We were discussing the benefits of habits in class. We discussed the concept of atomic habits and the aggregation of marginal gains. Now one idea I love most from the book is the 2 minute rule. Though it is categorised in the 'make response easy' part, it has numerous other benefits.
The first is that it makes it easy to start many things, many habits which are good for us but which we do not practice because we feel we need to take out a long period of time for it. But if we only do a 2 minute version of it (instead of walking for 1 hour, walk 2 minutes, instead of practicing for one hour, do 2 minutes). Chances are you'll do it for 5-10-30-or even an hour once you start.
The second is that the 2 minute version actually adds up - a number of 2 minutes over the year is better than no work. Also, the rule is that repetitions are more effective than huge, big sessions. Small, consistent repetitions are way more effective than big, inconsistent efforts.
Here's the third one. Studies have shown that the mind only needs to believe it has done it - whether you did or how much does not matter. So a 2 minute practice could actually end up making you feel much better than not doing anything at all and could give you way more benefit than you can imagine.
Practice, fitness, relationships, money, skill development - anything that we want to feel good about. So I tried it out - my day would be ideal if I had a 1 hour walk/jog, 1 hour meditation, some yoga etc - but I cannot do them all. So today I did 5 minutes of meditation and five minutes of pranayama, one suryanamaskara and off I went to jog. I also decided to engage with people - just a small hi and a small how are you - rather than sweeping plans about when we should meet etc.
I feel like I have meditated a lot. I feel good. And that's more than I can say for this. If you're feeling good - you're done!
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