feeling with an easy escape.
For thousands of years, experts have relied on meditation to break free of habitual mind states and emotions and now this is supported by scientific research. A growing body of studies proves that meditation can be key to altering bad habits.
Mindfulness And Meditation may help
Mindfulness is the basic mental ability to be fully aware and present in the moment. It helps us understand our thoughts, emotions, feelings, reactions, and responses with better clarity and wisdom. This helps us in reacting to our thoughts, feelings, or triggers with wisdom rather than acting out in habitual ways.
A recent study examined the efficacy of health education vs the efficacy of mindfulness. The study found that mindful meditation is more effective in changing behavioral patterns. Participants have also reported that meditation helped in breaking free of habits like overeating, over-drinking, or stressing.
How does meditation help in improving behavior?
Regular meditation is much like stretching, it prepared your mind for higher flexibility, improved performance, and greater endurance.
Meditation is an excellent coping mechanism
Studies prove that meditation is an excellent coping mechanism for stress, anxiety, depression, or loneliness. These emotional states are strong triggers for bad habits. Thus, handling these emotions right can help in rewiring your habits.
Meditation helps in improving focus
Several studies have proved that mindfulness and meditation help increase focus and alertness. It also increases awareness and allows people to make more conscious decisions. Meditation also helps calm our nerves and keeps our emotions regulated. But most importantly, meditation helps in identifying our behavioral patterns.
Meditation helps break bad habits by inducing joy
Several scientific studies have proved that meditation is effective in alleviating stress, anxiety, and depression. Not just that, it also helps in improving endorphins in the brain. Practicing meditation even for 10 minutes every day is found helpful in changing harmful or unhelpful habits. Meditation helps to identify habitual behaviors or triggers.
Meditation helps break free of the auto-pilot mode
Mindfulness helps in improving attention and resets your focus on your senses, feelings, and experiences. Practicing meditation regularly can help in switching off the auto-pilot mode. Meditation also helps quiet the endless chatter that occupies our minds and prepares a blank page to write a new story every day.
Meditation ensures stronger willpower
Mindful meditation is proven to be an excellent exercise to boost willpower. Just sitting and meditating for 10 minutes has shown stronger determination, persistence, and better performance in participants.
How to practice meditation to break a bad habit?
Choose a realistic time
Before starting your journey of mindfulness, make sure to set a time that works best for you. Choose a time and space that offers silence. Also, make sure to set a realistic time limit for practicing meditation. You can begin with 5 min and then gradually increase it to 20 minutes.
Mornings are the best for meditation
Research shows that practicing meditation in the morning offers a better result. It helps your mind prepare for the day and sets you in a position of control over your mind. However, if morning is not convenient then you can choose any time of the day.
Meditation is not a magic pill
Meditation is proven to have several mental and physical benefits. However, it is not an instant remedy. Even people who practice meditation may experience anxiety, stress, and sadness occasionally. Meditation does not erase these feelings rather helps people identify these feelings, acknowledge them and deal with them.
Focus on your breath
There are different types of meditation but mindful meditation is proven to be very effective in bringing behavioral changes. Focus on your breath and listen to your thoughts without judgment or interruptions.
Choose an expert to guide you
Practicing meditation may not be easy, especially for beginners. Also, since there are different types of meditations, doing the right one in the right way is crucial. Choose an expert, follow guided meditation, or install an app.
The Takeaway
Centuries of research have shown that most people operate in a habitual mode. It helps save time and energy spent on thinking which is a dreadful exercise for many. However, getting stuck in a loop of habit can be very detrimental. Experts agree that meditation can help break free of this loop. Meditation helps rewire our brains and aids in changing our thoughts and behavioral patterns.
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