Mind Over Body
In trying to live a healthier lifestyle, having control of my body with my mind is something I have often struggled with.
Often people think of their mind and their body as one, which isn’t true. Even modern science shows us that we – spirit/soul/consciousness – are not our bodies. Our bodies just happen to be our physical cars, so to say. We go above and beyond, thus, we can greatly benefit from learning to associate the body with being a tool instead of our ‘self’.
This probably doesn’t make a lot of sense at this point…
I am slowly becoming more in tune with my body as a way to determine the difference between the times I want to eat and the times I need to eat. My body lets me know in very specific ways that my blood sugar is low, but I used to not pay attention and lumped all the need/want times together. All that resulted in is me eating too much too often.
When I began to teach myself to control my body as a tool, I began to learn to distinguish between the needs and the wants. Now, when I have a want time, I just remind myself, “I am in control of this body and I will determine when I eat.”
Another example is my time on the elliptical. Learning to treat my body as a tool rather than my ‘self’ has helped me to be a lot more productive in terms of my exercise.
There are plenty of times when I don’t feel like doing my exercise for the day. Or there are times when I’m on the elliptical and I feel like getting off early. Those are the times when I remind myself that I am not my body and it is only my body – not my ‘self – that doesn’t want to go on the elliptical.
All I do then is remind myself who is in control.
Of course, it’s not always easy. Sometimes with the exercise, I have given in. But more and more, with practice, I am finding I have an increasing amount of control and will power over what I physically do.
A great way to start training yourself in this way is sitting meditation or just pushing yourself that extra minute when you’re exercising. YOU can do it because YOU are in control.
December 16th, 2008 at 7:10 am
Yes! This is so true! When we train our minds right we can do anything.
Professional athletes do these simulations where they run, or swim a race in their minds. By using just their minds, their heartrates increase and their muscles “fire” as if they’re physically doing the work.
I’ve never been an athlete and I’ve always thought that running, or swimming, for hours on end must be mindnumbingly boring. But my husband, who used to be a runner, told me that when you run, you are concentrating very hard on every step. Similarly swimmers concentrate on every stroke, picturing the angle with which their hands cleave the water every time. I find it fascinating and am quite excited about getting to the point where exercise is not just something my body does while my mind is in neutral, but a focused activity.
Nice post!
December 17th, 2008 at 1:51 am
As I increase the time I spend on the elliptical, I’m beginning to understand the concentration instead of boredom. It’s amazing what you can do once you get past the ‘my body rules me’ stuff.