This Practice Will Help You Break Old Habits and Live More Productively
Ever wonder how celebs and high-performance entrepreneurs manage to be both forward-thinking dreamers and incredible doers? Us too! Since we’re always working on finding balance, eating well, and getting enough sleep to be healthy and productive, we were extra-intrigued when we heard about the DeROSE Method, an increasingly popular system said to help people de-stress and expand their energy capacity. John Chisenhall, the director at DeROSE Method Greenwich Village, recently gave us the 411.
Taught in 90+ spots around the globe, the DeROSE Method is a unique practice that helps people develop their brain, bod, and emotions. As the method was created to help people achieve a healthier and more productive lifestyle, it teaches techniques like breathing, body awareness, relaxation, concentration, and meditation. Even more, it calls on concepts like mental attitude, coping with pressure, stress management, and good nourishment to help people break old habits and build a solid foundation to thrive. “Throughout life, we accumulate old habits that might have once been (or seemed) useful, but that can fade as we transition into different stages of life,” Chisenhall explains. “Unfortunately, using the same ‘routine thinking’ can prevent you from achieving your goals.” Self-evaluation, he says, is key to making sure your behaviors, habits, and attitude are fine-tuned to help you live your best life. “You’ll expend much less energy and effort if you can change before discomfort and suffering occur.”
3 Ways the DeROSE Method Can Help You in Everyday Situations
1. Harness the power of mentalization. “Create a mental blueprint, an archetype, of your objective or goal — we call this the mentalization technique,” Chisenhall suggests. “Did you know that ‘mentalization’ is a synonym for imagination?” He says it’s in the moment you imagine your archetype that it starts to exist in a more subtle way; basically, as soon as you start thinking about ditching old habits and reaching new goals, your brain will start finding ways to make it happen.
“I use architecture as a clear example,” Chisenhall expands. “Before construction starts, you mentalize or envision your plan, which then gets transferred to a drawing and eventually crystallized with its construction. Most people don’t realize how mentalization can open doors of opportunity to bring their dreams to life, but don’t fool yourself into believing that mentalizing a goal once or randomly is enough — it takes a lot of practice to produce concrete results.”
2. Reprogram your emotions in stressful situations. The DeROSE Method can help you manage your emotions in everyday situations, many of which can help you achieve success. To do this, Chisenhall offers some tips. “Think about what you want, and communicate the message to your psyche; begin with a message that is positive and real rather than trying to convince yourself about something that’s unrealistic. Next, create a mentalization associated with your message. Last, swap ‘I’m going to’ with ‘I am.’”
Chisenhall also suggests countering negative thoughts with positive ones. “When you experience something undesirable, respond with the opposite. For example, if you have a misunderstanding at work, offer a genuine smile, find common ground, and be the first one to work toward making amends. Are you feeling jealous your teammate was promoted but you weren’t? Focus on admiring the qualities that led to their promotion, and get to work on your own skills and traits.”
3. Master your breath to create purposeful patterns. “Your breath is the only physiological activity that can be conscious or subconscious,” Chisenhall points out. “Your old habits of thought (and actions) reside in your subconscious mind. It recognizes your comfort zone and works to keep you in order to quicken response resolution and conserve physical, emotional, and brain energy. What most people don’t realize is that through breath we can access a portal to the subconscious and begin to restructure and create new patterns that better serve our purpose.”
Naturally, doing things differently can feel scary. To use your breath as a superpower when you feel stress surfacing, Chisenhall says to focus on taking long and deep breaths. “Inhale, helping your abdomen expand outward, and exhale, pulling your abdomen inward. Air in, abdomen out; air out, abdomen in.” When it comes to perfecting your breathing technique, he advises breathing in and out through your nose only. “Aim for inhaling for four seconds and exhaling for eight seconds; ideally, find a place to sit comfortably so you can pay attention to your breath.” Once you’re able to ditch the short, shallow breaths that come with being stressed out, you’re sure to feel a whole lot better.
Tweet us the strategies do you use to break old habits and live your best life @BritandCo.
(Photos via Getty)
