Three Stigmatized Powerful Self-Improvement Habits
Beneficial habits that will help you become a better, happier person in 2022
"Are you sure that's what you want for your Friday club?" she asked skeptically.
I looked down again at the paper. A variety of a few dozen clubs were listed. I had been procrastinating all week as middle schoolers do. I eventually found myself selecting a club on the very last day. My eyes desperately scanned the page a final time. All the clubs that were interesting to me or had my friends in them were gone.
I sighed, "Yes, yoga will work fine."
The name sounds somewhat cool and weird. It has to be interesting, I thought. I had no idea what Yoga was, and 12-year-old me never bothered to ask. So, imagine my surprise when Friday came along, and I found myself in an auditorium full of gym mats and all-girl class.
Looks of judgment, surprise, and humor fell on the faces of some of the girls, but most were welcoming and happy to have me. Soon after I arrived, I learned what Yoga was when the teacher in the class asked questions of flexibility and demonstrated her skill. At the time, I thought about how lucky I was I didn't have to do any extra math or reading for my club. However, young me also thought about how unlucky I was to find myself in a club where people would question my masculinity.
Caught up in the judgments people would make, I found myself oblivious to the beautiful life tool presented before me that I missed my opportunity to take it seriously.
Yoga
I know now that Yoga is an incredible way to stay in shape. The exercise once received a lot of criticism towards males who practiced the hobby but fortunately changed quickly into an activity for anyone.
The 2014 Super Bowl Seattle Seahawks had the entire roster using Yoga. They preceded to win the 3rd largest blowout in Superbowl history against the Denver Broncos 43–8 winning by 35 points (my inner Broncos fan is crying).
In a study on chronic lower back pain, individuals who used Yoga resulted in better function and reported less overall pain and short-term pain intensity.
Affirmations
Affirmations weren’t something I seriously heard about until I was out of high school. The idea of a person telling themselves in the mirror that they can accomplish some far-fetched goal felt like a joke. I didn’t understand at the time how vital affirmations were and would have never guessed I would be the person to try them eventually.
Unfortunately, I was going through a challenging time only a few years ago. My anxiety was so bad that I felt I hadn’t breathed fresh air in months. I was nervously walking a minimum of 10 miles every day and had to sleep upright on the couch watching tv for weeks before I finally calmed down. Once I had, I could lie down without my agoraphobia (fear of places and situations because of panic attacks/anxiety) taking over.
Affirmations were a crucial part of me getting better. Every day, when I felt completely hopeless and lost, I would tell myself it would get better. I would say to myself out loud that this was temporary and that if I stayed consistent and focused on a goal, I would achieve it. I didn’t believe myself at first. But the change was faster than I expected, and I soon started to believe my affirmations.
Jim Carrey, the beloved actor who has captured minds with movies like How the Grinch Stole Christmas, The Truman Show, and my favorite, Ace Venture: When Nature Calls, has also used affirmations. He can be seen in this 1997 interview with Oprah talking about how it helped him through his journey. Denzel Washington, Jennifer Lopez, and Opah Winfrey have also used affirmations to find success in their careers.
Meditation
Meditation is quickly becoming more recognized for its benefits for mental health. According to the CDC in 2012 only 4.1% of people in the US were using meditation compared to 14.2% in 2017.
A popular type of meditation is mindful meditation. It is practiced by using meditation with controlled breathing while also being present to your thoughts in the moment. When a thought occurs, you want to acknowledge its presence without trying to solve or judge it before releasing the thought and returning your focus on your breathing.
A study done found moderate improvements of anxiety, depression and pain severity were linked with mindfulness meditation.
Final Thoughts
Although the stigmatization of these habits has drastically changed over the last decade, we can still occasionally see examples of it. I would encourage you to try at least one thing from this list.
