Some people start each day with an early morning jog.
Others begin with a cup of coffee and a donut.
“Everyone knows that people are creatures of habit,” says wellness expert Scott Morofsky. “But too often, the habits we nurture are laziness, procrastination, self-serving biases, justification, and rationalization.”
Morofsky says such behaviors put people on a path to destruction, all the while making them look forward to the trip. In the process, they are robbed of essential happiness and joy. The trick to improving isn’t just ridding yourself of habits, he says, but replacing the bad ones with good ones.
“I really believe people can use practical methods to reprogram themselves for life-enriching habits and overcome any affliction they suffer from,” Morofsky says. “After all, we all know the things that hurt us and we know that we shouldn’t be doing those things. So why don’t we stop? Because we don’t know how to go about making these changes happen.”
For Morofsky, the key is for people to become conscious of something they take for granted: breathing. By conditioning yourself to improve the quality of your breathing, you do a better job of taking in oxygen. A lack of sufficient oxygen in our cells is known to contribute to many health issues, he says.
“The important thing to remember is you don’t need pills, potions, gadgets or gizmos to make a change for the better happen,” Morofsky says. “Your desire for a better life and a system that helps you achieve it are all you need — if you’re willing. It’s a matter of getting your mind, body and spirit working together in a practical way.”
He offers these tips for success in 2016 to get started going into the New Year.
Conscious breathing
This is much like the advice people hear their entire lives to “take a deep breath” when they face stressful moments.
“The core focus is conditioning ourselves to stay as connected to conscious breathing as possible and to clear away anything negative or detrimental,” Morofsky says. Breathing awareness in itself helps reduce bodily tension, improve rational thinking, and increase oxygen to the entire body.
All in good time
Morofsky says that one of the most common pitfalls people face when they want to improve their lives is trying to do too much too soon. That’s especially true with exercise or physical fitness programs, but it applies to other areas of life as well. It’s fine to be ambitious about trading bad habits for good, but don’t set yourself up for failure by creating unrealistic goals.
Healthy boundaries
When you are establishing a healthier lifestyle, it’s important that you have healthy boundaries.
“An alcoholic in recovery shouldn’t join the crowd at the bar while waiting for a dinner table,” Morofsky says. “A person with a gambling problem shouldn’t vacation in Las Vegas. As much as possible, when you are trying to trade bad habits for good, put yourself in the best position to be successful.”
Scott Morofsky is the author of the books “The Daily Breath: Transform Your Life One Breath at a Time” and “Wellativity: In-Powering Wellness Through Communication.” He has national certification as a personal trainer by the American Council on Exercise and various other certifications in the health and fitness field. He is a New York State licensed massage therapist and a graduate of the Swedish Institute of Massage and Allied Health Sciences. For more than 30 years, Morofsky has maintained a private practice specializing in joint replacement rehabilitation and physical training for seniors, as well as fitness training and massage therapy, and has given lectures and taught seminars on these subjects.
