Habits, Routines and Rituals"
What are habits, routines and rituals and how can they help me?
Habits are involuntary behaviors that occur because of prior repetition.
Habits can be good or bad.
They can maximize memory, decrease stress, and allow us to multi-task. They can also lead to uncontrolled eating, pervasive arguing and unwanted addictions.
Let’s face it we are all creatures of habit.
Let me give you some examples:
- Some of us put on a T-shirt head first, while others put their arms in first
- We drive the same way to work
- We argue the same way often times using the same tactics whether they work or not
My Dad said it simply, “If you do something once, you are more likely to do it again.”
The Power of Repetition
Our brain learns through repetition and then becomes comfortable with its predictability.
If you were to roll a ball down a hill, it would fall down a particular path. As you increase the number of times that you roll the ball down the hill, it would start to fall into one of a few paths. Over time, the the ball would follow the more used paths over the lesser used ones.
The brain follows the most used paths of action.
Empower Yourself with Routine and Ritual
Routine is several habits put together. Routine is a habitualized activity.
It is the steps you follow with your child at bedtime or your own steps you follow in the morning that get you ready and out of the house for work.
Rituals are more powerful than routines.
Rituals are routines that have some sort of symbolic meaning attached to them.
One example could be the family Sunday dinner. They symbol is the family.
Some other examples could include:
- Giving birth
- Graduation
- A wedding
- A funeral
What is the symbol behind these rituals?
Your family and/or your child’s classroom can use the natural power of routines and rituals to guide children and/or the family toward positive growth.
Choose healthy routines and rituals over destructive ones.
Learn to choose:
- Exercise over isolation
- To lead over being a bully
- Creative activities over passive ones
Use repetition of chosen behaviors to strengthen new routines and rituals.
Role-play and practice the behaviors that you want to do.
Choose to celebrate your talents over focusing on your difficulties!!!