Mind before body, always.

Aishwarya Mandyam
Aug 28, 2017 · 3 min read

This summer has been one of many firsts. I started exercising regularly, I started programming in C++ regularly, I prioritized my goals, and I started meditating consistently. The last one is arguably one of the most important things I could do at this stage of my life, and here’s why.

Most people I know have a fallacious view of what mindfulness and meditation is. It doesn’t mean that I traveled to the Himalayas and decided to be a monk. It doesn’t mean that I’m vegan and drink tea all day. It is also not necessarily tied to religion. I found that mindfulness is something that can be integrated into every aspect of my life, and it’s not as hard as I thought.

I notice that I’m easily susceptible to the mood around me. If everyone is stressed, I feel like I need to be stressed. A bit of ambient music can make me energetic even when I don’t feel like it. So why not take advantage of this? Why don’t I generate something in myself that will push me to achieve what I want? That’s where meditation comes in.

I wrote earlier about the power of meditation, but that’s not the whole truth. Meditation, much like everything else, is a physical and mental journey. It truly sucks in the beginning. I couldn’t breathe properly, I couldn’t sit still, and I certainly didn’t care about how much my mind was wandering. It’s a difficult process, and I’m still working with it.

I’ve tried many times to start meditating, but I could never get over the hurdle of the first week. I didn’t see any benefits, and I wasn’t ready to devote even a small part of my day to it.

My progress on Simple Habit, the app I’m using to meditate now.

I’m currently using an app called Simple Habit that allows me to gamify meditation. I can set goals, see my ranking amongst friends that also use the app, and continue my meditation streak. Those are simple features that push me to open the app up twice or thrice a day and meditate. There’s no turning back.

The benefits go far beyond the validation I get when those numbers change. I mentioned that I’ve been working out regularly; I’ve seen a significant change in how I lift weights. Lifting weights isn’t simply something that the body does. It’s tough, and unless my mind is focused, I can’t do it.

The body can do much more with a strong mind than it can without.

This principle is applicable at work too. I’m not going to lie, I don’t like programming in C++. It’s confusing and illogical for me, and it’s taken sometime to be okay with consistently broken code. When I meditated each morning over the past couple days, I set an intention. On some days, it was simply to be happy. On other days, it was to take a break every time I run into an error that I couldn’t fix in 15 minutes. Turns out, that can be really helpful. It was almost magical.

I’ve also been working on some soul searching. For the first time in my life, I’ve been completely honest with what I’m capable of. I’m really not ready for that interview, and I really can’t lift that much weight. But I’m building the tools to achieve the goals I have, and meditation is a big part of that journey. I’m going to continue to meditate, and we’ll see what happens. This is just the first step in the right direction for me.

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Aishwarya Mandyam

Written by

Computer Science + Philosophy + Neural Engineering + @uw_acm: @UW // UW CSE ’19 Formerly @Expedia @Microsoft @DubHacks

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