3 Ways to Stick to Healthy Self-Care Habits with Meditation

Effective self-care isn’t just about bubble baths and spa days. More than anything, it’s about establishing healthy habits that allow you to feel vibrant and energized each day. 

We’re all looking for a quick fix so we can feel better faster. At the same time, we know the reality is different. True self-care is about consistently doing the things that are harder now but that benefit us in the long run. As we build up a regular self-care routine, it becomes second nature to put our health and wellness first.

The actions we take today - like swapping unhealthy snacks for veggies - add up over time. These habits shape our weeks, months, and years. But if you ever find it hard to stick to healthy self-care habits, it’s not just you. 

As human beings, we’re wired to gravitate toward immediate rewards. Your brain naturally resists going outside your comfort zone. This resistance makes it hard to stick to disciplines that require physical or mental effort.

The good news? With meditation and mindfulness, sticking to beneficial self-care habits can be easier and enjoyable!

How Meditation Super Charges Your Self-Care Toolkit

What exactly does meditation have to do with self-care? Think of it as a prerequisite to successfully building habits that promote wellness. 

You may already know that meditation reduces stress, increases focus, and improves sleep. But did you know that meditation also helps you build emotional intelligence, discernment, and discipline? These are the ingredients you need to take better care of yourself on all levels.

Meditation is a training ground where you practice using your mind in a more focused and conscious manner. Instead of acting on impulse and doing things you’ll regret later, you learn to pause and make wiser decisions. Talk about a versatile (and free) self-care tool!

Here is a Loving Kindness Meditation for Beginners, it is a fantastic way to super charge your self care tool kit!

Make Yourself a Priority So You Can Enjoy Life More

The reason we don’t stick to healthy habits is not that we don’t have the time. It’s because we give more priority to everything – and everyone – else in our lives except for ourselves. 

If this sounds like you, meditation is a great tool to recognize that you deserve to care for yourself too!

Turning within opens the doorway to greater levels of self-love. This is about actually loving yourself enough to take great care of yourself - when you care for yourself, you care more effectively for your loved ones. 

At the root of most of our negative habits is not recognizing our worth and value. Once you allow yourself to see that you’re as deserving of happiness as others, sticking to self-care habits becomes much easier. Meditation allows you to replace the limiting beliefs that contribute to feelings of low self-worth. 

1) Change Your Brain with Meditation

Meditation affects you on a physiological level. Your brain has an astonishing ability to rewire and change its neural pathways. This is referred to as neuroplasticity. 

Imagine rewiring your brain to be happier...it’s actually possible! With practice you can reshape your neural networks for more beneficial thoughts and behaviors.

When learning a new language, for example, you say the same words and phrases repeatedly. The more you use them in different contexts, the easier you remember them. Eventually, the second language becomes natural. By practicing enough, you strengthen the neural connections between these new words and phrases.

Your brain works the same way when you build new habits. You repeat the desired behavior or thought patterns. The associated neural connections strengthen. As you create new connections, the ones you don’t use die out. 

As they say: “If you don’t use it, you lose it.”

Meditation helps you become conscious of neural connections that you want to replace. As you notice yourself doing things that aren’t good for you, you create the awareness needed to change these behaviors.  Now we’ll look at how this works both on a mental and physical level.

2) Be Happier and Less Reactive as You Increase Awareness

Let’s say you want to build the mental habit of being less stressed. Every time you respond to obstacles - even minor ones - with anxiety, you strengthen the “stress” connections in your brain. If you want to respond to challenges from a more calm and collected space, you can train your mind to do so.

Pretty cool, right?  

Practicing meditation and mindfulness teaches you to create the pause you need to change your thoughts, perceptions, or behaviors. This pause is especially useful in the midst of challenging or frustrating situations. 

You strengthen the “calm, intentional, and peaceful” connections in your brain every time you slow down before reacting on impulse. 

While you meditate, you’ll notice the stream of thoughts that passes through your mind. Initially, this may feel like you’re not doing it right. But over time, you learn that even this is part of the practice. 

Noticing this helps you build greater self-awareness. As you become more aware of your thoughts, you start to recognize that you are not them. You no longer feel the pull to identify with whatever thought comes next. Your experiences become objective instead of subjective. Your self identification starts to transform. Let’s take anxiety for example. When it shows up, you will learn to recognize anxiety and give yourself what you need to help yourself through it. “Hello anxiety, my old friend. Why are you here right now? What are you telling me? What do I need? Water and a solid night of sleep? OK! I can give myself this.”

Witnessing your thoughts and emotions allows you to shift your perspective so you can replace fear and stress with gratitude and excitement.

3) Look and Feel Great In Your Body As You Build Resilience

One of the best ways to boost physical wellbeing is to start with your mental wellbeing. Since over 90% of disease is stress-related, eliminating the root cause of stress helps prevent many diseases. 

When your body doesn’t have to respond to potential threats (many of which are in your mind), it can focus on functioning effectively. What is the story you are telling yourself?

In addition to feeling less stressed, it’s essential to care for our body with exercise and nourishing foods. However, creating these habits is often hard for many of us. Meditation helps you build the tolerance to be with temporary discomfort when you know it will ultimately result in a healthier and happier you. 

In meditation, you learn to sit with unpleasant feelings, sensations, or aches and realize that you’re still ok. You notice your body’s urges. You gain the ability to not react to them if you don’t want to. 

With practice, you bring this skill into your daily life to help you knock out that extra set of pushups or resist the second serving of apple pie during the holidays. While you may still prefer to do what’s easy, you notice the initial discomfort and do what’s best for you anyway.

Figure Out the Self-Care That Works for You!

Thanks to meditation, you can make your self-care habits much more enjoyable and fun. At Pure Life Therapy, we understand that you are unique and what works for you to relax might not work for anyone else. We encourage you to explore stress reduction techniques in a way that resonates with you. If you are looking for gentle guidance, consider hiring a Stress Management Mentor!

Wondering how to make meditation part of your daily habit? Here’s another tip: reflect on your long-term visions and goals. Why do you want to have a sharper, clearer mind and a strong, healthy body? 

Perhaps your biggest motivation is your family or your children. Maybe you're dedicated to serving more people with the work you’re doing. Or maybe you just want to be in great shape so you can travel more or enjoy your leisure time to the max.

When you don’t feel like meditating, exercising, or doing any of the things that fall under the self-care umbrella, remind yourself of your bigger picture vision. Sometimes, you just have to do it and you will then realize that you actually like it. Again, what is the story you are telling yourself??

Struggling to let go of negative habits? Or simply need more self-care in your life? Enlisting the help of a Stress Management Mentor might be exactly what you need. Sign up for a free consultation today because you deserve to feel your best every day! 

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