The Value of a Consistent Practice

(cursor clicks) (bright music) Headspace Studios. (gentle music) Hi, there. Welcome to "Radio Headspace." My name is Kessonga and it's Tuesday. This week, I'm once again revisiting my segment called Mindful Moments: those good times in my life where I've felt fully present. And the hope in sharing these stories is that throughout your day, maybe you will be able to notice your own mindful moment or two. Today is all about feeling a sense of connection to yourself through consistent practice. So as I stated yesterday, my oldest daughter was studying abroad in Paris for four weeks. She's determined to be fluent in French so this trip was very valuable in moving towards this goal. While in Paris, she was staying with a host mom who mainly spoke French to her. She also took French language classes every single day and then they would have excursions out into the community to practice what they learned. They would go to museums, markets, and grocery stores and of course, cafes and restaurants. So with all of this experience, my daughter had ample time to practice the French language and that's really how true fluency is obtained, by thoroughly immersing yourself in the culture and being forced to speak the language. But that's not all, because you won't become fluent if you're only immersed for, let's say, three days or even a week. It's that consistency that plays a major role in becoming fluent. So this is what my daughter was able to gain for four straight weeks. And then, we came across the pond to visit and totally disrupt her learning. (giggles) I'm just kidding. Now I have to say that my youngest daughter and my wife, they both studied French in school. So even though they're not fluent, they're not oblivious to the French language like some people, namely, me. I really don't speak a lick of French. Before our trip, I tried to learn a bit of French using Duolingo, which is really a great app, but guess what you have to be to learn anything. That's right, you have to be consistent and I was not. But I have to say, I did learn some French there. I learned to say, "Le cheque, s'il vous plait." I hope I said that right. (laughs) That means, "The check, please." I was very consistently saying that during the trip and that's actually my mindful moment. On this particular evening, I was able to ask for the check in French without any help from my daughter. It was kind of like second nature. My consistency had paid off. This idea of consistency can definitely be difficult. It takes discipline. A practice I learned many years ago through mindfulness. Part of adopting a mindful lifestyle is mindfully reflecting on the skills you possess that actually took consistent practice. For me, the two skills were riding a bike and swimming. Remembering how I learned these skills with consistent practice inspired me to bring...