how to start loving your "to do list."

I recently got serious about my yoga practice about 5 weeks ago and have seen some amazing results. I needed to de stress one day and just went to my old studio that I hadn't been to in about 3 years. Back to the 100 degree heat and 70% humidity. And it was just as good and detoxifying as i remember. I left the studio that day thinking "Dang i feel great!!" So i went again the next day, and the next and the next. i thought "what if i did this 5 days in a row!" 5 days in I thought....I'm on to something!

So here I am about 6 weeks later still going strong and regularly attending 4-5 days a week. This habit got me thinking:

What makes me keep coming back to this when I used to always dread the gym?

It made me remember a training or a lesson I once heard about positive thoughts and affirmations. how we reward ourselves. Kind of like the old Pavlov's dog. What is the association to yoga that created this positive experience that kept me coming back?

1. I sweat like crazy because of the heat
2. it was only a 60 min class as compared to the 90 min it used to be. That was doable for me and my busy schedule
3. I felt results after the 1st day
4. Began to sleep better
5. Began to want to eat better
6. I became more relaxed and patient with my family
7. I got much needed "quiet time."
8. after 3 weeks my clothes fit differently
9. I sweat like crazy (oh i already said that!!)
10. my body opened up

And then I realized these are all positive things i'm associating with my yoga practice so I desire to keep going back. Going to the gym used to be "ugh, gotta go workout." Honestly, because I never really sweat all that much so I never felt I accomplished anything, sometimes my workouts were painful especially if lunges were involved, my body would be sore after I lifted a different kind of weight, and sometimes I ate worse b/c I needed to "reward" myself for going to the gym!!! LOL

Those were all negative associations I was attaching to working out. So of course I never wanted to.

This is the lesson: whatever we attach to actions whether it be positive or negative will promote whether we do more of it or not. The training that I once heard about this was if you're in sales or something where you have to make calls, attach a positive result every time you make a phone call. Or when you set goals, do something you love when you reach that goal. Get a massage, buy a new dress, have that dessert (although i don't recommend rewarding with food!!)  And if the thing we must do to get the result we want is viewed as "painful," it will become harder and harder to do. this is where procrastination comes in! this is why we procrastinate!! And there are some things we just don't enjoy doing and they don't make us "feel" good. In many situations, actions must come before feelings. it is the action itself that creates the positive feeling.

Reward yourself today for something that's been on your to do list for a while or take that step toward a change. I bet you'll "feel" better after you do!