03 Mar Mindfulness and your physical self
The benefits
Mindfulness improves endurance, reduces physical pain, reduces blood pressure, improves sleep, and improves other physical conditions like psoriasis and fibromyalgia.(Wondering what those are? Say them ten times fast and then google them – bottom line, you don’t want them.)
The mind body connection
When you work on your mind – your thoughts, that constant chatter! – you improve the body.
Your conscious mind is approximately 5% of your brain activity. These are your thoughts about the past, present and future of which you are AWARE. When you think, I’m going to miss this penalty kick, your conscious mind is driving that thought.
Your subconscious mind is 95% of your brain activity and includes all the activity outside of your awareness, like the beating or your heart, your response to a smell and the steps you take to walk to the bathroom. They all happen without much conscious thought. However, your conscious mind does impact and direct your subconscious. You think you might miss the penalty kick? Well, then Ok, the subconscious mind, because it deals with the here and now, will respond with missing the penalty kick. What your conscious mind thinks, you subconscious mind delivers.
Now you can see why your thoughts are so powerful. And those thoughts directly impact your physical self. Feeling super angry? Do you feel your heart race? Your blood pump through your veins? That’s your physical body responding to your thoughts and feelings. Have to make a speech in class and feel like you are going to throw up? That is your physical body responding to your thoughts and feelings. See your crush walking down the hallway and suddenly your cheeks feel hot and you start to shake a bit? Say, “Hello subconscious mind at work.” Your subconscious mind has responded to all the thoughts you have had about these situations. This is why making sure that our thoughts are positive and beneficial to us is so important, because our bodies will be impacted. Over the long term, less stress and more positive thoughts help our bodies to stay healthy.
So, become aware of your thoughts. Make them beneficial and your body will thank you!
wlkhs2314
Posted at 15:33h, 02 MarchA time that I remember when my body reacted to a situation is when I was presenting to my class. I felt like throwing up, my heart started to beat fast, and I was stammering when I was presenting. My face turned red and I started to sweat.
WLKHS2309
Posted at 15:30h, 02 MarchA time that My body reacted to a situation is before an important lacrosse game. Before the game I feel like by stomach is tied in knots. When this situation happens I also start to overthink about messing up even if I know I am fine and played for so long.
WLKHS2322
Posted at 15:29h, 02 Marchsometimes when i get annoyed my body gets like fired up, but i will stay quiet and not talk to anyone so i don’t have to have drama, and i keep all my emotions inside because i feel like if i explode someone will judge me.
WLKHS2320
Posted at 15:27h, 02 MarchOne time i got a really bad cut and I felt angry and the adrenaline rushing through my body reduced the pain so I felt a mix of anger and relief
WLKHS2301
Posted at 15:25h, 02 MarchThere was a time where I needed to present a project in front of my whole class and I had butterflies and I felt like I was gonna pass out. These feelings made me more anxious about presenting, therefore I needed to be aware of this and start taking deep breaths.
Anonymous
Posted at 15:25h, 02 MarchOne time when my body reacted to a situation is when I got very angry at someone after they continuously bothered me, I had just had enough and I punched them. I felt proud of myself for sticking up and not letting people push me around, literally.
wlkhs2307
Posted at 15:25h, 02 Marchwhen finding out bad news, it’s almost like my body shuts down almost like an off switch