Head Health

Mind, body and spirit. If you are an avid follower of this blog you know I deeply believe in this holistic approach. When I instruct spinning classes, my mission is to give students a total body workout. A workout for their physical bodies AND for their minds.

Have you ever read a book or listened to a lecture and found yourself nodding with agreement, excited about the information you are receiving? That’s what happened last night to me as I watched this TED Talk.

In the talk, Guy Winch, asks the question, how do we stay emotionally healthy? He explains how we are taught routines that keep us physically healthy, like brushing our teeth. However do you have a routine to keep your mind healthy?

Every morning I read a daily devotional. It’s something that helps me to center myself, before the day becomes a whirlwind of tasks. At night, before I go to bed I write down five things that happened during the day. Sometimes they are generic, like “went to gym – had a great workout,” other times they are more specific, “bumped into lady washing hands in bathroom – talked about how grateful we are to have water.”

Writing these five things helps me to reflect on my day. I focus not just on the events themselves, but how they made me feel. Occasionally I will put a happy or sad face next to what I have written down to document those emotions. When I am finished with the five things I write what I am looking forward to for the next day, to look ahead. A couple of months ago, I also started reading my “Commitment to Self,” which I wrote to help me during a time I was struggling.

All of this takes no more than ten minutes a day. It’s these small routines though, that keep my mind and spirit healthy. Two parts of ourselves that we may not be able to see, but are just as important to maintain as our physical bodies.

#psychology #TEDtalk #mind #head #health