One Step at a Time.

Last week I asked you to consider a principle around awareness - that you can't change anything you're not aware of.

Were you able to Pause over the past week and receive new awareness or insight?

If so, what did you learn? If not, what was getting in your way?

When we Pause and learn about old patterns, it can be highly uncomfortable. There's the risk of learning something we don't want to admit, and then realizing that for something to change, we need to change something.

Which leads us to another principle:

"Sustainable change happens one choice at a time, building on small steps."

When we become aware of something and choose to change it, we tend to go all-in, throwing ourselves into whatever solution we've chosen. We stick to the new habit for a while, feeling pretty good about ourselves as we do so. Then something happens. A stressful day at work. An argument with our partner or kid. The holidays. And we reach back to the old way of doing things, either beating ourselves up for it, or resigning ourselves that we can't change.

There's nothing wrong with you when this happens.

This is your nervous system doing its job of resisting change. The bigger the change, the greater the resistance.

When I started working as a yoga therapist, I would assign my new clients homework programs with five or six movements, and suggest they do the program three or four times per week. The next time I'd see them and ask how they had done with their homework, they would sheepishly admit they'd only done it once, or hadn't had time for it at all.

As I got more experienced, I invited new clients to choose what movement from our session they had enjoyed the most, and assigned that one movement as homework. That was a first step to changing their relationship to movement, to their body, to the pain they were experiencing. From that small step we could then add more, in a way that felt good, and helped them to progress more quickly and effectively.

When we enjoy something and we experience the results of doing it, we are motivated to do more. When we're doing something because our big brains tell us we need to change, that motivation and staying power are harder to find.

• What is an awareness or insight you've had lately about something you'd like to change?

• What is one small step you'd like to take today or tomorrow around that?

• What happens when you repeat that small step a few times?

• What's the next step you'd like to add?

How is this "sustainable, small steps" principle landing for you? Let me know!

If these principles are resonating with you, but you're not sure where to start, or keep getting stuck, I can help. The Power of the Pause takes you through the principles in more detail, and in small, manageable steps.

Need more support and accountability? Coaching can help - reach out, book a conversation, and let's see if it feels like a fit.