Navada - železna srajca

We all have many habits – from brushing teeth to drinking a cup of coffee after lunch, from a glass of lemonade on an empty stomach to a cigarette after a busy day. Then sometimes it’s a whole pack of cigarettes per day, a midnight junk food snack or scrolling on the phone in bed before falling asleep. We are often aware that some habits we have are bad and it would be good to get rid of them. We might try to but we rarely succeed, even though it’s not always about a physical addiction to the substance (as in the case of nicotine). 

Zakaj je tako težko opustiti navado kot je polnočno hranjenje, branje (večinoma slabih!) novic 20x dnevno, buljenje v telefon pred spanjem,... ?

Navada predstavlja varnost

Zato, ker vsaka navada za telo pomeni varnost. Ko telesu odvzamemo nekaj, kar mu je tako dobro poznano, mu odvzamemo občutek varnosti. Ljudje ob vsaki novi-neznani stvari, ki se pojavi v naših življenjih, instinktivno iščemo vzporednice z že znanim, da bi novo stvar naredili bolj domačo in se znebili strahu, povezanim z neznanim. Ko spoznamo novo osebo velikokrat poskušamo ugotoviti, na koga nas spominja; ko okusimo nov sadež, želimo ugotoviti, kateremu že znanemu je po okusu podoben.

Everything that is unknown represents stress and discomfort for the body; and vice versa – if we take something familiar away from the body, we take away its sense of safety. When we consciously resist a bag of chips at midnight, our body falls into the “fight or flight” mode and releases a bunch of stress hormones. The intelligence of the body is not connected to the conscious mind so the body doesn’t distinguish between being chased by a bear and having a bag of chips taken away. It both represents stress.

Kako se torej lahko znebimo škodljive navade? Tako, da jo nežno in počasi ZAMENJAMO z drugo - bolj zdravo - navado. To je proces, ki se ne more zgoditi čez noč in - kot vse stvari v naravi - potrebuje čas in potrpežljivost.

Understanding the body’s intelligence and (re)connecting with it is one of the main things I focus on in my programs.