Entry 162: Quote of the Night from the Power of Habit

12/26/19

"Using mindfulness, he said, “I taught him to simply note to himself (silently or aloud) each body sensation that came along with a craving. We used the analogy of surfing: My patient’s cravings were like waves, and he could use this ‘noting practice’ as a surfboard to help him get on the wave and ride it until it was gone.”

To break a bad habit, its important to understand your addiction-craving cycle, turn toward (instead of away from) the cravings and understand them, and to be aware of your true feelings. When you notice your craving and refuse to give in to it, the behaviour changes and the cravings decrease.

According to Brewer, if you are not aware that you are doing something habitually, you will continue to do it consistently. If you’ve driven the same road a thousand times, it becomes pretty habitual, he adds.

“Building awareness through mindfulness helps us “pop the hood” on what’s going on in our old brain. We can learn to recognize our habit loops while they’re happening, rather than “waking up” at the end of them.”

Another strategy Brewer recommends is substitution. Brewer writes “substitution is pretty simple, but also relies on the new brain. If you have a craving for X, do Y instead. As in, substitute Y behaviour for X. This has a lot of science behind it, and is one of the go-to strategies that we learn in addiction psychiatry.”

For substitution to work, you need to have a plan for what you will do instead of your bad habit. It’s also important to understand what reward you crave for every habit you want to break. “Any habit can be diagnosed and shifted,” says Charles Duhigg, the author of “The Power of Habit.”