Where mind goes body follows: Mind-body connection January 5, 2021 – Posted in: well-being – Tags: health, mind, mind-body connection, well being
“Where the mind goes the body follows”. As Arnold Schwarzenegger states it’s unavoidable that the mind will affect body. This being said, our body and mind are only tools for us to use in our life and the one affects the other in every area.
We have the body and mind. These two things cooperate together to affect the quality of our live in each area of life. If our mind and emotions arent right, it becomes very hard to focus.
Similarly, if our body is degraded or struggling, we’ll have difficulties living the kind of lifestyle needed in order to be consistent towards our projects.
Between the mind and the body, I would say the body is the more dangerous one to let go because it is weakened by inactivity and bad habits which accumulate over time.
As we put on weight or use substances like drugs or alcohol we also accumulate stress. In this way, our natural chemistry is reliant on outside sources like food, tranquility of our environement, and temperature. As stress becomes more and more of an issue, we can develop health problems like high blood presure and we start taking medication and develop other problems due to medication side effects..
Exercise becomes even more unattractive and torturous as our bodies sink deeper and deeper into a toxic mix of fat, stress, medication, and substance abuse. This is the harsh reality of the mind-body connection.
The mind-body connection
If you are ever in a depressive state in your life the best advice I could possibly give you is to do everything you can to get your body right. As your body cleans up, your mind will follow. Mental and physical health are directly related.
In this article we are going to talk about the body and health. The body has a huge impact on our mental abilities and if we want maximal results and quality in our minds then we must not forget our bodies.
Life isn’t perfect and I realise we don’t have hours and hours to commit to exercise everyday. But the good news is that we don’t have to because we can manage our energy, body and mind giving each what it needs at the most opportune time.
For example, in life we don’t need to always be exercising, meditating, and managing our energy to great detail. We can even let one go momentarily if needed without severe consequences.
But let’s say you are having difficult problems in life and you stop taking care of your mental and physical well being. This is the worse time to forget about your health because you will already be in your most vulnerable state. Indeed, when you are feeling anxious or depressed, this is the most important time for you to start healthy habits to work through the issues you are facing. Where mind goes body follows.
In much the same way, if your mental state isn’t great, your can change your focus on a different area of life or on your body. Momentarily bring your attention away from the problem at hand to give yourself a much needed break.
If your body isn’t feeling great, focus on your energy and mind. Everything balances itself out. It’s in this way we can be in charge of the mind-body connection.
The Mind
As a fitness trainer in the years 2002 to 2012 I learned a great deal about health and fitness. Some of it from my personal training certifications, some of it from my extensive college kinesiology studies, some of it from personal experience as an athlete, and some of it from my own clients.
For this reason I have a special level of expertise on the subject.
Here is a list of things that I repeatedly saw leading to my clients failing in aquiring better levels of health and fitness.
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- Lack of consistency both physically and mentally
- Regularity and frequency of any kind of exercise
- Diet problems (habits of drinking and overconsumption)
- Wanting to do only the fun exercises but not the effective ones
- Unreasonable expectations leading to disappointment and quitting
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People want the magic pill that will make them look perfect tomorrow. They ignore the fact that success just requires consistency, balance, and reasonable expectations. Thats it…
The importance of mind and body is difficult to compare and evaluate because each one plays a role upon the other. What comes first? The chicken or the egg? We accept that where mind goes body follows, but does the mind also follow the body? Of course it does.
The truth is that both the mind and body play an important role. The mind can discipline the body and teach it. And the body will respond and award the mind with many gifts and thanks.
But there is a third component that effects both the body and the mind that we haven’t touched on yet and its a subject that isn’t talked about by either mind or fitness experts.
This third component is life itself in all its complexity. Because of its complicated manner and many components, we will call this third component life energy.
Life energy can be related to karma, God’s hand in your life, your subconscious mind, epigenetics, or a number of other elements that exist but we have limited control over.
It’s whats happening to you in your life and how it affects you at all levels whether it be spiritual, emotional, mental, conscious, or unconscious.
Basically if we can control our life energy at some level, the mental and the physical aspects of our existance will settle themselves naturally.
So how do we use our life energy in a way that serves us? A great deal of the solution relies on our perception of our lives.
Its very simple, we just need to understand that we are only responsible for how we react to things in life. We are not responsible for all the things that happen to us because we do not control everything. For example; whether someone hires us, treats us well, thinks or believes what we do, etc.
Even basic things like temperature, weather, and geography are often outside our control.
We are only responsible for how we are inside our own bodies and minds. We can only be responsible for how we manage ourselves over the days, weeks, months, and years of our lives.
It’s more then meditation. Its more then positive thinking. And its more the developing healthy habits.
If you can reach a deeper understanding of people and yourself, you will already be headed on the right path. Knowing your own traps and shortcomings as well as others around you will give you a better perspective on what is happening. Control yourself in a way that supports you. This is all that will be needed.
It might sound like an exaggeration, but the happier you can be with nothing, the happier you will be in general. It’s normal that you want some things in your life but this shouldn’t be controling your levels of happieness.
If you are already happy with nothing then you should be extatic with the smallest of something.
This isn’t a method of fooling or deluding yourself. It’s just reality. There are kings who are miserable and peasants who love their life. It’s all a matter of perception. Where mind goes body follows.
Managing your life energy is about understanding, gratitude, leaving other peoples problems to themselves, and looking at the bright side of darkness if necessary.
At least its easy to sleep when its dark.
If you can grasp all these things with your mind and allow your body to go through the motions needed to become healthier, you will make progress where needed. This is how you manage your life energy.
In this way we can say that it’s neither the body or the mind which is more important. With proper understanding, we can see that these two things are actually all too often controled by our external environment.
It’s our responsibility to make sure that we monitor our bodies and minds at a deeper energetic level so that body and mind support us in our lives rather then hinder our personal objectives and desires.
Its the energy that you live with that will decide the quality of your life. This is why someone with so little can be happy and another person with everything can be so miserable.
In terms of success and accomplishing things in our life we can use this knowledge to spur us forward.
If you have lofty goals and big ambitions then you should know that what you are trying to accomplish could take years, even decades before realisation.
So are you going to be miserable until this long awaited day of success comes? Of course not. This is no way to live.
As business owners, learners, and accomplishers we are always looking for better and faster ways of doing things. This is fine. And we should always question ourselves if our 2 year plan can be done in just 1 year or even in 6 months.
But this is missing the point. Because if your concept of yourself and your life lies in whether you finished a specific goal or not, than you are in a very susceptible position, aren’t you?
Imagine if Thomas Edison got hit by a train before discovering the light bulb after 10,000 tries. Could we say he is failure? Some would say yes but the real answer lies in how he experienced his life and if he enjoyed the process of work, living, and trying new things.
Staying on your project is important and being realistic is equally important because you might not finish what you have started in your life. This is a real possibility. But this doesn’t matter because even if you aren’t around one day to see your project through, somebody else might pick up where you left off to complete your vision.
Your work and goals are not by any means the most important thing in your life. All the great things you have done might give you great pleasure and pride and this is fine but in the end you are just another person on planet earth and ultimately the most important thing is how you experience your life and the difference you can make on the envirnments around you.
This is why knowing your passion is important because your passion is how you experience your life. And your purpose is about how you are able to make a difference. We use the mind-body connection to our advantage. Where mind goes, body follows…
In this article we have talked about the mind body connection and about managing our life energy. Mind will affect body, body will affect mind, and our understanding of our life energy will help us to a large extent.
Although where mind goes body follows, all three are important but it’s our understanding of our life energy that allows us to best use the tools of our bodies and minds. As we move forward, we understand that comprehension of life at a much deeper level can give us an upper hand in productivity in general.