Mind & Body
There is an epic battle raging on within ourselves every single day. A tug o’ war of mind against body. Our mind takes care of our thoughts, emotions and consciousness. On the other side of the ring, we have the body that handles the physical processes. On any given day, there are plenty of moments where these to face off and internal conflict is created since they are both part of who we are.
The day stars with that alarm going off. Our mind says, “Let’s get up now! If not we’ll be late and we’ll be in a rush all morning”. The body answers with, ” I can’t I’m exhausted, I’m not getting up” and your hand hits that snooze button. Round 1, goes to the body. Later that same day after lunch, you walk past a donut shop. Your body craves some sugar to beat that energy slump, “I need that donut in my life now. Get it in my belly!” The mind fights back. “Do not eat that donut! That is full of sugar, it’s so bad for you! Show some self control!”
The punches have been thrown. If we don’t eat the donut we feel upset because we have deprived ourselves of something we wanted, and there’s a good chance you go into generalizations such as “I can never eat what I want”. In this scenario the body feels bad since it didn’t get what it wanted, but the mind also feels bad since now you’re upset. Let’s look at the other possibility, we eat the donut. It tastes good in the moment, yet soon guilt sets in. Thoughts like, “I shouldn’t have” and “Why I can I never stick to eating healthy” flood our mind. The body after the sugar rush and slump isn’t feeling that great either. Both situations end up being lose - lose.
How can we change this dynamic and create a win win situation alongside with harmony for the relationship between body and mind?
A New Approach
Both mind and body hold great power on how they can influence our state at any given moment. We have to work in a synergy where they both feel heard and understood. The subtleties here lie in the dynamics of how the dialogue happens between mind and body. Our inner self talk tends to be quite rude, blunt and mean. This fosters negative feelings within ourselves. Here are a few different approaches to our donut conundrum:
Identify the real need/crave and replace
The brain can practice a gentle approach rather than a condescending tone and analyze the situation. “Yes, that donut looks delicious. I feel you. However, that sugar has negative impact on our health. I can feel you are craving something sweet. Should we get some dark chocolate or fruit instead?”
Compromise and self control
In this scenario, we get the donut. Yet, we only eat half. We could share with someone else or save the rest for tomorrow. A compromise was struck because you got what you wanted, and at the same time by only eating half you exercised self control so there is double the reward.
Remove temptation
Avoid walking past the donut shop all together. If we learn which situations are a trigger for your mind - body conflict to arise, when possible remove it from your life. I LOVE cinnamon rolls. There is a Cinnabon about two blocks from my place. I never walk past that street.
In all of these three options we successfully navigated to our desired outcome: a win win situation. The key is awareness of which approach is best depending on the scenario. The more we pay attention to what is going on within us the better we’ll know how to handle the conflict and lead our body and mind to a healthy and thriving relationship.
