No matter what it is that we want to change, consistency comes into being. It says that it takes 21 days to change a habit and along the way there will be peaks and troughs where things work and perhaps things don't but the important thing is just to carry on with the goal that you're trying to attain.
Now the reasons for this is that we need to develop new neural pathways to become the default rather than the bad habit that has become a norm. Imagine a field and a well-defined path around the field. If we want to create a path across that field it is not just going to take one walk across that field to flatten the grass it's going to take several walks on several days over a period of time to get a well defined path. It's quite interesting I think going out walking with my dogs and seeing all the paths that have sprung up in fields, paths that were started last year or before and then come back again this year and the ground just naturally doing that because of the football that's occurred over the years in these in these little areas and it's the same with our brain and that's what we have to try and do when we're creating any new behaviour, create a new path.
For example, if you've had bad sleep for many years we have to retrain the behaviour so essential oils are going to massively support you in helping your sleep but it doesn't necessarily mean that it's going to fix it in 7-days. Our sleep challenge will help you with that but it is going to take longer for the habit to develop when you've actually had bad sleep for a longer period of time because of that neural pathway because the default in your brain is to wake up. The default in your brain is to procrastinate before going to bed and once you start developing these new habits they become the norm so I don't look at my phone for an hour before bed it's just instinctive in me where is it used to be for me to check my phone before I went to bed now it's the opposite way and I don't check my phone for 2-hours when I get up in the morning it used to be a reflex - get up, check my phone now I don't even check my phone until I've had my breakfast. Developing this neural pathways is done by being consistent and we can really make a massive progress but it just has to be a small step and one after the other. As the saying goes “A thousand mile journey begins with a single step”.
Small but frequent steps such as applying the oils several times a day, one application of Adaptiv is not going to totally decrease all the stress in your life but it can definitely make you feel better but the real power comes from a consistent approach applying it through the day and the cumulative effect.
There are several ways to make it easy for yourself, one of the things I like to do is have reminders on my phone to stop and breathe but I also have everywhere various oils such as Adaptiv for example so in my work bag I also always have a roller of it, I have them at home, I have them in my car so that I can just see it and I put it on I don't even wait for myself to feel stress but I put it on. Obviously if I feel stressed out then I put it on and I grab it but prevention is always better than cure and maintaining a healthy mental health is absolutely key.
It's the same with supplements so today I started a 30 Day Cleanse & Restore and I love doing these and I do them probably twice a year. I find it really good. Recently, I've got into a very bad habit with some sweet treats over the last probably couple of months so my detox is primarily to get myself back on a really healthy eating plan and I am also feeling a bit sluggish so it's to do that but also to really create an anti-inflammatory environment in my body because I am struggling with tendinopathy and impingement in my right shoulder at the moment so I want to maximise my chances of getting that sorted as quickly as possible. It is also a great way to get a kickstart your fitness too. I'm definitely not as fit as a couple of years ago and I really want to get back into really sorting my running out. A couple of my dogs have had to have reduced exercise and we are now back on track as well so the four of us, me and my canicross Spaniels are all going forward into the summer with renewed vigour and a really good fitness regime. I'm in need of it more than them because they're just awesome.
Anyway in order to do this effectively I need to have a little tracker so I have a habit tracker. I have a habit tracker for my daily habits and I also have a habit tracker tracker for this particular 30 Day Cleanse & Restore. Keeps me organised so I can check that I've taken something now. It's going to take a few days for me to get into the habit of this and things change every 10 day but having something written down makes it a lot easier so that I can stay on track with what I'm doing. I also have the goal in mind of what it is I want to achieve. I want to improve my 5K time. I want to improve my speed. I just recently did a 10k and it completely floored me whereas 2 years ago when I did that same race I actually came third so I know that definitely my long distance running has altered. This is all part of getting back to it as well.
Consistency rolls over into other areas I'm currently trying to sort my spare room out which has become a bit of a dumping ground over the past year or so and it's a hugely overwhelming but I want to turn it into a dog fitness room and office for myself and it's hard. But you know what I am doing is breaking it up into bite-sized chunks of 15 minutes a day - 15 minutes to go in there and sort out some clutter or anywhere in my house. When you start breaking things down into small manageable chunks it starts to be a lot easier and it's the compound effect of doing a little and often and keeping at it even though you may not see an immediate change it will actually bring you huge rewards. A really good example of this was actually when I started giving my anxious dog copaiba I didn't think there was any benefit from it and I gave it to her for probably about 2 months and I thought that it was not working for her so I stopped. Within two days she was doing the spinning that she used to do and everything. I realise that actually it has helped her but it had been so gradual but it had been such a gradual change that I hadn't been aware of it and it was only after stopping that I realised so I immediately got her back on copaiba and the status quo was resumed.
So do try and keep a plan and keep at it for at least a few months. And be prepared to tweak a plan too. I'm always saying to my clients to let me know how they get on and I will include in their plans a few variations but it's not set in stone. Each option I might suggest you try for two weeks and then try another for 2 weeks etc. If it's not working we'll tweak it again, we might need to increase the dilution, we may need to increase the frequency of the application, we may need to tweak the oils but it isn't set in stone, but it is all about being consistent and seeing what patterns are developing continuing to move forward.
If you would like to learn more about using essential oils - get in touch or hit the subscribe button and keep up to date with what is going on.