Thoughts from the Mat: Get Out of Your Comfort Zone
“Sometimes it is good to be in uncomfortable situations because it is in finding our way out of such difficulties that we learn valuable lessons.” ― Idowu Koyenikan, Wealth for All: Living a Life of Success at the Edge of Your Ability
More often than we’d like to admit, we live on autopilot.
We fall into a routine: wash, rinse, repeat.
And routine can be great, and sometimes essential, for our mental health and well-being. It can prevent excess stress as we build up discipline and create structure. Routine can create simplicity and efficiency.
On the mat, routine, or a daily repetitive practice, is fantastic for building your practice, becoming aware of your progress, and developing mastery in alignment.
So… what’s the problem?
In short, nothing.
Nothing is wrong with routine. In fact, developing a routine is healthy.
But what sometimes happens is with routine comes complacency. What was once a challenge for you: mentally or physically, is now simple and easy.
With Complacency, You Forget Your Growth Edge.
And hey, there’s a time and a place for complacency, for sure. We can’t always be doing. But have you ever felt that point, that crossroads, where you can feel the underlying restlessness?
It’s almost an itching to do something different, explore somewhere new, pick up a new hobby, start a new career, or even change up your environment a little bit.
Sometimes it’s an obvious, in-your-face feeling that something needs to change.
And other times it’s a subtle under-the-skin restlessness that you can’t quite pinpoint.
Think back to the last time you experienced that restless feeling.
How did you feel it in your body? Where?
Was it subtle or obvious?
Did you fear it?
How did you respond?
Did you dive right into the unknown because the restlessness was too deafening?
Or did you sit with it for a bit, wondering and hoping you’d get more clarity on the cause of it?
Sometimes, all that’s needed is to just do something different.
Anything.
Big or small.
Just a subtle shift from your “normal” and into the unpredictable or unplanned.
Expand Your Comfort Zone
On your mat, notice the moments when you leave your body and your breath and enter into the mind. It’s such a subtle shift. It can be hard to pinpoint exactly when you moved into your mind.
At that moment, in that pose, in that part of the sequence, you’ve hit complacency or autopilot. You’ve reached your edge and now you’re sitting in it.
And again, there is nothing wrong with that, necessarily.
But if you notice this and do want to push your edge a little further, step out of your comfort zone. Expand your comfort zone.
Is there a pose you’ve never tried before, or haven’t attempted in a long time?
If so, what’s a small step you can take toward trying it again and bringing it back into your practice?
Do you fear attending a class because practicing in front of others is intimidating?
If so, try to attend a class once a week.
In your daily life it can be a bit more challenging to identify where you can push yourself a little further. Some routines are essential to making your daily life run so smoothly. So why remove or change them?
A common way to identify where you can expand a little further is by paying attention to the subtle - and sometimes not-so-subtle - cues of your body. That restless feeling mentioned earlier can be one. A lack of joy or excitement can be another. And sometimes, it’s an area of your life that is completely absent or nonexistent and that’s what needs to be changed – you need to make room for it to become a part of your life.
Once you’ve identified an area of your life, ask yourself:
What am I seeking?
What is missing?
How do I want to feel versus how am I currently feeling?
What is a small step I can take in that direction?
Getting out of your comfort zone doesn’t always have to mean you’re leaping ten steps ahead, both feet first, into the unknown.
Getting out of your comfort zone can look like taking one action step, altering one little aspect of your current routine, or incorporating one act of spontaneity into your life.
Benefits of Stepping Out of Your Comfort Zone
Incorporating simple, yet different, actions than your “norm” doesn’t just remove that restless feeling. There’s documented evidence to suggest that getting out of your comfort zone is vital in longevity and improved overall well-being.
Build New Neural Pathways
Learning something new, creating a new routine, and having new experiences, actually creates new neural pathways in your brain.
Why is this important?
The development of new neural pathways essentially keeps your brain healthy, active, and engaged. It helps decrease the chances of neurodegeneration and improves memory, focus, and problem solving,
To learn more about neuroplasticity and its importance in your life, check out this article.
Boost Confidence
One of the most instantaneous benefits of stepping out of your comfort zone is the confidence boost that comes with it. You’re instantly reminded that you can in fact do and accomplish hard things. You’re stronger than you thought. There is more to you than just what you’ve done and where you’ve been. And that’s exhilarating.
Develop Resiliency, Patience, and Adaptability
On the flip side, sometimes we step out of our comfort zone and fall flat on our faces. It’s inevitable.
But what did you learn from it all? What did you take away from that experience?
Whether it feels great or not, when we fail, we develop more resilience. This helps you to become more adaptable and flexible, slowly building up a tolerance and patience for the uncomfortable in life.
Which also means it becomes less terrifying.
Embrace Routine and Expand Your Comfort Zone
We all have seasons of growth, seasons of change, and seasons of rest.
In seasons of growth and change, we’re learning, exploring, creating, paving new paths and transforming.
In seasons of rest we allow the stillness, embrace the mundane, and crave the silence.
There is a time for all of it.
Where are you at today? Can you push your edge a little further? Or are you in a season of rest? Release any judgment of either. Neither is right nor wrong.
If you’re ready to push your edge some more, where can you start?
Focus on one small step.
