With our collective experiences of the last year highlighting the need to focus on wellness and becoming healthier, Dr Jason Culp takes us through the process of making positive life changes.
Recognising the need to join a gym to get fitter and lose weight, eat healthier foods, go to sleep earlier or to quit smoking are all great examples of lifestyle changes that life during the pandemic may have inspired. Although setting the intention to change behaviours like these is a great first step, often times this leads to failed attempts, as the pressures of everyday life interfere with the ability to maintain these. By providing you with a deeper understanding of behaviours that promote changes and cultivate mindful awareness of what drives our daily choices, we can assist in making the changes successful.
In order to promote sustainable change, it is important to focus on the automatic habits and patterns that are involved in routines. Habits form out of a necessity and this is commonly referred to as a “Habit Loop”. Let us take the simple goal of wanting to develop an early morning exercise routine. In this example, a common habit loop involves the following pattern:
- The Cue: You wake early to an alarm and still feel tired.
- The Routine: You hit the snooze button to quiet the alarm and roll back over to sleep more.
- The Reward: As a result, you satisfy the necessity to save energy and rest more, missing your morning workout.
The “cue” is set by whatever leads to the tired feeling upon waking. This could be your stressful lifestyle, lack of sleep, poor dietary habits, and nutrient deficiencies, etc., and induces the “craving” sensation to roll over and sleep again. If you are not mindful about the craving to hit the snooze button on the alarm, and thus satisfying the necessity for more sleep, you will mindlessly follow through with the same routine.
Addressing the self-defeating cycle
First, you must identify the underlying causes of the cue. In our example, this would mean looking at those factors that could be affecting your energy levels each morning, as previously mentioned. A few minor corrections in energy-draining behaviors may be enough to give you the motivation to get out of bed in the early morning. These simple lifestyle modifications may have additional unintended health benefits as well.
Along with identifying the causes of the cue, you can help break the habit cycle by introducing new, health-promoting routines to be used when the craving sensation sets the cycle in motion. These routines should be easy to employ whenever the necessity triggers the demand for the routine. In our example, a simple routine change may mean putting the alarm clock across the room so that you must stand up and cross the room to hit the snooze button. Although not foolproof, you are more likely to stay awake if you have already left the bed.
With a deeper understanding of the cues, routines, and rewards that direct your daily life, you can adapt a simple change to any habit and make a positive routine. The reported time that it takes for a new habit to stick is approximately 3 weeks of consistent practice. CBM
About Dr Jason Culp
Dr Jason Culp became the Naturopathic Physician at Chiva-Som International Health Resort in 2012. After obtaining his degree as a Naturopath Doctor from Bridgeport University in Connecticut, he served as a lecturer and professor before running his own health practice in California. He focuses on primary care and strives to prevent and treat both acute and chronic disease. His method integrates conventional medical disciplines with a traditional holistic philosophy to educate the patient and is able to treat a variety of physical, mental, and emotional conditions.
About Chiva-Som
For more than 25 years, the company behind the award-winning Chiva-Som has been acclaimed as a pioneer in transformative wellness practices. The commitment to an innovative, holistic approach which expertly balances mind, body and spirit, continues to this day with its flagship resort in Hua Hin, Thailand and the latest addition to the Chiva-Som family – Zulal Wellness Resort in Khasooma, Qatar.
Optimal, bespoke wellness lies at the heart of each Chiva-Som experience. With its unique synergy of indigenous traditions and evidence-based wellness, Chiva-Som partners with guests on highly personalised wellness journeys focused on complete lifestyle transformation. At the new Zulal Wellness Resort these extend to the entire family.
Guests are motivated throughout their journey by knowledgeable and caring staff, who address their goals with the unique heart of Chiva-Som Hospitality.
Chiva-Som’s genuine approach to wellness extends to the wider community, with educational opportunities and global sustainability initiatives at the core of everything the brand does.
The Resorts
