3 Habits That Changed My Life in 2019

So it’s that time of the year, a new year is about to begin, and I see people starting to list their resolutions and their intentions for the upcoming year. But what ever happened to last year‘s resolutions? We put so much energy into creating the resolutions, but I rarely see people reflect on the results of the resolutions at the end of the year. I believe that reflecting back on what worked and what didn’t can be a very powerful practice to inform our new intentions. 

So I want to share with you three habits that I personally implemented in my life during 2019 that completely changed my life. As much as I want to take credit and say that I sat down, brainstormed and came up with a strategic plan to craft these intentions at New Year’s Eve and decided to master them throughout 2019, I can’t. The truth is, that is not how it happened, things organically unfolded on their own. I am an avid reader and always had a growth mindset, so I love studying extraordinary people and learning their supportive habits. Because really our years and evidently our lives, are simply the result of consistent habits over time, whether positive or negative. So these are the habits I picked up that made a powerful impact in my life during this past year.

Meditation

I have been meditating for the last eight years but never had a consistent daily practice. I realized that when I meditated I would feel this pure and utter peace and experience life as flow and ease, and when I stopped, I noticed how my energy shits and I begin to feel a little stuck. I remember hearing my teachers always talk about the power of consistency of action, so this year I set an intention and made it a habit to meditate right when I wake up in the morning and before I go to sleep. It really comes down to my schedule and the commitments I have that day, but I meditate for at least 30 minutes each practice, and during the days that I have more flexibility, I extend my meditation longer. This has worked wonders for me, people are shocked when I tell them that I meditate that long. The truth for me is, it’s actually not difficult at all. The results are so blissful that I actually crave meditation, and look forward to sitting in stillness. It’s like watching a really good movie, or spending time with someone you deeply love, does that sound difficult? The effects that it made in my daily interactions and decision making have been incredible, and the clarity that I gained about myself, about how I react to certain situations and where those reactions arise from have been profound. There’s this sense of empowerment, as I learned to pause between thought and reaction and choose a higher path. I learned to observe my emotions without getting caught up in them. I took it even further as I deepened my practice throughout the months, and began to learn how to regulate the chemistry in my body, and how to command my mind and my emotions to support me and how to ask my body to heal. I even learned how to sleep with much ease. I close my eyes and I silently say, "I open my energy field and invite sleep into my physical being". As I continued to experiment with this practice, I learned that I can really invite anything else I want into my body or my life in the same way. That we are creative powerful beings, that we own our minds, we own our bodies and we own our emotions, they don’t own us. Their job is to serve us, to do what we tell them to do. It all began with sitting still and paying attention. That truly “to the mind that is still, the entire universe surrenders”.

Early Rising 

I’ve always heard the saying, “You win the morning , you win the day”. I know that athletes, leaders and high performers do not mess around with this one. They take their mornings very seriously, that morning time is sacred time. I wrote about this extensively in a previous blog 10 Morning Habits That Will Set The Tone For Your Day.

I can’t take credit for this one either, the universe guided me to this habit, as I was offered to teach a 7 AM yoga class at The Yoga Collective in Santa Monica. So waking up early was not up for mental debate anymore, it stopped being optional. I was obligated to wake up at 5AM because people needed me and are waiting for me to serve them. I can honestly say, it was one of the best things that happened for me. When I wake up that early the city is still quiet and peaceful, the air is crisp and the day is filled with possibilities. I sit to meditated and practice my yoga asana, hop in the shower, dress for success, eat something healthy, grab my morning coffee and walk to the studio with a sense of purpose and so much excitement! I can’t wait to see my students, I can’t wait to hold space for them, and share what I learned. I noticed that I’m in my most creative state and productivity in the mornings, by noon I have accomplished so much in my day and touched so many lives which fuels me and inspires me to create even more. In the mornings there are fewer distractions, so instead of just being “busy”, and trying to catch up with the demands of modern life, I actually have space to create, build and make a difference not only in other people’s lives but also in my own. When we work from a higher level of frequency, our work becomes very powerful and a source of fuel to us instead of draining. I’m not looking at my watch and waiting for 5 o'clock, and I’m not looking for the nearest happy hour. I’m simply bathing in a sense of gratitude and fulfillment. Fully present for the people around me, and able to give even more. I am now a proud early riser and love to wake up early even on my days off.

Journaling

During Christmas time in 2010, I opened my mailbox and I found a brown leather journal from Oprah Winfrey. I consider Oprah to be the mother that raised me when I had no role models growing up, so I couldn’t believe what was happening, that Oprah sent me something in the mail, my heart was dancing with joy! There was even a note from her that said, “We all want to make the most out of our lives… to become higher expressions of ourselves. It begins with your own awakening. There is no better way to find that aha! than by keeping a diary” ~ Oprah. I later discovered that I had received it because I had signed up for her Life Class program. I had no idea she was sending participants a gift. So as you can imagine it was quite a beautiful surprise. That was the time when I started to dabble with journaling, I would only journal when I felt bad and had no one to talk to. Fast forward to 2019, as I was going through drawers in my home office, I stumbled upon the Oprah journal and began to browse through the pages. It was so adorable and insightful to see where I was in my life during that time, read about my dreams, my fears, and the stories that I was telling myself about them and about who I thought I was. So I felt inspired to journal again, I went and bought a cute journal and a nice pen to motivate myself. I placed them right next to my bed and set an intention to write at least three things that I am grateful for before I go to sleep. Keeping it simple so I don’t have any excuses not to stay the course. I would write the date, and the title “Today I am Grateful For” and make a list. It started with very short bullet points, something like 1. Yoga class 2. My dog 3. Kale smoothie. As this new habit began to unfold, I would start to elaborate a little bit more, and reflect on more meaningful encounters, opportunities, serendipities and signs that happened throughout my day. Gradually I became a person that journals, and some nights I would write for pages and pages. Sometimes I would sit with the intention to write something specific and end up writing something completely different. It literally took a life of its own! 

Some nights when I feel my energy is a little low, I would browse through the pages that were already written and as soon as I start reading them I immediately feel my energy being uplifted, I realize how much has happened for me, and how much love and abundance I have in my life to be grateful for. That our brain has a negative bias and is hardwired to protect us from danger, always anticipating what can go wrong so its easy to slip into focusing on what we lack. If I hadn’t written all those things that I was grateful for, it would take a lot more energy for my mind to think of them on its own. So it’s like my little support system and reminder. The present me that is writing, is helping the future me when I need a little pick me up!

Now, when I set my intentions for the upcoming year, I build on the habits I already have ingrained and aim to be present to learn from the journey and not rush to the destination. I focus more on how I want to feel, how I want to experience the year, what I want to create, instead of what I want to gain. I hope these habits inspire you to create your own empowering habits that work for you, to support you on your journey and uplift you to be the best version of yourself.

Wishing you a happy new year filled with possibilities, peace, and joy!