The way you think or act is the way you treat your body

A fit body leads to a fit mind

Ever since I was a child, I have heard this famous quote about how a healthy soul and a healthy mind required a healthy body. As a majority of us I guess, there have been since my childhood a thousand quotes of wisdom told by my parents which sounded nice indeed, but of which I never fully got the sense until I finally experienced some situations which would bring back the related quotes in my brain, getting me to a “So this is what it actually meant!” ecstasy.

What are quotes by the way but powerful thoughts arising from specific experienced situations that the experimenter resumed in some words in order to share these feelings and thoughts with some many others who are likely to be concerned by this same situation.

And if they invented and shared some quotes showing the causality between the body and the mind (not even talking about the soul), it is because this comes from the experience and from the understanding of this correlation and of the impacts that the breakage of this correlation might have on a whole life.

We intrinsically are one in three.

By essence, this is the way we came into this world and the way we are supposed to leave it at the end of our earthly journey. So obviously the way we organize our lives should consider these three fundamental aspects of our being. In reality, this is barely the case, only because we have not been raised in this concept.

What happens is that, since these three main constitutive parts of ourselves are deeply connected and interdependent, we end up in our lives with all sorts of inexplicable and /or incurable diseases in spite of all tries of medications, with all sorts of mental disorders and uneasiness, because we only care about one aspect or two of our being, leaving the other one(s) unconsidered, unvalorized and flawed.

Space, pure air, exercise and fun contribute to support health, mental health and soul. in their daily work.
Credit image: Pixabay.

We thus are meant to evolve with and not against these three constitutive parts of ourselves, in order to reach what is supposed to be the human graal, namely a quasi regular state of well-being, satisfaction and happiness. I am sorry (or not) to say that the affirmations concerning pain and sufferance as integral part of a life are complete nonsense. Sufferance, just like  fear, doubt or any other negative feelings, are not meant to be an effective part of our mental life, the same way that diabetes, AIDS or tuberculoses are not meant to be an effective part of our physical functioning. I admit that we all go through some diseases sometimes in a life time, some of them being more serious than others, but the concept of accepting illness, constant need of something (related to a constant lack of something) or unhappiness as acceptable in a life on a quasi permanent basis, is as absurd to me as accepting to buy a new car with defaults, and keeping on using this car with these defaults pretexting that “this is life!”. We all go through deceit, pain or sorrow, and yes, this is meant to make us grow in some way. But this is a punctual mission. They are meant to make us grow, not to make us grow and live with it.

Again, human being, you and me, were conceived for happiness, for a free access of the basic and important things of life, for health and for self accomplishment. Whoever tells me the contrary in the name of the Holy Bible, the Torah or whatever, has definitely a mental issue balance.

And one of the simplest and most natural ways to achieve this natural state comes by respecting, by feeding and by maintaining these three integral parts of our being, our soul, our mind and our body.

Important note before talking health, mental health and well-being matters.

Before you imagine me feeding myself with juice of raw vegetables every day, following a vegan diet and exercising 3 times a day at the gym, I need to mention here that apart from my awareness about the matter, I love junk food, I smoke cigarettes, I like lounging in bed on week -ends instead of exercising, or drinking a glass of wine from time to time, and I am as fully epicurean as can be. But this is not in contradiction with a physical and mental healthy life at all. This doesn’t stop me from caring about my health and diet, the same way caring about my health and diet don’t stop me from appreciating these little pleasures of life. Life is not all black or white, it is a billion shades of colors J.

Because you know what? You do not need to make your life constraining to be happy of healthy. You just need to balance things in order to give to you self the care and maintenance you need while fully appreciate every little moment.

Tis is important to mention because I know a lot of people following a constraining diet and  life hygiene who yet are suffering anyway from diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer, etc. And then I simply understood why: as long as the body and mind live under any kind of constraint, be it a positive one, they end up like any elements, cells or particle being kept too much under pressure, tired, emptied from their energy and essence. And this is the proof that health is directly linked to the mind. The best nutritionist will confirm that If you feel like having a piece of cake or chocolate during a slimming diet, JUST GO AHEAD! Enjoy yourself! Provided you do it in a balanced way respecting the fundamental nature and functioning of your body. Because when your brain receives the signal that you won’t deprive your body from anything, he feels relaxed, good and operational. When you deprive him, he stays on guard, under pressure, looking for what he can hold before the deprivation period. 

But again, you will never know the functioning of your body, of your mind or of anything else, if you do not take time to know about it as often as you can. And again, this implies you to spend a significant time with yourself, trying to know more about your way of functioning, your inner and outside disorders, etc. In other words, it needs you to love yourself and to be interested in you a little bit.

This is the point from which it all starts.

Love, pureness of the soul and respect of the person we are feed happiness.
Credit image: Pixabay.

The 1 in 3 feeding and maintenance. .

Now, the above been said, here is how we should normally (I said normally) treat our 1 in 3 being.

We have been told since our childhood to care about the visible aspects of our being, and this is the body, in priority. Caring about the mind would eventually come later on, with some intellectual stimulating activities like reading, cross-wording, chessing, etc.

The soul aspect is often considered in the later life with the awareness and the consciousness arising. In the general opinion, it is normal to consider the soul aspect belatedly because this is something that you usually have access to only once you have cleared the mind and physical aspect. Knowing that this soul aspect is mostly revealed by life experience rather than by theory, why not?

If then we just focus on the two aspects of the body and mind, how can we be sure that we have it right in the way we feed and maintain them?

You don’t need to think long to answer this question. Just take your car for instance, and compare the way you treat it to the way you treat yourself. As I usually say, if you fill your car of dirty and inappropriate fuel or oil, there is no way you can expect it to be performing. Right?

Ok, so why do we feed ourselves with insanities and poison voluntarily, thinking and expecting from ourselves more performing, strength, energy etc.? (Just in case, kindly be redirected to the previous part related to the important note before talking health matters).

Though there are no specific or standard life hygiene rules (because we all are different with specific needs and particularities), there is a Natural Life ongoing Process made out of common sense and logic that concerns everyone of us.

In this logic, you should normally (again, I said normally) give to your mind and soul the same attention, treatment, consideration and maintenance that you give to this visible part of you which is you body.

For instance, can you easily tell the number of times a day that you cleanse your body (shower, bathing, brushing teeth, self caring, etc.). Now can you count the number of times you cleansed your mind from its toxins? I mean, how many times a day do you laugh, jog in the evenings (this cleanse the brain from its toxins), cry, pray or meditate, listen to some cooling music or do things that help you remove from your mind the dirt, negative feelings and information that you have accumulated during the day? I won’t even ask about the times you cleanse your soul (by the way Muslims seem to have a daily routine for this which is interesting if the ritual are done with willingness and not because the times requires it to, but this is a way like another to organize it all).

People seem to be repulsed by dirt and filth, or by dirty and filthy people, but they would hang on to the news every day, absorbing more and more mental dirt and poison without the slightest repulsion, and would consider their dirty thoughts in the biggest indifference .

And we could go on and on in this way with other similar questions like:

How many times a day do you feed your body? And how many times a day do you feed you mind with books, knowledge, positive information, new self growth development techniques, etc? And I won’t even ask about the number of times you feed your soul in a day.

How many times a day do you relax your body? And how many times a day do you relax your mind?

How many times did you already repair your body when it is damaged? And what attention do you give to your damaged mind and soul? What energy do you put in repairing them?

The point is not about having an answer to these second questions, but to realize the existence and the importance of this triad in our daily functioning.

Though not mentionned specifically, pleasure and fun are some capital aspects of a balanced life.
Credit image: Pixabay.

How each part of our being is affected by the slightest change.

They say that you are what you eat. This couldn’t be truer. What you eat and how you lead the hygiene of your life plays a determinant role in the goals you wish to reach.

In the countryside of my island, in these remote areas far away from civilization, life is as balanced as can be: fruits and vegetables bio in most cases, pure air, long distance on foot from one sport to another (almost nobody owns any car or motorbike), as much space are required, etc. You know what? So are their mindsets and souls. Now I mean by "balanced diet" (somehow due to poverty not allowing the access to industrial food), a diet that would cause them no harm due to chemical and to multi-processed food, but the fact is that their diet remains unsufficient in term of nutriments and this generate several nutritionals deficiencies.

Gratuitous remark? Not sure.  What you feed your body with affect its basic functionning which then impacts on your general state and mood. What you feed your mind with affects your beliefs, thoughts and this also impacts on your behavior including your self control and your behavior concerning your diet.

Now, back to the example of the car, it is obvious for instance that driving with different tires (some new and some others older) would affect the functioning and mechanic of the whole machine, the same way different types of spark plugs (some new and some others older), would affect over time the good advancing of the car. Old pieces don’t match long with new ones and whenever one slightest piece of the car is damaged the whole mechanism of the car gets affected in the long run.

This is considered as logic for cars, but that we don’t give much consideration to when it comes to ourselves.

The slightest mental change of mood leads the whole inner machine to be affected in a complex and magical way you can’t even imagine.

Talking about change, know that whenever big resolutions are ahead in your life, it is normal to lack energy. Because change requires a big amount of energy and this is particularly the case when it comes to inner changes. Thus it draws all the available energy in your body and when there is not enough in stock, it leaves you totally flat tired. And when we consider that evolution is a change, we understand that in order to achieve some progressive life goals, we need to give it the energy it requires. And this involves to give the body the appropriate care and food, and to feed our minds and souls with the accurate context and elements that they need. Though the min is a very powerful tool, you can’t decently expect your sole mind to stand the change. Your body and soul are meant to collaborate with it all the way and this is why we need to let each parts of our beings to sustain each other in the progress process.

This is also why change requires an appropriate context and environment. As a smoker, there was a time when I decided to quit cigarettes, but this period occurred in winter. You know what, winters are not appropriate for quitting cigarettes, the same way these periods are not accurate to makes quit their diapers. So there are some down periods of life where the best way to reach change is to let go the time in order to gather more energy (when some other times it is necessary to go ahead immediately).

This is also why staying in your old environment will hardly help you to reach the change you are looking for. There is this necessity of leaving the context we are in because it rather pulls one down than up.

In conclusion, if you want to achieve a certain change, you first need to be ready for it. And to my sense, Motivation is the first and only factor of positive change. And being ready for it requires you to mobilize all the possible means that you have in possession. And the first ones are your mind, body and soul which need to comply with one another in terms of goal, they need to work together and not one against another, to the risk of creating the health and mental that are becoming the daily reality of our modern society. ©