In this chapter, you will learn:
Did you know there is actually a science to making meditation a lasting habit? A lot of people struggle to be consistent with meditation. And that’s understandable, because meditation can be challenging.
But we can actually make it easier on ourselves. One way to do that is to learn the science of habit formation. It’s not as hard as you may think. You just need to learn how to hack into your habit loops. That’s something that just about anyone can do.
The Habit Loop
Over the last 6 months or so, I’ve been able to harness something called the habit loop to help me lose 15 pounds and develop a whole array of new healthy habits that have changed my life.
In this episode of The OneMind Podcast, I break it all down for you and let you know how I did it, because there’s a real science to it. And meditation has played a key role in all of it by serving as a keystone habit.
I explain more about keystone habits—and a powerful concept called habit stacking—in the show. I also show you how to use the same step-by-step process I used to build new habits and ultimately change your life.
If you are someone who finds change difficult and if you’ve struggled to get your meditation practice off the ground, then this episode will give you valuable tools to make lasting change.
In this episode of the OneMind Podcast, I cover:
- The science of habit formation
- How to harness your habit loops to make meditation a habit
- Why so many people fail to make meditation a habit
- The definition of habit stacking and keystone habits and how to use them
- My own successful experiments in habit formation
- A simple step-by-step process for how to make meditation a lasting habit
- Different resources you can use to make meditation a habit
Yoga and Meditation
Begin with little things daily and one day you will be doing things that months back you would have thought impossible. ~Swami Satchidananda
Meditation and yoga have gone hand in hand for millennia. It was only when yoga came to the West that it got reduced to the calming and healthy physical practice most of us know it as today. But as meditation starts to catch up with yoga as an accepted and mainstream wellness practice, that’s changing.
Increasingly, hatha yoga (the physical version of yoga) is becoming a gateway for people to discover the benefits of a regular meditation practice.
An Entrepreneur in the Ashram
That was exactly what happened to business author and entrepreneur Sonia Thompson. After taking yoga classes for a few months at her local gym, she found herself yearning for something deeper. Through her own research and through a good friend, she started to learn more about meditation.
Compelled by what she learned, Sonia spent a week on retreat at Yogaville—a yoga and meditation ashram where people can experience the transformative breadth of yogic philosophy and practice.
Over the course of five days on retreat at Yogaville, Sonia discovered that illusive feeling that was missing from her physical yoga practice. She found it in the depths of meditation.
Discussing Meditation As A Habit
Sonia refers to herself as a reformed corporate junkie. And before her current incarnation as an entrepreneur, she spent more than a decade as a marketer and business leader growing brands around the world for large healthcare companies like Johnson & Johnson. She also wrote the book Delight Inside: Build your dream business that keeps your customers coming back for more.
In this episode of The OneMind Podcast, Sonia and I explore the experience she had while on retreat at Yogaville. We also dive into the incredible power of habits and the value of relating to meditation as a keystone habit. Finally, Sonia shares her own reflections on why meditation is so important for entrepreneurs.
I think you’re going to love this episode. If you’re a yoga fanatic but haven’t made the leap into a daily meditation practice yet, this interview might inspire to cross that divide.
In this episode of The OneMind Podcast, Sonia and I discuss:
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- The relationship between yoga and meditation
- What happens when you attend a retreat at a yoga ashram
- The transformative experience Sonia had in meditation
- Why she meditates first thing every morning
- The power of meditation as a keystone habit
- Why she thinks meditation is essential for entrepreneurs
OM 017: The Ashram & The Entrepreneur—Exploring Meditation As A Habit with Sonia Thompson