May 7, 2008
Can You Become a Creature of New Habits?
Posted by chenquestion under Health Practices, Martial Arts, Philosophy, Yang Style TaijiWell, I am certainly a creature of habits. Can’t speak for other people.
Once or twice when close associates have expressed displeasure with my current performance, I’ve told them, “Sorry — I’m a creature of habit, and I see my ways aren’t cutting it any more. Give me a chance to revise my habits, and you won’t be sorry”.
And now this article from the New York Times. I would have linked to it anyway but I was fascinated to see it included this bit:
“Try lacing your hands together,” Ms. Markova says. “You habitually do it one way. Now try doing it with the other thumb on top. Feels awkward, doesn’t it? That’s the valuable moment we call confusion, when we fuse the old with the new.”
I’ve been doing this training for some time now! I discovered years ago that it felt terribly strange to cross my arms over my chest the opposite of my usual way. I decided I needed to work on that. Then more recently I picked up on the lacing fingers thing. Same principle, same kind of retraining. Now I have a little mudra, so simple but with a purpose, that I can do anywhere, anytime. Anyway:
May 7, 2008 at 6:50 pm
Habits aren’t necessarily bad things. They can be really useful, like brushing your teeth in the morning out of habit while your brain is still a little fuzzy.
We should examine our habits though to see if any of them are at a cross purpose to what we’re really trying to accomplish.
I’ve found that regular zhan zhuang practice helps me notice and disrupt habits. We can always train ourselves to have new habits as well.
May 7, 2008 at 10:02 pm
Yep, brushing teeth… and daily taiji!