PAVLOV'S DOWNWARD FACING DOG - Using Yoga to Break a Bad Habit and Replace it with a Healthier One

Using yoga practice to break bad habits and reclaim your attention in distracted times.

by Robin Shepard, E-RYT500, RCYT

The Subtle Cost of Our Modern Habits

Bad habits and time wasters… we all have them. But lately, they feel more costly than ever. In a time when our attention is the new currency—and our democracy, our shared humanity, even our nervous systems are being tugged at by the constant scroll—it feels essential to notice what’s shaping us beneath the surface.

Our increasingly online lives are literally re-wiring our brains.

And while I’ve been (mostly) successful at limiting my social media use, I’ve noticed another subtle pull: the endless appetite for news. That little whisper of fear that says, What if I miss something important? Or worse—What if I stop paying attention, and that’s when things really fall apart? I can tell myself it’s noble—“staying informed,” “being engaged,” “doing my civic duty.” But if I’m honest, it’s often a search for a hit of certainty in an uncertain time… a quick dopamine fix dressed up as awareness.

Reclaiming the Moment of Choice

At its core, this isn’t about the news or the phone—it’s about habit. The deep, conditioned loop of thought → urge → behavior → reward. And here’s where yoga, in its quiet brilliance, offers a different path forward.

We’ve known for over a century that “neurons that fire together, wire together.” Each time I feel the urge to check the headlines, I have a choice point. Instead of feeding the loop, I can rewire it—redirecting that energy into something life-giving.

Sometimes that looks like a full Sun Salutation—a surge of breath and movement to clear the mental clutter. Sometimes it’s simpler: coming into Tadasana in the kitchen, breathing three full, dimensional breaths, feeling my feet, my spine, the rise and fall of my chest. A mini-meditation in the middle of my day.

These micro-moments matter. They reclaim not just attention, but sovereignty—over mind, body, and energy.

The Practice as Everyday Resistance

Maybe that’s the quietest form of resistance available to us right now: learning to meet our compulsions not with shame, but with awareness; not with escape, but with embodiment. When the world feels loud, grounding ourselves in breath and body is not withdrawal—it’s preparation. The steadiness we cultivate on the mat allows us to meet uncertainty, complexity, and even outrage with discernment and heart.

Yoga teaches us to pause before reacting—to sense before speaking, to feel before acting. That same muscle of awareness can help us see the subtle ways we’ve been conditioned by the attention economy… and to begin, moment by moment, to take our attention back.

Reflection for You

• What habits or digital loops pull you away from presence, purpose, or peace?

• What does your body feel like right before you reach for your phone, the remote, or the next scroll?

• What simple, embodied ritual could you substitute in that exact moment? (Maybe a slow exhale, a stretch, or grounding your feet into the floor.)

These aren’t grand gestures—they’re acts of remembering.

Resources

Two excellent resources for exploring habit change and mindful behavior:

• Atomic Habits by James Clear

• Break the Twitch by Anthony Ongaro

(I recommend these purely because they’ve helped me; there’s no affiliate connection or sponsorship here.)

From the Mat to the Moment

Our collective attention is a precious resource—and perhaps the most radical thing we can do right now is to steward it with care.

The next time you feel the pull of distraction or dread, pause. Feel your breath. Step into Mountain Pose. Right there, in that small act, you’re practicing yoga in its truest sense: union of awareness and action, consciousness and choice.