The primary desire of everybody is to have a healthy mind in a healthy body. It leads to the happiness we long for. In this post, I am giving proven steps to a healthy mind in a healthy body, which otherwise looks illusive.
Defining a healthy mind in a healthy body
A healthy mind is a state where you are calm, joyous, and have no inner conflict. You are perfectly in harmony with the outer world.
A healthy body is a state where your body is at ease. The performance of body parts is normal. There is no illness.
Both mind and body are interlinked. Any deficiency in the performance of one will affect the performance of another.
Therefore, we need to be utmost careful about our minds. Taking good care to stay physically healthy alone will have no results if the mind is not healthy. Are we feeding our minds with the right thought? Are we keeping our mental sanity? Are we visualizing the right view? All these will define a healthy mind in a healthy body.
Ways to a healthy mind
Our mind functions based on perception. I am not going to the technical side mind function linking to hormones, brain function etc. The flowchart forming a perception is as below:
The values and beliefs are deep-rooted in your genetics. It is not easy to change but can be understood with little effort and attention. The attitude is in the upper layer. It can be worked upon and changed through practice. Attitude leads to your perception of anything you touch, see, smell, hear, or taste. If you are desirous of a healthy mind in a healthy body you must work on your attitude and perception. The following steps may help you in this direction
At any given time think and see everything as perfect.
If you observe rivers or sea, you will notice there is a rhythm in the flow. Occasionally, there will be some occurrence, which disturb the rhythm.
Our life is also like a river or sea. It moves on a rhythm. But there will be occasional disturbance. Don’t get carried away by such disturbances. It is occasional. Naturally, it will come back to the rhythm. If you get carried away by the disturbance, whatever it is, the time to natural rhythm will be more.
Always keep in mind the famous quote “This too will pass”. Whatever happens in life is temporary. Nothing is permanent. If any wrong thing happens, you may feel pain or suffering at that moment. But that is not going to last forever. It will change. Your body and mind will find the solution to it. The normalcy will be restored or you will adapt to it.
Respond, never react.
This is a famous tool given by Jeff Keller. Whatever happens in life, take a pause, and analyze it. Don’t come to a conclusion immediately. Find a way to respond rather than reacting to your feelings and emotions.
Most of the time you tend to react as a natural instinct. When you react the technical process of brain and body takes over. A healthy mind in a healthy body become difficult. You will have less control. Instead, by responding, you will able to use your logical mind and find a solution.
Simplify your life.
Present-day life situation, especially social media, tempts you to do, be, and have everywhere. Do not be everywhere. Be yourself, and live your own life. Set your own boundaries. Learn to be firm. Stop pleasing people. Practice saying no, wherever required.
Practice gratitude.
Every morning and evening put your attention to things you have, rather than what you don’t have. Be it big or small. The things we want are limitless. Even the richest of the rich, also want something. At the same time poorest of the poor also has something to be happy about.
Check your habits.
Many of us have developed habits, knowingly or unknowingly, over a period of time which causes unhappiness. Such as gossiping, negative thinking, jealousy, envy, procrastination, laziness etc. Drop whatever habit affecting your happiness.
Be present.
Past is gone and future is yet to come. We do not have any control over both. So, it is useless to think about them. Past memories we can cherish or learn lessons from experiences and plan for the future. Only the present can help you to have a healthy mind in a healthy body.
Don’t compare.
All human have a tendency to compare oneself with others. But we don’t know the story of other side. Other person looking happy and flashy may not be so in reality. He or she may have gone through pain underneath in some areas of life. Or he may not be having something that you have.
Surrender to God.
We are on earth not by our own wish, but by God. It is a fact we all need to accept. He will take care of us in both good and bad times. Let’s surrender to Him. When you know a Supreme power is there to take care of you, you will feel more confident and in control.
Ways to Healthy Body
A healthy body is a desire of everybody. Best ways to maintain a healthy mind in a heath body are
Do regular exercise.
In other words, be physically active. When you are lazy you get more time to whine. Regular exercise makes blood flow better. Keep all organs and parts of the body active. Make sure, you dedicate a minimum 45 minutes a day to a deliberate exercise schedule. You cannot compensate it by walking while going to the office, doing household chores etc.
Eat healthy.
It takes care of your body. Don’t eat to satisfy your mind but for your health. Healthy eating refers to the inclusion of an equal proportion of carbohydrates, protein, fats, fibre, and water in your diet. It should not be heavy on one of these. Preferably the ingredient should be unadulterated, fresh, and not overcooked. In modern-day living such ingredients are difficult to get. So moderate the intake and limit the potion. More importantly, the food needs to be taken at the same time every day, not as and when you feel like eating.
Food Supplementation
Modern day foods are loaded with chemicals right from cultivation to processing and storing. Further they are cooked with adulterated ingredients. We keep food in freezer and warm up before eating. This way, the food we take fall short of many requirements that the body needs for smooth function. It is not so that body will not function with the shortcomings. But over a period it will come to a situation where it will become difficult to get ahead. That’s the time a person fall sick. To avoid this compromise that body undergo due to inadequate intake of requirements one must resort to food supplementation.
Conclusion
If you can instil the above qualities in your life, I am assuring you would be able to have a healthy mind in a healthy body. It is more of your mind which can give a healthy body. It does not mean absence of difficult or undesired situation in your life. But you would be able to handle them better. The turnaround time to your natural happy state will be less.
It may be difficult initially. But eventually you will achieve a healthy mind in a healthy body, if consistently practice the above steps. It is possible.
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