How can people find peace and reduce stress in today’s hectic world? Learning to live in the moment is the first step.
One way to start living in the moment is to exercise regularly and, in particular, to practice repetitive exercise that focuses on the movement of every muscle. Intensely focusing on muscle strain links the mind and the body.
Live in the Moment By Practicing Mental and Physical Exercise
Exercising helps a person’s body and mind focus on the moment. Whether practicing Yoga, Tai Chi, karate, lifting weights, walking, or performing another focused strenuous activity, when the muscles are strained, the mind focuses on the body motion. Focusing on each individual human movement and muscle stretch forces the mind to live in that single moment. The body and mind work together, focused completely on the motion, the burn, the concentration.
Take the example of a low block in karate or a curl when weightlifting. In both of these cases, the arm moves in a deliberate motion, straining the muscle. As the participant feels the muscle strain, the head clears, and the mind notices only that sensation, that power. Everything stops with each movement. For just that moment - and then the next, and then the next - as the body performs each motion. Until ten minutes, 30 minutes, or more have gone by — moment by moment — the body and mind are in tune with one another and the focus is on the motion of the body.
When the workout is over, the body feels both relaxed and rejuvenated at the same time. A person feels empowered and ready for the adventures — and stresses — that life brings. Anyone who has ever seriously exercised can probably recall the feeling of the burn after a workout, the mixture of pain and strength.
Connecting the mind to the body with such intense focus brings a sense of wholeness that leads to peace and that can only be described as a confident calm.
How the Mind-Body Connection Through Exercise Helps People Find Peace
The discipline, sense of well being, and mind-body connection achieved through regular strenuous exercise benefits a person physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
Focusing on the body’s every muscle stretch and strain forces the mind to focus on each minute detail, the sense of the burn, the warmth of the stretch, making all else disappear - for just a moment, and then the next and the next…until many moments have passed. Over time (passing moment by moment), peace envelops a person because he is one with his body.
At moments like these, when a person focuses so completely on movement of the muscles, mind and body in tune, it becomes possible to set the hectic world aside. Just for a moment, the responsibilities and stress of running a family or maintaining a career halt. As the mind and body come together, problems live somewhere else, outside of a person.
If a person spends enough time exercising, experiencing these mind-body connections outside of everyday responsibilities, then those peaceful moments start to stay with her, helping her find peace amidst the craziness of daily life. She can take regular time to exercise, revitalizing both the body and the mind, but she can also feel calmer and more at peace throughout the rest of her life. This brings harmony to all of a person’s actions, relationships, and life.
Focusing on the muscle strain of strenuous exercise, bringing the body and mind together, can help human beings achieve the kind of moment-by-moment living that leads to finding peace. Through this moment-by-moment peace, exercise turns negative energy into positive energy and strengthens a person’s body, mind, and soul.
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