By Emilee Riggin — Today I met a new batch of freshmen at Carson High School. I teach English, and for the last 12 years, I have honed my craft of teaching reading and writing to 14-year-olds. I both love the the thrill of being their “tour guide” through their freshmen year. On the brink of a new chapter, these guys are prime for new habits, and I take it as my highest honor to be the ones to train them.
Why are they so ready to rise to the occasion? Because they are full of expectations. For themselves, for me, and for each other in this new level of maturity. We are experiencing novelty. Today they seemed to be brimming with the abundance of possibility. This change is just what we need to start a new chapter and build good habits.
What does it take to build new, healthy habits?
Novelty. Change of scenery to make way for new things. Next: it takes action that diverts from the original behavior. And how do you motivate new action? Reward. And what better reward is there than showing up to something difficult, overcoming the challenge, and feeling that warm fuzzy feeling on the other side of victory. Large levels of dopamine from the reward center of the brain, which we all know drives most behavior. My goal is to help them rise to the challenge and feel good about overcoming.
So if you’re interested in building a new habit, come check out a yoga or fitness class at Grassroots Yoga & Fitness Center. Try a new environment, like your student, and practice being a student. Who knows what else we could change?
Come learn more at grassrootsyogacenter.com.
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