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Mens sana in corpore sano (A sound mind in a sound body).

“A sound mind in a sound body, is a short but full description of a happy state in this World: he that has these two, has little more to wish for; and he that wants either of them, will be little the better for anything else.”

            — John Locke

Nearly everything I encounter about health and fitness today includes taking care of the physical body (including exercise, nutrition, breathing, and sleep), as well as mental processes including meditation, mental imagery and the ability to focus your mind — overall wellness, personal vitality and engagement with what we have learned to call “flow”.

Some use the term “integral” and some use the term “wholistic” (holistic) to describe the mind, body, spirit connection that is prevalent today in the areas of health, overall fitness and the feeling of being alive; that leads into that metanormal state called “flow” that is a hallmark or introduction to spirituality

This is not a recent development in thinking. It goes back to the ancients and probably further back into earlier human history. Rituals, rites and altered states were part of life, and physical fitness was a given if one wanted to survive. Ancient Greeks considered the physical state with as much, if not more reverence than education. The mind body connection has always been a part of Eastern medical and spiritual philosophies. Western thought leaders of the late 19th and early 20th century rejuvenated the concept of the mind body connection, and of course it has played a large role in Western medicine in the late 20th and continues into the early 21st century.

Today, W/Holistic medicine is the norm in many places and the traditional Western medical community is beginning to accept it in part, as part of sensible medical diagnosis and treatment. That’s partly why exercise and nutrition have come to play such an important part in today’s wellness thinking. It’s been said that exercising and caring for the body are the foundations for finding mind and spirit and can be a catalyst in finding long term “flow”.

Maybe all the above is why there is such a focus today on the connection between physical movement, meditation and mental imagery — why w/holistic or integral thinking is now in the forefront of the mind-body world.

So, in these blog articles, I will continue to emphasize and explore the connection that so clearly exists.

Here is the full text of the original ancient Roman quote: “Mens sana in corpore sano “(A sound mind in a sound body):

From Wikipedia:   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mens_sana_in_corpore_sano

The phrase comes from Satire X of the Roman poet Juvenal (10.356). It is the first in a list of what is desirable in life:

Of all the things I’ve written about in these blog posts for the last several years, all are useless unless you do them — unless you actually put them into practice. No matter how badly you want to lose 40 pounds; no matter how badly you want to build your body up; no matter how much of a burning desire you have to see something accomplished; unless you have the self-discipline to take action, whatever it is you want — won’t happen.

Wanting to do something is not good enough. Having a burning desire to do something is not good enough. No matter how willing you are to make it happen, unless you self-actualize, unless you have the self-discipline to execute on a plan of action, unless you have the self-discipline to actually carry it out — only then will you be heading toward your goal. No matter how badly you want to stop eating, no matter how much of a burning desire you have to lose that weight, unless you actually push yourself away from the plate, or put less on the plate in the first place — you will not lose the weight.

Self-discipline is a major challenge for most of us. But to reach goals, you must  do the things that move you toward the result you want, whether you want to or not. Wishing something so, will not make it so.

I am fortunate. I enjoy going to the gym very early in the morning. I am a morning person. I enjoy exercise for it’s own sake. I see a lot of people at the gym in the morning who don’t want to be there — but they are there. They don’t like getting up early; they don’t like to exercise — but they do it because they know that have to if they want to stay lean, trim and live a long life. I know, I talk to a lot of them and that’s what they tell me. There are times I don’t want to go to the gym. I just don’t feel like exercising. That’s where self-discipline takes over. I know that if I want to stay healthy and fit, I have to go. So I do. Rarely do I stay home because I just don’t feel like going.

How do you develop self-discipline? How do you make yourself cut back on something you know is unhealthful. I don’t know. I suppose it is different for each of us. For me it’s a matter of just moving forward, getting in the car, opening the garage door, and going. Once I am on my way, I am not turning around. I put my gym bag in the car the night before so that isn’t a mental obstacle in the morning. I suppose it has become a habit.

If you are 40 pounds overweight and you want to lose that weight, motivation will help, but all the motivation in the world won’t get the job done. Self-discipline will put that motivation into action. Any time you want to change a current reality into a new reality, you must have the willingness, the desire,  the motivation, and most importantly the self-discipline to take action to get the result you want so badly. You can’t write your own story without self-discipline.

Thank you for reading.

Do you get too much exercise? Did you know there was such a thing as “overtraining syndrome”. Naturally there’s a “syndrome”. If my ear itches twice in one day, I have “itchy ear syndrome”. I wrote the words “overtraining syndrome” in my notes for this article thinking naively that I was going to coin a new term and end up on CNN or Oprah, or something. Alas, when I was researching the topic of over-exercising, there it was in black and white. I’m so disappointed. Just think of the publicity I could have gotten.

Seriously, over-exercise can be a problem, particularly for Seniors, beginners and otherwise out of shape people. It’s not limited to new exercisers; it can hit anybody.  It happens when you exercise too much, too hard, too often, too fast, and too intensely. It happens when you are 65 years old and you try and show off for the youngsters at the gym. It happens when you are by yourself and try to run five miles the first time you have run in years. It happens when you try to lift weights that are far too heavy. It happens when you binge on exercise thinking you are going to lose 30 pounds in two weeks and end up looking like Arnold Schwarzenegger. Sometimes people exercise when they are already physically fatigued.

The results  of overexercise can be pain, strain, stress fractures, muscle tears, simple soreness, fatigue, and other unpleasant results. It can cause “exercise burnout” (I didn’t coin that term either) — you just feel like exercise isn’t worth it anymore.

It’s preventable. Don’t exercise so hard, so fast, so often, so much, so intensely. Don’t lift more than you are capable of. Don’t show off. Don’t make really weird movements. Duh.

OK, so you didn’t pay attention and now you have “overtraining syndrome”. You ache, have a pain, or some other injury. If it is a real strain (hernia), stress fracture, tear, or other real injury, you should probably see a doctor. If it’s a simple ache or pain, it will probably go away with a few days of rest. A caveat here: If you are experiencing a sharp pain, you probably should at least check with your doctor. It could be more serious. The truth is that in most cases, your body will tell you what you should or shouldn’t do.

And remember this, the more fit you are, there is less of a chance of injury. The more fit you are, normally the faster the recovery. So, get fit, but don’t overdo it.

There are a lot of charts and graphs and studies that you can go to and make it real complicated for yourself if you want to. But the idea of this blog is to keep things simple and easy to understand. The cause, results and recovery techniques for over-exercising are pretty basic in most cases — but not in all. In most cases, your body will tell you how serious a problem it is. Use your judgment whether to see a medical professional. But for the simple cases, a bit of rest will alleviate most of the problems.

Thank you for reading.