Curiosity might make you realize that you’re feeling restless or stressed. Mindfulness involves being curious about what’s going on, which can be a rewarding experience for the brain. Mindfulness shows us what’s going on at a given moment, so we can assess our actions and let go of old habits and form new ones. This is why it’s easy to fall back into bad habits. The prefrontal cortex understands that you shouldn’t smoke and overeat, and it wants to help you control behavior, but that part of your brain goes ‘offline’ when you’re stressed. He found that being “curious and aware” while smoking made study participants realize that it tastes and smells gross. “But, what if you tapped into the natural reward-based learning process instead?” Brewer asks in his talk. If a sweet treat made you feel better the last time you were in a bad mood, the brain says, “ Hey, next time you feel bad, eat something that makes you feel good and we’ll feel happy again!” Or, if a cigarette helps take the edge off after a particularly taxing meeting, even though your brain knows it’s bad for you, your body seeks that pleasure and relief. He says that the brain follows a pattern: trigger, behavior, then reward. In his TED Talk, psychiatrist Judson Brewer discusses the relationship between mindfulness and addiction. In order to break a bad habit, you have to be aware that it’s happening, get present, and change your behavior. Just like improving anything in your life-whether it’s running or playing the guitar-the more you practice mindfulness, the more ease you will find doing it. Practicing mindfulness has been shown to activate the brain’s prefrontal cortex which is associated with concentration, planning and decision making, and can shrink the right amygdala, which is associated with fear and negative emotion. Why mindfulness is a great tool for breaking habits We also tend to fall prey to our bad habits and seek comfort in those routines when we’re emotionally taxed. That’s because the cortex of the brain never completely forgets old practices, but it favors new habits over old ones. If you’re trying to quit snacking at night, you might be better off changing your routine-like sipping a cup of herbal tea while watching TV-rather than simply fighting the urge to nosh all night long. Why is it so tough for bad habits to go away? So if you hit snooze on your alarm four days this week when you planned to work out, your brain is being primed to tell you to repeat that action next time your alarm sounds. The more you do something over and over, the easier it is for your brain to create a pattern and automate that response for next time. Once a behavior becomes automatic, the decision-making part of your brain can go into a sleep-like state-so you might not be aware that you’re doing it. Research has found that although habits may be deeply ingrained, the brain’s planning centers can shut them off, according to the study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. How are habits formed?Ī small region of the brain’s prefrontal cortex, where most of our thoughts and planning take place, is responsible for the moment-by-moment control of habits that are switched on at any given time, according to neuroscientists at MIT. Here’s how mindfulness can help end negative habits and build new ones. But, what if we had access to the tools to break bad habits with us all the time? (Turns out, we might.) It’s called a mindfulness practice and we can rely on these skills to help stop bad habits. People who’ve quit smoking may have sought out therapy, nail biters might have enlisted a product to help, and overeaters may have joined a support group.
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