This Is Why Your Mind-Body Connection Is Everything

“Out of options, I tried something new. I tried to think my cramp away. Visualizing the part of my leg that was throbbing, I began to loosen that area in my mind. Soon enough, the muscle in my leg began to relax. For the first time ever, I realized that I could consciously think away a muscle cramp. I believe it was a direct result of knowing the body with my mind.” ― Wim Hof, 'Becoming the Iceman'

I went to a three day Tony Robbins conference. You might have seen them on YouTube, it's where everyone gets together and jumps around to loud music, shouts affirmations and gets up-sold like there's no tomorrow.

At least, they did before Covid.

Whatever your view on these events, I enjoyed it immensely and believe one has to get into a cult-like state of immersion for the process to work. I willingly surrendered and went with the flow.

I tell you this because there was an exercise we did with Tony on stage about reconnection to the body and the self. He talked about how to get your heart and breathing in harmony with each other to relax and focus. He made us put our hands on our hearts and then go through a mental exercise about gratitude to feel the love and power in our body as well as our minds.

It was an incredible experience. I've had some minor but very stressful heart problems in the past and always viewed my heart as something to be afraid of as much as needed. As if we were almost not a team, with the same goal of keeping me alive!

Without hyperbole, I "made friends" with my heart that day. It was as if I'd forgotten we love each other. Much like anxiety is merely trying to protect you and keep you safe, so is all of your body. When something goes wrong in the body, it's trying to solve a problem and help.

The body and mind aren't separate. They're in love with each other, tangled together in a cosmic dance of enchantment, a divine team working for you and through you.

The mind may struggle, become clouded, get lost in its own obsessive thought patterns, caught in a self-referential cycle, yet the body can emancipate it with exercise, movement, a good diet and vibrancy. 

The body has an ability to succumb to weakness, feel fatigue and age but the mind can and will refuse to allow it to acquiesce, dragging it by the scruff of the neck and pushing it on whether it be in performance sports, getting up in the morning or just the challenges of getting older. 

This is a divine partnership and when both the body and the mind are engaged and work together, the universe moves and shakes and bows to their union. Mountains will part at the power they together wield. 

Yet never underestimate the power of the body or the mind to work against us. The body can kill the mind; the pain, the weakness, the sickness, and the mind can become trapped and exhausted, eventually succumbing to the body's inertia. The mind can also kill the body. A healthy, beautiful, strong body full of potential, used for self-harm and suicide, or at least told to shut down and stop working, to give in.

And when this partnership turns sour, when addiction kicks in, when the body and mind rot from anger and sloth, it's a destructive force that corrodes.

It's an unpalatable truth but it happens. Yet, it can always be turned around. There is no final chapter if you're still here. It's still your set, it's still your turn to play the game, to roll the dice and see what's next.

So stay vigilant and serve your mind with your body and your body with your mind. Keep their dance balanced. These are the most powerful gifts the universe has to offer you and when they work in tandem they become reality-shaping tools that can take you anywhere and give you anything.

Everything on this planet has come from mind and then body. So work on them, protect them and hone their duel power. 

Your resolve might be strong but your body still had to act it out. The body can act but it needs direction. Together, this mind-body, partnership, this psycho-philosophical partnership can serve you not just well, but epically.

For you are the soul and they are your powerful servants.