How I Use Mindfulness to Uncover Bad Habits

Over the past few weeks, I've been noticing a repetitive habit of mine. I often have my left shoulder slightly tense and lifted towards my ears. Just my left.

Daily Mindful Check-Ins

I've developed a series of mini-mindfulness practices during my day where I take a breath and check in with my body. And more often than not, my sweet little left shoulder is tight. I'll relax, lower my shoulder, and then keep moving on with my day.

This week I became curious about any common threads around this action, and why I may be doing it. After several check-ins where I observed where my mind was right before I noticed my tense shoulder, I realized that I was usually thinking about the future. And if we're being honest, thinking about how I could control the future. Interesting. As if my shoulder was tensing up in response to the parts of my mind that were tensing up, gripping, looking for control.

Frankly, the fact that it's often just my shoulder is a miracle. My whole body used to be rigid with the tension of anxiety, fear, control, etc. And of course, that still happens, but because I'm checking in with my body and mind so often via my different practices, I am often able to attend to these parts of myself before it develops into the sharp pains and other various symptoms that I used to deal with regularly.

So I want to encourage you to do some mini check-ins during your days to find what little habits of holding/ignoring/pushing you might be doing.

‘Check your Habits’ Practice

It can be helpful to set a reminder on your phone for certain times during the day to cue you in this practice.

Once you see your reminder (or if you just remember at any given moment) do a quick scan of your body, bringing awareness first to your physical body. Do you notice any sensations in your body? Is there any pain, tightness, or holding? How is your body feeling? Offer relaxation to any areas that need it (I often like to take a deep breath and imagine sending that breath to the tight area).

Now bring your mindful awareness to your mind and emotions. How are you feeling in this moment? Do you notice anything present that might be related to what you noticed in your physical body? Stress, fear, control, worry, (or maybe it's joy, love, excitement!)?

While there isn't a need to fix or change your state, you could ask yourself if there's anything you need right now based on what you observed in the mind and body. A stretch, a hug, a nap, some connection. Notice if your body seems to be asking for something and then make a plan how you could best fulfill those needs.

Repeat as many times as you can!

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