My New Year’s "Namaste" Challenge
Hi, I'm Liz Moser, and I’m a Mayo Clinic Certified Wellness Coach.
Today I want to talk about my New Year's Challenge. My Challenge for the New year’s is a 10-week boot camp of sorts that I'm calling my Namaste Challenge.
It a will be 10-weeks without caffeine and TV while increasing my meditation from 10 minutes once a day to 20-minutes twice a day.
I posted a video, and a blog about how to create habits with my calendar system, and I will be using that system in the new year to assist me with abstaining from caffeine and TV while increasing my meditation.
I completed a successful calendar challenge in September of 2018 where I tapered myself off of caffeine, stayed clean for a while, then it was just a bit of matcha, then some green tea, and finally, coffee wormed its way back into my life.
I also spent two weeks without my TV in September of 2018 and 5 weeks without it last summer.
So why am I doing this?
Well, first of all, I feel solid enough with my nutrition, exercise, and sleep routines, which I consider are the foundational wellness habits that I can now challenge myself in other areas of my life.
Specifically, I want to let go of caffeine because when I'm off caffeine, I'm less anxious and more focused. Also, according to Ari Whitten of the Energy Blueprint PodCasts, when we are addicted to caffeine, it no longer increases our energy, it merely returns us to our baseline energy level. In fact, it's sabotaging our energy levels.
Why give up TV?
According to lifehack.org the 10 Reasons You Should Stop Watching Television Now are:
Wasting Time ...
Missing Out on Social Interaction. ...
Programming Yourself with Negativity. ...
TV Poisons Your Belief Systems. ...
It Creates Unrealistic Expectations. ...
Feelings of Inadequacy.
Subliminal Programming and Advertising.
It Degrades Your Self Control and Discipline.
Negative Effects of Sitting Down
The Reality is That What is Easy for Us is Hardly Ever the Best Thing.
My main reasons are rather simple: I'm not proud of my identity as a TV viewer. Sure, there are plenty of documentaries and educational programs, and upon occasion, I'll watch those.
Mostly, I use TV to be entertained and to feel something other than what I’m currently feeling. Even if the feeling is as benign as boredom, I’m ultimately curious about how I will spend my time when I’m bored.
One specific activity I need to fill my time with is studying for the National Board for Health & Wellness (NBHWC) certification exam. This is the next level of certification for health coaches. I want to absorb and master the material and excel at the test, which is scheduled for February.
Also, it will give me more time to meditate, and with caffeine out of my system and less screen time, I hope to go deeper into my practice.
Which leads me to the 3rd part of my Namaste Challenge.
The third part of my boot camp/Namaste Challenge is increasing my meditation from 10 minutes in the morning to two 20-minute sessions each day.
In September of 2018, I increased my meditation to 20 minutes every morning. I then slowly decreased it back to 10. There is nothing wrong with 10 minutes or one minute or one mindful breath of meditation each day; however, after 2 ½ years of 10 minutes per day, I’m ready to further my practice.
I’ll undoubtedly have the time without tv in my life, and I'm curious about how more focused my meditation will be with caffeine in my system.
So, that’s my New Year’s Namaste Challenge: 10 weeks caffeine and TV free plus two 20-minute meditation sessions per day.
I’m Liz Moser, a Mayo Clinic Certified Wellness Coach, and thanks for watching/reading this video/post. If you have any questions about this video/blog or health and wellness or wellness coaching, please email me at lizm@lizmosercoaching.com.
I have a history of completing my calendar challenges, and I’m determined to finish this one. However, I know it’s going to be hard, and I plan on shooting an update video at five weeks to tell you how it's going.
