Thriving mind, thriving body

There are things we can do to keep our body healthy and strong, but to have a thriving body we need to have a thriving mind.

by Dr. Narjes Gorjizadeh, PhD

We as human beings have an innate tendency to grow and to thrive in life. One aspect of thriving in life is to have a thriving body, as our body is the foundation that holds our life and our experiences.

There are certain things we can do to keep our body healthy and strong, such as eating healthy food and doing regular exercise. Although these are essential to keep our body healthy and strong, they will not be enough to have a thriving body if there is one ingredient missing – and that one ingredient is to have a thriving mind.

This is because our mind and our body are deeply connected and the content in our mind affects our body.

For example, when you think of a mouth watering juicy piece of watermelon in a hot sunny day and you imagine in your mind taking a bite, your body responds and your mouth starts to water without really having the fruit itself.

You can sit on a beach and think of the job interview that you have next week and get stressed, or you can be in the job interview and think of sitting on a beach and feel relaxed if you choose to. Your mind influences how you feel and the very chemical composition in your body.

//IT IS IMPORTANT TO BE MINDFUL WHAT KIND OF THOUGHTS YOU ARE CARRYING IN YOUR MIND AS YOU GO THROUGH YOUR DAY AND TO NURTURE THE POSITIVE ONES INTENTIONALLY//

FEED HEALTHY FOOD TO YOUR MIND
Our body is producing certain chemicals in response to Thriving mind, thriving body There are things we can do to keep our body healthy and strong, but to have a thriving body we need to have a thriving mind. by Dr. Narjes Gorjizadeh, PhD what we have in our mind all the time. If you eat healthy food, exercise regularly and follow all the healthy routines you know of, but you have stress or anxiety, sadness or depression, frustration or resentment, they will not allow your body to thrive. To have a thriving body we need to have a thriving mind.

You might have a healthy dinner, but if you are feeling stressed, your body produces stress hormones, your digestive function is slowed down and your body cannot absorb sufficient nutritions from the healthy food.

You need to feed healthy thoughts to your mind in addition to feeding healthy food to your body and you need to exercise your mind in addition to exercising your body.

A THRIVING MIND IS A HAPPY AND PEACEFUL MIND
Having a thriving mind is the key to having a thriving body. A thriving mind is a mind that is happy and at peace, a mind that keeps good nutritious thoughts and lets go of harming thoughts. If your mind is happy and at peace, your body will follow.

To have a thriving mind it is important to make sure you are holding onto good nutritious thoughts in your mind rather than harmful thoughts.

When your mind has a negative thought, your body perceives it as a threat to your life and responds in a certain way and produces chemicals to increase your chance of survival. A time of threat is not a sufficient time

//THERE ARE MANY MEDITATION TECHNIQUES THAT YOU CAN DO TO BRING YOUR MIND TO A POSITIVE, PEACEFUL AND HAPPY STATE//

to do repair and growth for your body. In a time of threat your body gathers its resources and gets prepared in case it needs to do something to save your life.

When your mind has a positive thought, on the other hand, your body perceives it as a peaceful time where there is no threat and now it can work on repair and growth. That’s why creating an environment of peace and calmness in your mind is essential for your body to thrive.

IMAGE: VIRGIL-CAYASA-UNSPLASH

By nourishing your mind with thoughts of love, gratitude, self-acceptance, etc., you are nourishing your body with chemicals of love, gratitude, self-acceptance, etc. These thoughts make you expand. On the other hand, by having thoughts of stress, resentment, regret, etc., you pump your body with chemicals associated with these emotions, chemicals that make you shrink.

It is important to be mindful what kind of thoughts you are carrying in your mind as you go through your day and to nurture the positive ones intentionally.

HOW TO HAVE A THRIVING MIND
Regular practice of meditation is the most effective way to help you bring more of nourishing positive thoughts to your mind and keep them for a longer time. Meditation is a mental exercise that trains your mind and enhances its ability to hold onto positive thoughts.

Let’s do a simple exercise. Just for a moment, pay attention to what you are feeling right now. Are you enjoying this moment? Are you happy? Or do you have feelings of stress, anxiety, sadness or any uneasy feeling? If you feel you are not at ease, take a deep breath while paying attention to your breath and feed your mind with a positive thought. Any positive thought will do. It can be reminding yourself of a good memory, or the fact that you have this breath, because having this breath means you have the gift of life, which is the most valuable gifts of all. Or you can feel thankful that you have clean air to breathe, good food to eat and clean water to drink.

All these thoughts shift the attention of your mind from the self-limiting survival mode to expanding thriving mode and your body responds accordingly.

Once in a while during the day pause for a moment, pay attention to what you are feeling and bring some positive

//YOUR MIND INFLUENCES HOW YOU FEEL AND THE VERY CHEMICAL COMPOSITION IN YOUR BODY//

thoughts to your mind to nourish your body with good chemicals and boost its capacity to thrive.

There are many meditation techniques that you can do to bring your mind to a positive, peaceful and happy state. You can choose any technique that you like and make it part of your daily routine to help your mind and your body thrive.

Our mind is a valuable tool we have as human beings to live our life. It is important to keep our mind in its best shape. With a thriving mind we can have a thriving body and a thriving life.

⬤ Dr. Narjes Gorjizadeh, PhD is a research scientist and a certified teacher of meditation and mindfulness based in Sydney. She has trained with internationally
renowned master Vikas Malkani, founder of SoulCentre Academy, Asia’s premier personal development centre.
www.meditationnmindfulness.com

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