“Mindfulness is a way of befriending ourselves and our experience.” ~ Jon Kabat-Zinn

Do you practice mindful awareness? When you are running on autopilot, are you aware of it?

Throughout the Building Better Habits Challenge, we’ve talked about a variety of healthy habits you could add to your life. One thing we talked about is adding different food to your diet. Even if you go to the grocery store and intentionally do not buy different foods, just having gone through the challenge you are going to be more mindful and aware of your habits that may impact your health.

Today, let’s focus on how you can cultivate a habit of gratitude or positivity.

Humans are innately negatively wired because our survival depends on it. This is referred to as Negativity Bias. We don’t initially see things positively, instead, our mind thinks the worst, and evolutionarily, this benefits our survival. If you assumed that the rustling in the bushes was a friendly fairy instead of a blood-thirsty tiger, you were not likely to pass on your genetics.

It is our biological inheritance, but the problem is, if we continue to reinforce negative thought patterns, we start to see the world through a negative lens. This doesn't bode well for satisfaction, contentment, happiness, and all the things we search for in life.

How well are you sleeping? Could your sleep habits use improvement?

Sleep is essential to literally every process in our bodies – physical, mental, emotional, mood, immune health, and metabolism.

In our fast-paced life, many do not prioritize sleep. As the saying goes, “I’ll sleep when I’m dead.” The question is, how well are your body and brain functioning if you are not getting the rest you need?

Culturally, we need to shift our mindset and build better sleep habits. Sleeping, stillness, and breathing all activate the parasympathetic nervous system, which is half of our nervous system. It is just as important as the sympathetic nervous system that keeps us moving. If we spend all of our time and energy on doing and never just being, that can lead to anxiety and depression, immune dysfunction, and all manner of disease.