Page 39 - Dr. Nisha Bunke

Better Habits For Better Health

By: Master Joseph Suyat Angeles

The greatest lesson that I've learned through Martial Arts is my (Duhigg). Here is where you must apply your newfound knowledge
knowledge of how habits work. My understanding comes from of habits to your life. Be observant of your routines and replace
almost 14 years of educating myself on the art of Tae Kwon Do. actions with more productive behaviors in order to reduce your
I've witnessed hundreds of students I've nurtured and trained with stress. For example, if you want to improve your daily exercise to
become highly achieved and healthy human beings. increase your overall health, every time you start your exercise
However, It isn't simply our habit of exercise that makes us routine, add an extra set every week and reward yourself with a
healthy. Understanding how to create and improve our general drama free tv show or cup of wine. This routine when repeated over
habits can largely contribute to improving overall health. You may a long period of time eventually becomes a habit wherein every
be thinking to yourself, why should I be aware of my habits? The time your start your routine, you no longer need to worry about
simple truth is that our habits govern a majority of our daily routines. initiating improvement because your habit does it for you. You not
These habits dictate whether you'll get up when your alarm first only can improve existing habits, but you can create them to fit your
goes off or if you'll hit the snooze button. Our brains cannot lifestyle. For instance if you want to learn a new language to
automatically filter habits that have a good or bad impact on our prepare yourself for a future vacation, you must first choose a cue.
lives (Duhigg). Being able to distinguish the benefits of your habits For example, before going to bed, take an online lesson on the
can greatly increase your overall health and prosperity in life. language of your choice. Eventually you no longer need to think
It is important to recognize the effects our habits have on our about taking the lesson because the new habit will take over the
general health, including its correlation to stress. It's common responsibility of initiating that routine.
knowledge that large amounts of stress on the human body can The amount of variations you can do with this habit loop mean
greatly increase health risk. This is explained by the American it can be used in every aspect of your life. It's upon you to decide
Psychological Association that stress is a natural reaction what kind of routines will best improve your overall mental health
developed by our ancient ancestors as a way to protect them from and lessen stress. You must determine whether a habit will change
danger. When faced with danger our bodies automatically flood with your life for the better or worse. Just like humans, our habits are
hormones to boost energy to prepare us to address the problem. unique to us because no one has the same perspective of life and
During modern times our fight and flight response has evolved to happiness. Improve your health, wellness, and beauty by gaining
intervene with the current state of responsibilities: grocery shop- mindfulness of your habits; you won't regret it.
ping, deadlines, bills and childcare. The APA also mentions that
multiple studies have shown that our bodily response may trigger San Diego
heart attacks, arrhythmias and even sudden death (www.apa.org). Woman
You must remember that our habits have the ability to reduce the
amount of stress we endure each day. Our daily routines which
may include preparing your kids for school or doing the laundry can
go by in a flash, without much notice. Within those situations your 39
stress levels are low and it feels like you're just going through the
motions. These instances illustrate a truth about habits which are
best explained by Charles Duhigg in his book The Power of Habit, a
New York Times bestseller. We may never remember where or how
our habits form, but once they're created they influence how we
act - often without notice (Duhigg). The cause is the ability of our
brains to create habits from 3 separate aspects; a cue followed by a
routine and ending in a reward. This habit loop explained by Duhigg
reduces our stress in our daily lives because we no longer are
responsible for creating a solution to address a certain problem.
Our brains automatically have hundreds or even thousands of
habits in order to deal with the various responsibilities we have Anthony Hong Tae Kwon Do
every day. 12265 Scripps Poway Parkway #106, Poway, CA 92064
Here's a personal example of a habit reducing a stressful event like Ahtkd.net
defending yourself from an attacker. The common response to a (858)547-0080
physical threat from an attacker may trigger a fight or flight
esponse. However years of training in the Martial Arts have allowed Master Joseph Suyat Angeles has been training Martial Arts for over half of his own lifetime, an
me to stay calm while faced with an attacker because the force of astonishing 14 consecutive years. As a native of San Diego he prides himself in trying to improve his
habit diffused the majority of the stress. The attacker lunged at me immediate community by influencing his students to be productive and positive human beings. He
believes that if we want to create a better community we must all take responsibility in improving
with his fist, but since I programmed myself to respond to such an ourselves and inspiring others to do the same. Master Joseph went to SDSU earning a bachelors
attack, my body automatically could block, dodge or strike. The cue degree in Psychology, taking classes that emphasized upon: Learning, Child Development and Behavior.
is represented by the punch, the routine consists of the parries and He utilizes what he has learned at SDSU to help him better train and teach his students, allowing them
to realize their true potential. He believes the pursuit of self-actualization, the realization of one's talents
attacks, and the reward is the end of the dangerous event. It is in and potential is the key to success and happiness. With over 10 years of teaching experience he has
this type of situation that the force of habit can protect a person's seen the effectiveness of Martial Arts on the human condition. For he believes we must train ourselves
life. mentally and physically to sustain the amount of stress we must endure in our lifetime. And if we are able
Habits aren't permanent and by learning to observe the cues and to condition ourselves to sustain great stress physically and mentally we are then able to pursue our life
goals much easier.
rewards, we can change the routines to better improve our lives