Why I love Habit-stacking!
Did you catch the Music & Mindset podcast this week? I talk about how HABIT-STACKING as an effective way to build new habits and routines AND to stick to them.
Most of us recognise the benefit of practice and repetition to create strong neural pathways in the brain, and therefore create memories and master skills. Throughout our day we have plenty of habits and routines that we may not even think about doing - we just do them. For example, brushing your teeth, getting dressed, making a coffee.
We can all take advantage of these habits by ‘stacking’ new habits onto them (that is, the already strong neural pathways). For example if you want to practise mindfulness by being in the present moment, choose an everyday habit start such as brushing teeth,and set your goal:
“As I brush my teeth I will spend the time focussing on the smell, taste, look, sound and feel of this experience”.
Another way you could do this is, “After I get dressed in the morning I will practise deep breathing for 3 minutes”
I first heard about this concept from one of my piano students a few years ago. He had learnt for many years early on his life and now in retirement wanted to start lessons again, but sometimes found it challenging to practise between lessons! So he added a practice session every time he had his after-lunch nap, and voilá! He was regularly playing the piano and his skills improved so much more quickly after that!
I found the concept fascinating and was quite surprised I had never heard of this very ‘common-sense’ method! I can tell you it’s made a huge difference in my own life - particularly as it lessens some of the mental load of ‘learning something new’.
It has informed my teaching methods since - with piano students as well as the primary school children I work with. And after speaking at a Director’s Networking meeting about easy and practical ways to bring Musical learning and Mindfulness into programs, I was inspired to create a training resource around this for early years educators!
I’m really excited to be presenting this online workshop, it’s currently offered as a self-paced Module (see the link below) but reach out to me if this is something you’d like me to deliver in your service or with a group of parenting friends.
I am committed to supporting educators and parents to turn theory into practice and I really believe that habit-stacking Musical learning and Mindfulness onto your daily routines will
enhance learning, boost resilience,
create calm and smooth transitions and
foster secure, respectful relationships.
You can find out more about the online course via this link:
