Even with the best intentions to improve your wellness through diet and exercise, you might unknowingly retain mental habits that can sabotage your progress. One of the secrets we teach guests at our luxury wellness resort is the first step to achieving overall wellness is, in addition to addressing what you feed your body, you must become more aware of the thoughts and emotions you feed your mind. Greater self-awareness can help you become healthier, mentally and physically.
Here are the key habits that help you stay accountable and promote wellness even when no one is watching.
Honesty
Start by being completely honest with yourself about how your daily choices impact your health. Without judging your responses, make a short list of “healthy habits” (those that support your physical and mental health) and “unhealthy habits” (things that don’t help you feel better about yourself). When your choices are written in black and white, you can easily identify the habits you want to change.
Accountability
Become accountable to others to help you stay accountable to yourself. The group setting at a fitness retreat encourages you to share your goals with others. The act of becoming accountable helps solidify your benchmarks and provides an opportunity for your peers to offer support and encouragement along the way.
Self-Sabotage
Self-defeating mental patterns are one of the primary reasons people abandon their fitness goals. Listen for that nagging voice that whispers, “You’re never going to accomplish this,” or “Your goal is so far in the future that you might as well give up.” Relax and know that these thoughts are simply natural resistance that has arisen as a response to change. These thoughts might be persistent, but they are also temporary.
Acknowledge their presence then actively reframe your mental conversation by using each negative thought as a reminder to replace it with a positive thought. “Yes, I am not at my goal weight yet, but I am going to jog tomorrow anyway…”
Calming Your Mind
One of the fastest ways to achieve increased levels of self-awareness is to begin a regular practice of meditation. You don’t need a special room or an hour a day. Five minutes per day in an undisturbed location will suffice. Meditation aids in building self-love and acceptance which can calm your temper, increase your patience with yourself and others. Meditation has also been proven to reduce stress, a major contributor to a range of health problems, including heart disease, gastrointestinal problems, headaches, depression, weight gain, and hair loss.
Seek Out the Good
Many of us are saddled with so many responsibilities at home and in our work lives that we sacrifice the things that bring us joy. Use your sense of self-awareness to identify the activities that make you happy and create more time to do them. Give yourself permission to spend time with family, travel, or book a personal or couples retreat at a luxury wellness resort. Simply take the time to let joy be your priority.
Your overall wellness rests on the foundation provided by your mental state. Don’t be afraid to get to know your own counter-productive mental habits that undermine your progress. Remember that increased self-awareness helps you identify pessimistic thinking and negative expectations immediately, so you can make a change and stay on track.
