DAY 93 - Mind Racing ... Can’t Get Back to Sleep?

Photo courtesy of xlibber at Flickr Commons

Trick question coming up; don’t be blinded by the obvious.

Lying awake for hours ... unable to quiet your mind; your mind is apt to be blamed. But is sleeplessness entirely caused by worries, unfinished work, or difficult decisions tossed around in your head?

The answer is NO! Turns out the mind-body connection is a veritable thoroughfare with a lot of traffic moving from south to north, especially at night.

That spicy pizza could activate your brain. The distention of your bowel with intestinal gas from that extra glass of milk can cause distress that would manifest in your head. The tightness and tenderness in your muscles and joints certainly don’t produce relaxed brain waves. And surely you didn’t think that that double espresso at 4:45 this afternoon would have no effect. The fact that you haven’t exercised for weeks is no calming influence either.

Your mind may be racing, but your body may be the source of the fuel.

DAY 58 - Age is a State of Mind ... Oh Really?

It is said that “Age is a state of mind.” And I suppose this adage could be true, ... if one doesn’t have a body. But, given that most have both, this saying holds no water, and even carries harmful meaning.

The phrase implies that attitude comes directly from the brain, and suggests that ones attitude controls and determines whether one feels young or old. This is simply wrong. Attitude comes from the body, the brain, and the environment. It is probably primarily induced and influenced most by ones state of health, and how one feels physically. Let us also not forget, that the mind is a part of the body.

A potential danger of a culture believing that feeling old is nothing more than a state of mind, is that those who feel old, are easily blamed for having a bad attitude.

Another danger is that “state of mind” is a red herring distracting our already distracted cultural attention from the dominant factor that regulates whether we feel young or old; that factor is health. When stiff, or sick, or tired, those of us over 30 are apt to say we feel old. Conversely, when pain-free, flexible, and energetic, we tell everyone that we feel like 18 again.

The adage that really tells the story is, “You are only as old as you feel.” That is, when your knees ache, you feel old. Keep in mind that attitude is not the most common cause of knee pain; poor health is.

To summarize; while attitude is important, your body is the main player that determines whether you feel young or old. So; exercise regularly; eat real, healthy food; cultivate close, loving relationships; and you’ll have a better chance of staying forever young.