How to incorporate healthy habits to start the year?

Discover some tips to incorporate long-term healthy habits in this new year.

The transition from one year to the next always brings with it the feeling of starting over . To have the opportunity to change and improve. Very often, one proposes a thousand and one new habits for that new beginning. But, discouraged by the effort and monotony, he neglects them and finally eliminates them from his life.

Because? What is the reason why you start the year convinced and determined, and yet, little by little, you are leaving aside everything you had planned?

The very act of “planning”. When you project your intentions into the future, you automatically create expectations for it. Endless images and sensations overwhelm your thoughts. Idealize events and dream about them. But reality always differs from the mental projection .

One must be able to accept this truth: that planning is not creating. Creating is acting at all times, without being obsessed with the goal. Without clinging to the result; enjoying every step.

However, when one undertakes a new routine, the changes that must be made (which we could consider as the steps to take) to incorporate and naturalize it, They require effort, sacrifice and patience . Three elements that the ego does not like.

That is why many times one gives up after two weeks: because it is projected in the future, and seeing all the way that remains to be done, he prefers to let it be and return to his automatic and deadly way of acting.

This usually happens with great frequency in the practice of Yoga . When one begins to work on the postures, sequences, breathing exercises, etc., one feels pain more often than pleasure. The body, stiffened by the lifestyle that many of us lead, manifests its tension and produces unpleasant sensations.

At first, one tells oneself that one can bear it. But when you start to think that this feeling can be reproduced for weeks or even months, the world collapses. He decides to put it aside. And that is where the failure lies: in prioritizing momentary pleasure over long-term happiness . Giving up in the face of pain, instead of staying with it with the intention of growing.

What, then, is the secret to incorporating healthy habits at the beginning of the year?

• Do not obsess over the result: The first foundation, although it may seem paradoxical, is not to become attached to the result. What does that mean? Go to the place, enjoying the walk. Habits are an energetic formation that must be sculpted with patience and joy . If you want to eat more vegetables but have been opting for a carnivorous diet all your life, you cannot and should not suddenly give up the old foods for the new ones. That can not only create a maladjustment in the body; it is also a great shock to the mind. Instead of wanting to do it right from the first day, it is better to go through the different degrees that every change needs . Reduce foods that harm us and incorporate healthy ones. Decrease the amount of the first every week, gradually increasing the second. Not seeing all that remains to be done ; but to enjoy the moment and merge with the process.
• Do not embrace too many changes : Another fundamental in the art of integrating a new beginning is to avoid greed. Overstack objectives. Embrace a thousand sudden changes. That does not work. The ego is greedy in nature; He is impatient and impulsive. But in order to incorporate healthy habits, it is important to humble yourself and realize that everything, suddenly and at the same time, is not encompassable. In order to achieve long-term goals, one must devote their attention and care to the first habit. Once it's worked, go for the second. And so on. Developing patience and harmonizing with your cadence. In the society in which we live we are told that everything must be sudden: that is why we have created this very sick world. However, when one looks the behavior of nature , he realizes that everything works and is ordered at a slower pace. Slow. Serene. The beauty of a flower is possible after days of rain, days of sun, days of planting and growth. Days, days and more days. The beauty of life is gradual, precise and feminine. Taking an example from her, and little by little sowing new routines in our day to day life will provide success.

• Be Creative and Spontaneous – During this wonderful process, obstacles will appear. Situations that apparently make new changes impossible; moments that destabilize the illusion of transformation. Those stones in the road They must be covered with care and secrecy, with great attention and being creative . Imagine that your intention is to follow a healthier diet but for X reason, the first week of the year you have meals in a restaurant every day. We all know that going out to eat is synonymous with gargantuan meals. However, you can take the restaurant's menu, check all the healthy dishes and create an ideal option for you: the one that combines the ingredients that you most want within the healthy options. Chefs won't mind creating a new dish based on food they already have: they may even be inspired by your idea and incorporate it into their menu, for people looking for a lighter meal.

These are Three fundamental rules to succeed in your New Year's proposal . Set realistic goals, without them being the engine of your life. Learn to enjoy every effort, every sacrifice, every moment. Be honest with yourself and be patient with yourself. Develop creativity and enjoy spontaneity.

All change requires time, energy and sometimes, laziness . But one must think that it will become natural and effortless with time.

Mae Knapnougel