By Martha O’Regan
You know all that advice and those suggestions that you seek and receive from your doctor, therapist, coach, nutritionist, or personal trainer in an effort to feel better? What about the valuable information gleaned from books, diets, articles, Facebook posts, and classes that you have immersed yourself in as an attempt to lose weight or look younger? The truth is none of it will work….if you don’t actually do what is recommended! And, no it still won’t work if you only ‘try’ it once or every now and again. Authentic change comes from consistent action, meaning you have to do it for it to actually have a benefit. And the crazy thing is none of it is hard or rocket science, yet for those who have resistance towards change, it can feel downright impossible.
When you think about many of the suggestions and advice that is handed out freely from doctors, teachers, healers and guides, most of it is quite simple, such as eating foods that are grown rather than made in a lab, hydrating with real water, moving the body in a way that brings ease and enjoyment, using the breath to shift a moment of stress, or choosing relationships that nurture. It is amazing that we live in a culture that wants a ‘quick fix’ for everything, yet advice that is too simple gets dismissed. It seems that for something to work, we believe it must be complicated, expensive or take a long time. We humans are just so quirky, aren’t we?
Being in conversation daily with folks who desire to feel better, allows me the opportunity to share tricks and tools of my own that I have picked up over the last 20 years. The difference between those who end up feeling better and those who don’t is the amount of commitment towards the exercises and homework between sessions. Those that are truly motivated by a desire to feel better will do the work and receive the results. For some folks, it takes more loving badgering to get them to do a few simple little exercises. But when they do, they report ‘hey those tricks really work…and they were so easy’….huh, who knew?
So, if you are one of those folks who is always looking ‘out there’ for a complicated ‘quick fix’, I am going to lovingly badger you to consider going about it a new way for a little while. Take a few moments to consider an area of your life that you know you could do differently to create a positive change in how you feel each day. Maybe it is doing those back stretches your PT gave you, eliminating or adding a specific food group, substituting a soda for a glass of water, or turning off the technology at 8 p.m. and allowing some time to clear your mind before bed so your body can rest. All simple things that require consistent action to create change.
Next, think about some of the suggestions or advice you have received from your respected resources. What are some common themes? What are your common excuses? What if you just followed one piece of advice for 7 days just to see what happens? Take the time to jot down how you are currently feeling and how you would like to feel. Then, after the 7 days of committed action, jot down how you feel and compare it to your starting point. Chances are something will be different which will in turn, motivate you to either continue or to take on a different area of your life or lifestyle.
Remember you are a steward of the body that carries around your spirit each day, so be gentle and kind to yourself as you commit to creating change, one simple step at a time. Live Awake!
