Mind over matter1

The great Italian painter, sculptor and architect, Leonardo da Vinci had once famously said, “Iron rusts from disuse, stagnant water loses its purity and in cold weather becomes frozen; even so does inaction sap the vigours of the mind.” As simply as I can put it, emotional strength is relevant for physical fitness. In order to fully transform yourself and make your lifestyle a worthy one, one needs to put mind and body in balance and work it together.

It is often told to us that a fit body can transform your mind into a healthy one. But the reality is otherwise. Mental stability can result in all kinds of transformations. Instead of seeking gratification with a fast and furious workout regime, we should rather consider the inner workings of our mind. It is very easy to tell yourself that you are fine and your outer personality is what will attract people to you, but in the long run, it is your whole personality,
body and mind included which makes you a hit or flop with people.

In the current scenario, most people want to lose weight because they feel that a size zero can give them that inner happiness. We go on extreme diets and exercise regimes, just to make sure that we achieve our goal of being fit. But the bigger problem here is if you haven’t considered the fitness of the mind, all these goals are just temporary. All these achievements of the body will last until your determination dies because your old habits begin to creep in again.

The physical needs of a person are easily noticed, but what we miss out are emotional needs because most people do not spell it out. Many of us, right since our childhood are taught to ignore our emotions or feelings towards something or somebody. A traumatic experience is often shoved under the carpet. Boys are told it is not right to cry, girls are told we shouldn’t show too much affection else they are termed names/easily available. 

But to reach a healthy, balanced life it is important to be in touch with your emotional needs. We all need companionship, love, intimacy as much as we need an hour-long workout in the gym. We need to feel the sense of belonging, we need to seek purpose and meaning of our life, we need to feel challenged from our surroundings and be able to overcome it. We need stability in our relationships as well as a goal to run after each day. While exercise is utmost important so is regular sleep. It is only when we give all our needs attention, does our body work in tandem. We can all be the heroes of our life, but to be the true champions, we need a fit mind combined with a fit body.

Suniel Shetty is seen as the mentor and host in the reality series India’s Asli Champion… Hai Dum, that airs every Saturday-Sunday at 9 pm on &TV.