We Live Busy Lives and Have Busy Minds
Humans have created a busy society in which we live. The average human has 10,000 conscious thoughts per day and 90-95% are the same thoughts as the day prior. When we wake up in the morning, we are in a renewed state, ready to start fresh on our goals and aspirations, but soon after waking, the thought loop begins. We begin thinking of people who have wronged us, how crappy our job is, all the things we must complete, or start scrolling through our news feed. We are programming ourselves to live in the past experience, and our health suffers because we live as the old self.
In creating a new self and healthier self, we must begin breaking this habit loop and let go of the past. Our habits create our behaviors, and our behaviors make our physiological state. The mind is going to be the most powerful tool in reaching this new form of self. We must allow the mind to take control of the body. Research has proven that the mind is capable of taking control of the body. This is why the gold standard of medical research is the double-blind placebo study.[1] We have constant access to the placebo and we must decide if we want to unleash our inner power, our habits create our behavior and our behavior creates our physiological state.
Breaking Habits and Mindset Shifts
Take charge of the body with your mind, and disallow the body to control the mind. For example, when we say that we are too tired to meditate, the body influences the mind. Your body is sending the signals that you are tired, and your mind decides that the body is in control and you will do it tomorrow. This habit becomes hardwired and tomorrow never comes. When we use the mind and tell the body that it does not matter that we are tired and meditate anyway, we are taking control and creating a new habit, which will create a new behavior and create a new state of being. The routine I am sharing with you today is what I do to take control of the mind and body.
Use a Daily Routine to Help Master Your Mindset
Start With Your Morning Routine
- Get right out of bed and do not succumb to the wish to hit snooze. If we begin the day by allowing our body to tell the mind that our goals can wait because the body is tired, we are already training our previous day’s habit loop.
- Once awake, splash cold water in your face and brush your teeth. This creates a physiological response in your body that awakens you more.
- Hydrate with 30 ounces of cold water with Max Keto Electrolytes. Healthy cells need hydration, not caffeine.
- Sit in silence and meditate. The meditation I am currently using is led by Dr. Joe Dispenza and can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxFom53Hpnk.
- Journal three things that you are grateful for. Gratitude changes the chemistry of the brain, and your mind begins operating from a place of bliss.
- Visualize your day and future self. When the mind begins operating in the future, your behavior emulates the future self you have created in your mind.
- Perform your favorite type of exercise. I do at least three high-intensity days per week, and other days can include mobility training or strength training.
- Read ten pages of a book. The human brain is designed to learn, and when you know new information, the brain creates new neural pathways through a process called neuroplasticity. New neural pathways create a brain that has an increased capacity for change.
- Journal any thoughts that are in your head. The unconscious has become conscious through this routine, and the morning is a great time to get these thoughts on paper before work emails or traffic clouds them.
Challenge for the week:
Take a picture of completing one aspect of the morning routine above and post it to Instagram. Then tag @dr_andrewbaranski and @chiropracticplus.
References
[1] https://www.health.harvard.edu/mental-health/the-power-of-the-placebo-effect