#384 Health Promotion & Mindfulness

       From my understanding, mindfulness is as central to overall health as an optimal operating system is central to the optimal functioning of a computer. The statements below re health promotion are therefore relevant to mindfulness practice: we are our own life coach and we must believe in ourselves.

      "Health habits are not changed by an act of will. It requires motivational and self-regulatory skills. Self-management operates through a set of psychological subfunctions. People have to learn to monitor their health behavior and the circumstances under which it occurs, and how to use proximal goals to motivate themselves and guide their behavior. They also need to learn how to create incentives for themselves, and to enlist social supports to sustain their efforts. 
      People are producers of their life circumstances not just products of them. By developing self-regulatory functions people can motivate and guide their efforts in personal and social change."

       Bandura A. Swimming against the mainstream: the early years from chilly tributary to transformative mainstream. Behav Res Ther 2004; 42(6): 613-30.

     See also Efficacy Beliefs Regulate Human Functioning: http://healthyhealers.blogspot.ca/2013/08/efficacy-beliefs-regulate-human.html