Doing Nothing: A Prerequisite for Personal Change

I have been contemplating where this blog is going this month.  As a life coach who works in the area of health improvement, my passion lies in supporting people in honoring their deepest commitments to health, fitness and wellness.  This journey began after many years of working with people who were very ill due to their lifestyle.  Over the years, I have counseled heavy smokers, diabetic amputees and, morbidly obese men and women.   I have watched people suffer and die needlessly.  I have witnessed first-hand deep despair, hopelessness and self-defeat.  All of this has piqued my interest in trying to better understand the complex process of behavior change. 

What stops someone who has been given a death sentence from making lifestyle changes? 

What makes the process easy for others?   

For the next few weeks, The Health and Life Mixing Bowl will explore the mysterious journey of personal change.  But before we get started, read this comment on the post Will Your Resolutions Last Until February on the Well blog at The New York Times: 

"According to Taoism and Chinese Medicine, the winter is a time of inner reflection and rest. It is a time when Qi is moving inward, and of stillness. It is not a good time to make changes.  Spring, however, is the time of new growth, of expansive energy and of new beginnings. It is a great time to make changes.  If you try to change too much in the winter, you are fighting against the natural inertia, and you are likely to lose and–what’s worse–feel bad about yourself for having done so.  So… for now, think about what changes you want to make, meditate on how you might manifest them, visualize your new life, and then come March or April, grab hold of that upward-moving Qi and make your changes more easily."

— Posted by Joanna Linden

This comment really resonated with me.  Perhaps this is a good time to be prayerful, reflective and meditative about changes we want to make in the spring. 

During the months of January and February, tune in for posts and resources that will empower your spring "doing".  There will be no where to go, no "to do" list to check off and no plan to follow.  We will simply hibernate and be.  Sound like a deal?  Stick around. 

Comments

[Tracee Sioux]

I love this idea. Very small bites that include long periods of reflection have worked for me.

[Evan]

Very much looking forward to what you have to say about personal change.

It has always puzzled me that those who change (most readily, most speedily) aren't necessarily the least traumatised, but neither are they the most traumatised - they are all over the place.

Evan