We recently published a great article on the Mindful Muscle blog that is a must read! The article touches on many great "mind-body" points, including:

• the brain is very much like skeletal muscle in that it adapts according to how it is used
• the mental processes that are active during exercise are being encouraged to develop
• there is no separation of body and mind

Here's is a snippet from the article that illustrates some important ideas:

"It turns out that the same parts of the brain that are active in cognitive function - which include the emotional centers of the brain - are active during movement. In other words, exercise not only trains the musculoskeletal and cardiovascular systems, movement also trains the brain. Specifically, exercise trains the brain to think, feel, and perceive in the way that is chosen (by default or intension) during the exercise. In this way, the mental processes that are active during exercise (including your emotions, attitudes, perspectives) are being encouraged to develop. The more we practice those mental processes linked to the physical exercise, the more our neuroanatomy shifts toward the structures needed for those processes. In addition, muscles contracting during exercise produce hormones that, among other things, travel to the brain to help the neurons grow and form the connections needed to fortify the practiced experience.

In other words, as we exercise the body, muscles produce hormones that provide the opportunity to the shape the brain. As the brain changes, so does the mind (and vice versa). What this means is that there is no separation of body and mind. Your mind is being trained as you move your body whether you know it or not."

View Full Article >> Training Your Body Is Training Your Mind

I would love to hear your thoughts on the article and also about your experience with "mindful training and exercise."

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Chris is the founder of Mindful Muscle. You can find him on the top of a majestic mountain, legs crossed, eyes closed, and doing his part to elevate our collective consciousness. If you can't find him there, he's probably at one of the local gyms he frequents, going head-to-head with a gorilla. Seriously though, you can contact him at chris(-@-)mindfulmuscle.com or his website: www.mindfulmuscle.com