Personal Development - Mind Over Muscle

I started a gym membership recently and it’s been great to finally get back out there and work on the physical “me”. It’s very satisfying to work on yourself knowing that the outcome will be a better body, capable of so much more, able to leap taller buildings (so to speak). Maybe even to overcome more adversity, think more clearly, make better decisions. It got me to thinking that physical health ties in to mental health more than most people know.

So how does that work? Well for a start, if you feel better about yourself, then you’re more likely to be thinking positively and be making moves in the right direction. We are emotional beings and we ‘feel’ stuff all day long; it’s either going to be positive or negative feelings. If we’re physically ‘feeling’ in a negative place because we have no energy, we’re overweight, feeling sick etc. chances are that our mental ‘feelings’ will also be negative. It works the other way around too; imagine you’re the jilted lover who turns to food or just goes to bed for a week after the terrible feeling of rejection – that awful pit in your stomach – mentally negative thoughts can affect how you feel physically.

When all the motivational speakers in the world talk about the power of positive thinking, it’s a good thing to look from the holistic perspective. It’s going to be just a little bit harder to achieve those positive thoughts if you’re not feeling good in other ways. That could be helped by physical exercise, eating well, drinking more water, or even just putting your physical self into some nice surroundings – go to your favourite place and soak up the atmosphere (even if it’s just in your mind) and those happy physical feelings will translate into positive thoughts and good vibes.

All it takes is to do more things that make you feel good, whatever those things are. Do the things that make you feel happy, do the things that make you feel healthy. Mental happiness will help the physical, and in turn physical health will help your thoughts. At the end of the day you need to look after No.1 by deciding on and focusing on what makes YOU feel good.