Building Long-Term Habits: Meditation and Breathwork
Building Long-Term Habits: Meditation and Breathwork
How to get hard habits to stick
Every Monday, we revisit one of the listener questions we've answered in a previous episode. We've edited it for clarity & brevity here, but if you want to get the full version, links to the full episode are below the text.
Patrick: This is a Think question from Caroline:
What are some suggestions to help an undisciplined person become more disciplined?
I want to add things like meditation and breathwork to my daily routine.
Typically, I start great but lose momentum somewhere. The next thing I knew, a couple of weeks passed, and I forgot to do what I wanted to do every day.
I don't forget habits like brushing my teeth, drinking green juice every morning, or eating whole, unprocessed foods, but what is it about meditation and breathwork that don't stick?
Ben: You are actually quite disciplined. Maintaining habits like green juicing, working out, eating unprocessed foods, and even brushing your teeth.
Patrick: Seriously. I don't even brush my teeth every day.
Ben: These habits stick because you've literally built them into your routine over time. You can do them unconsciously now, but they're ingrained into the ritual of how you navigate those hours of the day.
For something like breathwork or meditation to get rooted, it takes significantly longer than the 21 days we sometimes hear is needed to establish a habit. I'd say it takes much longer than that. It takes years.
Even after a year of going to the gym five days a week, there can still be a challenge getting there on day 376 or 455. It's only after years of consistent practice that a habit becomes genuinely ingrained into how you navigate your day.
Additionally, brushing your teeth takes two minutes. A green juice takes two minutes. Whole, unprocessed foods are a one-second decision. But meditation and breathwork take a more considerable commitment of 5, 6, 7 minutes or more. That's a more significant decision point, which can get washed out of your daily rituals and routine quickly.
The key is to make the barrier smaller.
Make the win bite-sized, to the point where meditation can be closing your eyes and saying to yourself, "I am calm," for five seconds. That can count. Then, you can build on that over time. Tracking your progress can also help some people since it provides a nice dopamine response from checking it off and seeing the days of success string together.
However, the immediate reward is crucial for establishing habits. Brushing your teeth feels clean and crisp. A green smoothie tastes good and makes you feel healthy. But with breathwork, there isn't the initial endorphin rush or runner's high.
But you can hack it by doing some deep diaphragmatic breaths as you get started to get into a relaxed brainwave state before your practice. Even 3-5 deep breaths can help, while 30-40 can get you to a cool spot.
The key is to start small, track your progress if it helps, and find ways to create a sense of reward or satisfaction from the practice until it becomes ingrained.
Original Episode: