Resistance is normal. We all feel it at one time or another as it’s a part of our shared human experience. Sometimes we may feel that it isn’t normal. We think the fact that we’re feeling resistant to doing something (like not eating sugar!) is somehow evidence that we shouldn’t be doing it, and so we stop following through.
Fortunately, this doesn’t have to be the case….
The fact that you’re feeling resistant to doing something does not mean that there’s anything wrong with you, the program, or how you’re doing it. It just means that a part of you doesn’t feel like it.
All of have a resistant part. Think of it as your inner rebel, the part of you that does not like being told what to do. This part of us is often a remnant from childhood and it resents all forms of authority – even authority that comes from ourselves.
In my experience, trying to shush or silence this part of us doesn’t work – it only makes the resistance stronger. By contrast, leaning into the resistance – listening to this part of us, validating it, and empathizing with how this part of us feels – is what softens it.
So when your resistance pops up – and I can almost guarantee that it will – take a deep, deep breath and relax. Allow it to be there. Open to it. Feel what it feels.
And see how it moves and flows.
– from Emerge: Create a New Habit