Habit

You don't have to remain exactly the same to remain true to yourself.

You can change your habits, your priorities, how you move, what you eat, what you tolerate, how much you work and how you rest, and still be completely authentically yourself.

Your prakriti or unique constitution does not disappear because your circumstances change.

And your identity doesn't have to be tied to what your body was capable of 10, 20, or 30 years ago.

So if today's episode has given you something to think about, I'd love for you to share it with another parent who might enjoy this conversation too.

And if you haven't listened to the earlier episodes in the Habits series, go back and find those in the podcast app of your choice.

They'll give you some helpful context for where self-government fits in the bigger picture of character formation.

And next time, I want to talk about something that sounds almost contradictory.

How many of those problems fell out of a clear blue sky and how many did you make yourself? nearly always the answer stings.

Most of the problems that complicate our lives don't come from outside, they come from our habits, from the way we react, the way we spend, the way we talk, the way we use our time, the way we treat other people.

You make life hard for yourself and you almost never notice.

And that, which sounds like bad news, is actually the best news there could be.

Because if your problems come from your habits, then change your habits and you change your problems.

You don't need the world to change, or your boss, or your partner, or the economy.

You need to change a handful of habits.

And the Stoics spent centuries working out which ones matter most.

Welcome to episode 467.

Have you ever completed a cleanse, felt better, more connected to your body, and then found yourself gradually slipping back into old habits? In this episode, we explore what happens after the reset and how Ayurveda can help us turn greater awareness into sustainable habits without restriction, perfection, or constantly needing to start over.

Welcome to the Elements of Ayurveda podcast.

I'm your host, Colette.

Hey there and welcome back to the podcast.

So in this episode, I'm looking at what happens after a cleanse or a reset.

when we feel really good, but then we slowly find ourselves slipping back into some of the old habits and patterns that may have contributed to us feeling out of balance in the first place.

During the cleansing process, you feel more connected to your body.

You've taught your mind to go back there tomorrow at the same hour and a little more eagerly.

Longing isn't only a feeling, it's also a habit.

And habits can be learnt and unlearned.

And today, we have a thousand ways of asking for figs in winter.

checking their profile, watching their stories, seeing when they were last online, rereading the messages, keeping the photos on your phone, asking mutual friends how they're getting on.

And by the way, an easy way to remember it is huddles.com.

Appreciation, barometer, improvement, and tracking spells HABIT.

I am so into acronyms.

Give it to us again.

HABIT is the acronym, right? I can remember it.

H is for huddles.

A is for appreciation

Dr. Sharon, this has been an amazing episode.

That means there may be something useful in what she says.

But it also comes from someone with her own fears, her own habits, and her own way of seeing life, which needn't be yours.

Taking whatever affection or truth there is in it and letting the rest go by is exactly what considering the source means.

Diogenes, the philosopher who lived on the streets of Athens, put it with his usual wit.

I try to use simple words and simple concepts, maybe.

There is a chapter in the book, Habits, that helped to keep our brains well, right? Since I've written the book, I've elaborated on that.

So use words.

One of the things, I was really curious about what science had to say about the use of words.

and one day they'd discover they were no longer the same person.

That same lesson on habits held a piece of advice for the exact moment of the impulse.

Gritting your teeth isn't enough, was Epictetus' point.

When an impression grabs you and starts to drag you off, set another impression against it, a fine and noble one, and throw the sordid one out.