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Emotional wellness means being able to feel and express emotions such as happiness, sadness, and anger. It means having the ability to love and be loved and to express those feelings. It encompasses mindfulness, optimism, self-respect, self-acceptance, and self-esteem, among others.
Breaking Bad Habits
According to a 2012 study published in the British Journal of General Practice, habits are “actions that are triggered automatically in response to contextual cues that have been associated with their performance.” so it is safe to admit that we all have, at least, a handful of bad habits. Whether is to put 5 alarms to wake up or showing up late to events or eating lots of sweets or being obsessively on social media, we all do some behaviors that jeopardize our mental and emotional health.
Although it is not easy to break habits, it is also not impossible to build new ones. Some people say it takes 21 days to form a habit but according to a 2009 study by the European Journal of Social Psychology, it takes an average of 66 days for a new behavior to become automatic. Of course, this is only taking into consideration our mental and emotional health, our age, and the level of difficulty for said behavior.
Dr. Susan Krauss Whitbourne, in an article for Psychology Today, suggests the following 5 steps for breaking a bad habit:
Decide that you really want to change and convince yourself that you can.
Gain insight on what's causing the habit.
Set reasonable goals at first.
Measure your progress and don't be discouraged by occasional slips.
Seek additional support if your habits are proving harder to change.
Read the entire article HERE.
Click on the picture to download or make a copy of a "New Habit Tracker".
Meditation and mindfulness can be great tools to keep our emotional and mental health in great shape. Check the "Self-Care" section for a short video on a meditation practice.
“If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete.” —Jack Kornfield
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