Mind over Matter
The power of the mind is highly underestimated. My husband and I were driving in the car when a man on the radio said “if you can conceive it in your mind, then you can do it”. This statement is not meant to be taken literally, because if we can see ourselves jumping off a cliff and flying we would be very disappointed when gravity takes over and we plummet to the ground. However, the mind is a very powerful tool when used appropriately.
Scientific evidence shows we are able to continually improve our cognitive skills by training our brains through games of logic, learning new languages, solving complex puzzles, and challenging our memories, but most of the time we find ourselves going through the same routine day in and day out allowing our brains to shrink and our memory to fail due to laziness.
Many times I hear my clients tell me they just did not feel like doing their exercises. Or they were too tired to get up in the morning to exercise. I hear the same excuses everyday: I was going to get up and do my exercises, but I was so tired I decided to sleep in, but I will do them when I get off work. Only to discover, once they finally get off from work during their drive home, the motivation during the day to exercise after work has left and been replaced with the weariness of the day and the need for a quick supper and rest. It is a vicious cycle of putting off to tomorrow what should be done today. I tell my clients 90% of the battle is getting to the gym. Once you are there and begin to do the exercises, you discover you have a little more energy than you thought you had and the more you do the better you feel. Your sleep is improved; your mood is improved, and when you wake up, you feel refreshed. Used correctly our mind can be a powerful tool of productivity in our lives. Literally speaking, if we can conceive ourselves living healthy through exercise and proper nutrition, then this is achievable in our life.
When obstacles arise in our life that present setbacks and don’t allow us to do what we were normally able to do either mentally or physically, there is a dangerous pitfall of depression we can fall into. I have witnessed this many times in people’s lives watching how they limit their physical ability by what they believe. “I can’t” rings loudly out of their mouths when they no longer believe. One of my patients had a total knee replacement and was experiencing a lot of pain, which was keeping her up at night. She was sleep deprived in addition to taking pain medication. One day when she came to therapy, she insisted she would not be able to ride the bike, but I had examined her knee and with my experience knew this is just what the joint needed.
Joints love movement and our human bodies are made up of many joints and we were designed to move not be sedentary.
So after some convincing she was on the bike. Within minutes she was making full revolutions on the bike and crying at the same time. The tears were not tears of pain but of disbelief and excitement that she had reached this milestone in her recovery process. She did not believe she could do it and she told me several times she could not do it, but I believed and I knew she could. If we allow our minds to be unruly and double-minded then we will be unstable in all of our ways, according to James 1:8.
The power of transformation begins in the mind. We need to first conceive in our mind what it is we want to accomplish in our health. Whether it be sickness or lameness, we have the ability to change our circumstances in how we think and behave. Romans 12:2 tells us: Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of our minds, that by testing [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][we] may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
God came that we may have life and have it more abundantly, but if we never change our thoughts and train our minds, then our bodies will never come in alignment. All too often when our mind is negotiating with our body to exercise we convince ourselves we just can’t do it. We need more rest; we need more sleep, but what we need more is movement and less excuses. I encourage people not to entertain the thoughts of negotiation when it comes to exercise. Don’t hit snooze in the morning, promising yourself you will work out after work. This allows too many interruptions to interfere with your after work workout. I fell into this trap myself. Nike said it best when they said “Just Do It”. I encourage you to discipline your mind and your body; bring them in alignment with your goals and visions: Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he(Proverbs 29:18).[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]
