Three Hacks To Use When Starting Your Wellness Journey

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Most of us know the benefits of yoga and meditation. We don’t need to be told why it’s good for us. When it comes to either of the two, there are no downsides. Yoga and meditation only enrich our lives and make us better and stronger. There are no pros and cons that even need considering. Both are affordable, great for your health and need little investment on your end to start.

Yet at the same time, most of us find it hard to either get started or dedicate more time towards it. Perhaps we tried it out once or twice and loved it, but getting into making it standard part of our lives is really hard. Starting a new habit is not easy. On average, it takes people about three to four months to build a habit of drinking one glass of water after waking up each day. That’s not a typo. That is months for a simple glass of water. So perhaps it might take you a while longer to start your wellness journey. And that is more than ok. You will arrive where you want to go in your own time. But if you would like some support on getting to the start of your journey, here are three tips that may come in handy:

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1. Start cultivating: compassion

Have compassion with yourself. We often get angry at ourselves for not finding the time to do what we set out to do, for not achieving our goals. We get angry at ourselves and punish ourselves because we didn’t live up to some expectation we had. We tend to expect more from ourselves than others. We also tend to be harsher and less understanding than towards other people. Free yourself of that. Negativity will not let you thrive or do better. People achieve more goals if it comes from a positive mindset or environment. Create one for yourself and from here you will find it easier to start changing.

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2. Start thinking: so what?

Adapt a “so what” kind of thinking. So what you didn’t get around to yoga today? So what you skipped meditation for a week?We tend to believe if we missed it once it’s no longer a hobby or if we don’t do it every day it doesn’t count. That is not true. We often think with a all or nothing mindset. We have this expectation of what a wellness journey or a balanced life should look like – we rarely stop to think if it even really applies to us or if there are perhaps different variations of it. So what if you can’t touch your heels to the ground in downward dog? So what if you can’t sit still during meditation? None of these things indicate that you are not living a healthier and more balanced life. Let go of that picture and embrace being in the present moment of what you are doing, not the expectation of how it should look like.

3. Start doing: small things first

A lot of people falsely believe it takes great steps to implement great change. This is not true. If you meditate once a week for three minutes, that’s already extremely beneficial for your health. The amount of times you do something does not discredit the fact that you did them in the first place. Start at the smallest instance you can and go from there. Start mediating while you brush your teeth. Or with a downward dog every morning. Journeys start with big goals but small steps. As the saying goes: We don’t stumble on mountains, we stumble on pebbles. That’s how important small steps are. Start with what you can do and let it grow from there. And start tomorrow. Don’t put it off for Monday. For what? Start today. What’s Monday ever done for you anyway?

Getting started is the hardest part of any journey. Everything else will follow easier once you get started. Focus on the next small step at hand, let go of any expectations you may have and be kind to yourself while you go through any change in your life.