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Flowing | Mindfulness
Ending the Painfully Unnecessary Struggle of Forcing Your Way Through the Day
It’s all in the approach.
There is a lot of advice out there that endorses forcing your way into becoming a better you. They sell this idea by saying you only get stronger from pushing yourself to do things you don’t want to do.
But the more I explore this, the more I question this method. I mean, is it necessary or even healthy to force things like this? Coming from the perspective of cultivating mindfulness and inner peace, I’m leaning towards no, it isn’t.
The more I resist, the more I stress
Forcing puts the body and mind in a state of stress. An example most of us can relate to is getting out of bed in the morning.
The fight begins when I wake up under warm blankets and face having to get up and start the day. I used to consider it a win when I’d muster the strength to get up, workout, and eat something healthy for breakfast.
But I started noticing that even if I “won”, the entire experience was stressful. Taking a deeper look into why it’s stressful, I see it’s because of my resistance.
