How Well Do You Feed Yourself? (It’s Not Just Food)

How well do you feed yourself these days? Let’s agree on something: we are what we eat, think, and do.

Of course, you know that balanced nutrition is not enough to get it together…

Your mental state plays a big role here. Up until now: no news. I’m sure we agree.

The quality of your thoughts has a huge weight here: whether they empower you or they devitalized you (which is the same to say they rob your energy).

Remember that ole Latin saying “Mens sana in corpore sano”? Well is bi-directional: your physical state affects your mental state, as well your mental health affects your physical state.

Still with me on this, right?

Let’s dig in a little bit more.

1. Feeding Your Brain Fast And Compulsively And Undiscriminately

Times are moving fast and compulsively: at the speed of scrolling. Scrolling and those constant bombard of banners, ads, constantly calling for your attention, but actually distracting you. It compromises your ability to focus. You react like an addicted person. Not healthy at all.

You have no time to reflect, with a critical mind, you lose the habit of developing more profound reasoning, over any subject.

And being with the mind constantly distracted is also exhausting. So exhausted you end up accepting any chewed information: just to spare your exhausted eye and mind from any extra effort.

And if you see the same information many times in a row: you just accept it, without any kind of critical reasoning.

You repeat what is said: because is being said by the majority.

You buy what others buy: because is being bought by the majority.

You eat what other’s eat: because is being eaten by the majority.

Now the question that can’t be silenced: How have you been feeding your mind?

Because it does affect your well-being as a whole.

Some people would say the attack on the tween towers was a crucial turning point in how we perceive the world.

Others might say that the real outrageous point was the everybody was allowed to watch people being decapitated stream on TV. Not because a life was taken – everyday lives are taken by many violent ways – but because we watched it. It changed the way people perceive life. It cheapens it. People became more permeable to accept any kind of violence. It enlarged the spectrum of global tolerance to violence.

How well are you feeding your brain?

2. Mind Affects The Body

Your brain is a physical warehouse, or hardware if you wish.

The mind is a compound of your thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and attitudes record of built-in images and smells, that affect your body’s biological function.

Your mental state happens whether you’re conscious of it, or not.

Each mental state has physiology associated with it – negative or positive - that affects the physiology of your body.

Take stress as an example.

Let us say that you perceive a situation as threatening (might not be real, it might just be your perception of it).

Let’s say that is legal for a civilian to carry a gun. You pass by some who’s carrying a banana for his brunch in the pocket ( you don’t know that it’s a banana, it appears to be a gun). The guy is upset because he had a work discussion. (But you don’t know that). He walks in an aggressive way and is handing to his pocket to take off… A banana.

So: what you see is an angry man walking aggressively in your direction, putting his hand on his pocket to take something that makes you think is a gun.

You have a perception of being in a threatening situation. Stress. Mindstate: feel threatened, feel stress.

How does your body respond to stress? It responds as it is prepared to do, ever since cave-man age: fight or flight reaction.

Your brain sends out a message to the body to produce the stress hormones (adrenalin and cortisol): your heart races, your breath quickens, your muscles get tense. All that to get you ready for action: fight or flight.

The problem is if you constantly perceive your reality as threatening and you are constantly triggering your body to stress reactions. This is are some of the effects of stress on your body that might put your health at serious risk:

Heartburn - is a consequence of producing an excess of stomach acid during stress hormones release
High heart rate and High blood pressure - this will increase chances of having a heart attack;
Insomnia
Weakens immune system and opens doors to many other infections

Back to the spot: how well are you feeding your mind?

Once you know your mind affects your physical health, ask yourself these questions:

1.What is the quality of your thoughts?

Do they give energy, do they support feelings like “ I love My life” or do they make you feel depressed, drained, or discouraged?
Does it build self-confidence?
Are your thoughts yours or implanted by media, or people you gather in with?

2.What is the quality of what you read (books, internet)?

Does it support your goals? The long and short-term goals?
Does it build confidence in what you do and choose on a daily basis? Or it just makes me feel insecure and helpless?
Is the information reliable? Can you read it with a critical mind, without accepting it as dogmatic truth or even useful?
From the information, you get: can you filter and separate what’s useful for you and what you can discard?

3.What is the quality of what you choose to see (videos, films)?

Is it forth or against your core values?
Does it provoke unnecessary stress?
Does it support your short/long term goals in whatever you mean to achieve on a professional or personal aspect?

4.What is the quality of the music you hear?

It doesn’t matter if it’s heavy metal or classical music: what matters is what kind of emotions it triggers you on…

Does it inspire you? Or does it drown you emotionally?
Does it make you feel elevated emotions like passion, joy, enthusiasm, appreciation, belief?
Or does it make you feel low emotions like grief, anger, or rage, discouragement..)?

All these items are in your power to control: choose them well.

You can’t control the world: but it’s sure in your hands to choose what empowers you.

And the quality of your mind-feeding gives an enormous advantage… Over yourself! You’re no longer a cup for others to fill with their own stuff, that very often, mentally weakens you.

3. Body Affects The Mind

How the body affects the mind is evident when you exercise. You feel it.

Other hormones and neurotransmitters are produced and released, but these three ones are the main ones directly responsible for your mood: dopamine ( “happiness” neurotransmitter, endorphin (a natural analgesic) and serotonin (a neurotransmitter that when in low levels is responsible for disturbs like anxiety, depression, and sleep deprivation).

How do these neurotransmitters and hormones affect your mind?

Reduces the effects of the stress hormones on the body;
Reduces stress itself once your perception changes and you are more able to deal with challenging situations and able to process information in a healthier way – without the stress
As those neurotransmitters improve brain activity, exercise improves your memory and cognitive function, as well as it promotes clearer thoughts.