Health Begins in the Mind

When you seek to improve your health or your physique, what do you focus on? 

If you are like most, you look to start exercising or changing your nutrition habits. If you are already fairly healthy and fit, you may research other exercise plans or diets that promise better results or improved health. The focus is usually on what you are DOING. But how often do you actually review how you are BEING and your habitual thought patterns? Those of you who have read my book, "The RAD Triad: Transform Your Mind and Body," know that the foundation of health (rest, activity, and diet) is not complete without the right attitude. The right mindset is required.

I just finished re-reading "Evolve Your Brain." It discusses why humans get caught up in repeating the same patterns, even when they are not in our best interest. Simply put, our bodies and desires are controlled by our minds, which are controlled by our brains, which are driven by the neural connections established by our repeated actions, thoughts, and emotions. If you think thoughts about your lack of discipline, act out of impulse, and then feel guilty, you ingrain those thoughts, feelings and actions and make them stronger so that it is even more likely that you will think and act that way in the future.

To change, then, requires that you program the mind differently. 

You must see and feel yourself acting differently. 

Just like an athlete who repeatedly envisions him/herself winning the race, making the shot, getting the goal, you must see yourself with the body and the health you desire. You must picture yourself as you want to be. As the vision of the "new you" becomes more and more real in your mind, the circuits in your brain will start to re-pattern and re-wire, making it easier to think, feel, and act in a way that is more in line with the "new you."

So, what are you waiting for? 

• Get out a journal and write down EXACTLY what you want (keep your focus on what you do want, not what you don't want or what you want to stop doing). 
• Spend fifteen minutes each morning envisioning what you wrote down.
• End your day doing the same.

The mind is a powerful tool that can be used for you or against you. Just as you train your muscles in the gym, strengthen your mind so that it works to help you achieve your ideal body and radiant health.

Make today a GREAT one!