Mind and Body

A healthy mind and a healthy body go hand in hand. This was not always intuitive to me. It does sound reasonable that one might sacrifice mental health to achieve physical health at times, or vice versa. But in the long-term this does not end up being sustainable.

For example, I have found that exercising everyday improves my mental clarity, and this seems to be a more general trend backed by scientific studies. So, the benefits of spending one hour exercising (as opposed to doing something that requires mental effort) outweigh the cost of the time spent. The converse is also true: I personally notice that spending time meditating makes my body feel stronger. Releasing stress and tension is a very physical sensation, but it is only possible through the mind.

In general, spending time on both your mind and body is necessary to achieve fitness in either category. Beyond that, there are compounding effects of striking a balance. Meditating helps me get more in tune with my body, which improves my ability to exert myself during exercise, which leads to even greater mental sharpness… and so on.