to change today

In the bus traveling from the small town of Nowy Sacz to the big city of Krakow in Poland, the conversation turned to health.
More particularly, the influence of the state of mental health on the state of physical health.

The theory is that the state of the mental health can highly influence the state of the physical health.
In more simple terms, someone who is not very happy, may develop an illness.

However, slogans such as 'mind over matter' or 'mind over body' are misleading.
Our mind and body interact: there is a continuous flow of information between them with the result that they are continually affecting and influencing one-another.

So, it is not only that the mental state affects the physical state.
It also works the other way around.

Every thought we entertain affects our body and our emotions.
For example, thinking about our favourite food, especially if we feel hungry, will cause our mouth to water.
That's the mind affecting the body.

On the other side, every physical action affects our mood and our thinking.
If we walk around, very slowly so that we are almost dragging our feet, with our spine slumped forwards and with our head hanging down, we can notice how this affects our mood.
It's pretty likely that it will drag us down emotionally.
We recognize that when we feel physically tired or less-than-well, that this affects our mood.
It's very difficult, for example, to be cheerful and humorous when we're exhausted.
Similarly our thinking affects our physical state.
If we spend a while going around silently telling ourselves that we can't cope or that we're a failure or that 'it's all too much' then this will undoubtedly cause us to feel tense, demoralised, and physically tired.

Hence, it is essential to be physically in good shape.
And at the same time, to work hard to be happy.

As of today?





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