For the body to become fit, we need our minds to have a good workout, too. And that’s because a fit mind can achieve mental balance – a vital ingredient for exercise to be how we’d really like it; more fun, more effective and much more sustainable. But to get mind fit, you need to achieve a healthy mental balance.
Mental balance is a state of mind that lies between ‘committed focus’ and ‘relaxed ease.’ It stems from self-awareness, and allows us to step back from our constant stream of thoughts, and instead, make space in the mind to focus and become aware of the moment. Mindfulness is the technique most often prescribed to achieve mental balance. That’s because it gives us the clarity and lack of distraction to perform our exercises to our full potential. We feel more confident doing them, so we do them better – carrying them out with a sense of flow and naturalness.
Try these top mind fit tips:
As our foundation to mindfulness, regular meditation familiarizes us with what it means to be in the present moment. It shows us that when we’re not distracted by our thoughts, we can simply focus on the exercise we’re doing and use clarity to make every workout really productive. In fact, meditation does for our minds what weights in the gym do for our muscles – using short periods of intensive training to strengthen and increase ability and fitness. And by combining meditation with our other mindfulness tips, the mind benefits from an all-round workout. Which means that mental balance, and exercise that’s more focused, effective and fun will come to us naturally.