Start an Upward Spiral

Hi, and welcome to your Daily Mindfulness. Today, I'm going to talk about how we can start an upward spiral in our lives, and it all starts with our small habits. Now, the bad news about small habits is that if you just start slipping into bad habits, things can slowly start to move into a downward spiral. We've all been there, right? Like maybe you have a big week at work and then you're really tired so you don't make time for exercise. You start vegging out in front of the TV with a beer or a wine at night.

And, you know, maybe you start to crave more sugar during the day because you're tired. So you start eating a little more junk food. And then this goes on for a little while and sooner or later, you find yourself putting on some extra weight, feeling a little more tired each day, which then leads to more cravings for pick me up foods and drinks or alcohol or other compulsive behaviors to take the edge off. And, you know, so starts the downward spiral. Now, the really good news about our small habits is that we can deliberately harness them to create an upward spiral.

We can start really, really small. Even in the times when you are tired, depleted, overwhelmed, or in a slump, you can start to take small, positive steps that will leave you feeling just a little more energized, just a little more inspired, a little more uplifted in mood and wellbeing. You can do this by things like just going for a walk, having a cup of tea instead of a wine, taking five or 10 minutes to meditate, or eating one healthy meal. Now you're feeling just a little more energized, focused, and clear-headed. You feel a little more motivated to take more positive action.

Maybe you start waking up a little earlier, feeling a little better. So you start to get more exercise, start to feel a little stronger and healthier and your mood improves. And so we go into an upward spiral. So we've probably all experienced both the upward and the downward spirals in our lives. And it's important to really tune into the fact that it always just begins with these little incremental changes that we make every day that accumulate and grow.

So knowing this, my invitation to you is to deliberately choose at least one small positive habit change in the next 24 hours. And then just really notice how it feels. And who knows? Maybe tomorrow or the following day you'll feel like doing some more. I'll leave that exploration up to you. But wherever your adventure takes you, I wish you well with this practice.

And as always, thank you for your practice and for your presence here with us. Now let's settle in for today's meditation.