The Best Ways to Balance the Mind, Body, and Soul
The Best, 2/23/18
The Best is our daily compilation of cool stuff we’ve found IRL and around the web. Every day we will share what we are reading, watching, listening to, doing, or pondering. If you have suggestions for what we should include in future segments, let us know in the comments below!
The reciprocal relationship between mind and body is often overlooked in our day to day lives. Much of what makes you feel slow, unmotivated, or groggy at your job isn’t the work itself — it’s the environment you work in. Dim lighting, constant sitting, and unwelcoming decor can significantly alter how you feel and think at work.
Your body deserves to move, and your mind deserves to be ‘Fully’ present. That’s why we’ve partnered with Fully to bring you today’s newsletter!
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Sit, stand, lean, jump, crawl… be your active-self at work. Add energy to your workplace — Check Fully Out.
How we feel physically, mentally, and spiritually all play a role in our overall well being. What daily steps are you taking to ensure all three are in balance?
Here’s some content to get you started:
Reading
The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living by Ryan Holiday
Article: What Is the Mind-Body Connection?
“…our thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and attitudes can positively or negatively affect our biological functioning. In other words, our minds can affect how healthy our bodies are!
…what we do with our physical body (what we eat, how much we exercise, even our posture) can impact our mental state (again positively or negatively). This results in a complex interrelationship between our minds and bodies.”
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
“Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.” ―Marcus Aurelius
The Mind-Gut Connection: How the Hidden Conversation Within Our Bodies Impacts Our Mood, Our Choices, and Our Overall Health by Emeran Mayer
“We have all experienced the connection between our mind and our gut — the decision we made because it “felt right”; the butterflies in our stomach before a big meeting; the anxious stomach rumbling we get when we’re stressed out. While the dialogue between the gut and the brain has been recognized by ancient healing traditions, including Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine, Western medicine has by and large failed to appreciate the complexity of how the brain, gut, and more recently, the gut microbiota — the microorganisms that live inside our digestive tract — communicate with one another.”
Watching
Where Does Your Mind Reside? by Crash Course Philosophy
Why Sitting Down Destroys You by Roger Frampton, a male model and fitness expert
The Power of the Brain-Body Connection by Mat Boulé
Listening
2018 Calming Meditation Bliss — A Playlist on Spotify
Peace — A Playlist on Spotify
Practicing
Daily actions can bring your mind, body, and soul into balance. These are some of our favorites:
- Self-Education — Continually learning keeps the mind sharp and engaged.
- Daily Exercise — This could be as simple as going for a short walk, or much more intensive, like hitting the gym. Daily exercise keeps your body healthy and requires mental discipline.
- Good Posture — We weren’t meant to sit all day or stare down at our phones for hours on end. Practicing good posture keeps your back healthy and boosts your self-confidence.
- Meditation — Like with exercising, you can do this as intensely as you wish. I personally practice meditation only 10 minutes a day, but I have many friends who do up to an hour. Meditation helps clear the mind and center your emotions.
- Hobbies — There’s more to life than work. Discover and act on your other passions through hobbies. Just setting aside half an hour a day to do something you enjoy can significantly boost your mood, energy, and happiness.
- Sleep Schedule — Everybody’s sleep schedule is different. When you go to bed/get up will vary for everyone, but what’s important is that it is on a consistent schedule and that you are getting enough sleep. You can’t perform well mentally or physically if you are tired.
- Adventure and Travel — Change your environment from time to time and challenge your comfort zone. It sharpens the senses and builds resiliency.
What did we miss? Let us know in the comments below! :)
