Four Common Habits That Rule Our Lives

Get to know the main habits that lead to unhealthy behaviors so you can learn to break the cycle and take charge.

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Different kinds of habits have different feelings and energies associated with them, but all can be experienced and changed when met with a kind, interested, and accepting awareness. In the December issue of Mindful magazine, we explore and work with four main kinds of habits.

1. Habits of wantingincluding craving or habitually seeking food, drink, drugs, sex, or any other object of desire.

2. Habits of distraction—moving away from our present-moment experience toward something that seems more attractive, interesting, or exciting, such as social media, text messages, email, or TV.

3. Habits of resistancefeelings of wanting to avoid something we find unpleasant or painful. These habits might manifest as anger, frustration, judgment, and impatience.

4. Habits of doing, stress, and worry—feeling like we’re always on our way somewhere, without enough time to get everything done, checking off our “to-do” list, with a stressed, often frenetic sense of disconnection from the present.

With each of these kinds of habits, mindfulness connects us with our deepest intentions and shines a light on behaviors that don’t serve to help support our intention to make changes.

Read the full article, “Are You a Creature of (Bad) Habits?”