I don’t know if you have this question but there are several proven ways to strengthen your mind
And me personally, well I’m a hypnotist!
Of course I’m always interested in such things XD
So I’m going to share a few ways on how to strengthen your mind
And no it isn’t just all meditation hahaha
I will share 2 tips each for the body, the mind, and the soul
And you will know why by the time you read to the end 😉
Strengthen your body
There is a mind body connection and thus, whatever affects the body affects the mind and vice versa
Hence a body with malnutrition also means that your mind won’t have enough nutrients and energy!
So what does it mean to strengthen the body?
1. Eating proper nutrition
Having the proper nutrition doesn’t just mean a well balanced diet
This is because different people might require different nutrition to balance themselves
So if the food is balanced, it might not balance the body
Perhaps to illustrate a bit better, I recently learnt an introduction to Traditional Chinese Medicine
And learnt that some people might be more warm, and others might be more cold
Thus, the people who have a naturally warm body need to take more cooling stuff
Vice versa, the people with a more naturally cool body need to take more warm food
And it isn’t just temperature hot or cold either
Ginger has more heat for example, as compared to something like green bean
Another interesting concept from TCM is that all the organs need to be functioning well to provide nutrients as well as qi to the brain
But maybe I’ll share that in a future post when I understand better 😀
Having a better understanding of ourselves, will allow us to treat ourselves better when it comes to nutrition
Since we all have our own unique constitutions
2. Regular exercise
Naturally, even with proper nutrition, you still need some physical activity to strengthen your body
If one doesn’t do much activity, one might experience muscle weakness, or even muscle degeneration
And that’s not good
One of my clients admitted that she didn’t eat well, and tend to laze in bed, so little wonder she lost weight until she look old and haggard within a year
That’s not healthy at all!
The key is regular exercise
You don’t have to exercise too strenuously or vigorously if you don’t want to
Simple light exercises is fine too
I think light to medium might be good enough
Personally for me, I like to incorporate even in daily activities
So this means the sitting posture, the way we walk, etc
Imagine walking with an oomph!
And compare to someone dragging their feet as they walk
Yea, both might get 10,000 steps, but you can imagine the energy and use of muscles in the one that is walking right and proper
Compared to the one who drags their feet
Regular exercise can also get your blood circulation moving
Which sends dopamine and endorphins in the brain which makes you happy as well
On top of the destressing factor
Strengthen your mind
Having a strong body can also strengthen your mind
But what if I already eat well and exercise well?
So I just want to focus on the mind strengthening part
Naturally there are a few ways one can do that
1. Learn something new
Sounds odd but learning something new does strengthen your mind
When we learn something new, we have to stimulate different parts of our brain depending on what is it we are learning
In doing so, our brain forms new neural pathways
And this enhances on our previous learning, as we see new connections and possible patterns
For example, quite a while back I learnt about the benefits of deep breathing
And one thing that struck me was that it’s the natural way of breathing
Babies breathe deep into their stomachs, and only “lose” it as we grow up
Also, breathing only into our lungs, it might even be more shallow, and thus, does not fully expand our lungs and oxygenate our body
Imagine my surprise when I learn recently in TCM that the lungs and the liver work together in regulating qi in the body
And when we breathe in the air, we are absorbing qi from the external environment
So an idea that formed in my mind, was that what if the deep breathing allows the expansion of the lungs to stimulate the liver, and thus, pushing the qi onwards
When one is healthy, the liver qi can ascend into the head and brain, providing a good flow of qi
In addition, since both the liver and spleen are below the lungs, it is also possible that the deep expansion of the lungs might stimulate the spleen
Which from an understanding of TCM, can also assist to send nutrients upwards to the brain
You can see how my current learnings connect and stack upon my previous learnings
Naturally, if one were to keep learning something new, the mind will continuously be strengthened with knowledge and new neural pathways
2. Practicing mindfulness
Although my learning TCM is relatively new, mindfulness is something which I have been doing for a long time
And yes you can do mindfulness meditation too, I guess you can call mine active mindfulness
Active mindfulness is when you are practicing mindfulness while still going about with everyday activities
Thus you can do it when you are eating, walking, even working!
I share more in depth here as well as how to start practicing active mindfulness
Personally, I think this is much more effective as compared to the usual mindfulness meditation
And this strengthens the mind in far more ways than one
It has allowed me to remain calm in spite of horrible or disastrous situations!
For example, when my mom had her stroke, and my brothers were anxious, and breaking down
I was calm and able to focus on what needs to be done
Naturally, it is normal to break down in a sudden life-changing event
I too broke down severely when I found out my lung burst in my sleep at 20 years old
But back then I didn’t do much to strengthen my mind yet
That’s why you can tell the vast change and difference since doing this!
Strengthen your soul
Besides understanding how our mind and body are connected and help each other
We cannot neglect our soul!
You can strengthen your mind with a good foundation of the soul too
Now of course, you might find that it overlaps and that’s fine too
Afterall, we have interesting connections with ourselves don’t we?
1. Gratitude
Now gratitude might be placed under strengthening of the mind, but I prefer to put it under the soul because of how it enriches us from within
I personally feel that when you can truly feel grateful for things, you can begin to unshackle the chains that bind you
Now if you are curious how gratitude works, you can read the science and spirituality of it here
Imagine being able to release some of the negative stuff that binds us, that holds us down
To the point where, if you were in a really bad situation, you just aren’t affected much by it
In a way, having a strong soul and a strong mind, you will be able to adjust to ever-changing circumstances if necessary
Several years ago, a client scolded me on the streets for quite a while
The entire time I remained cheerful and was smiling at her
If you are curious why she did that so suddenly…
Well, my best guess is that she was using my appointment as a cover to cheat on her husband
Cause the guy she was having coffee with covered his face when he saw me
You can read about some of the good and not so good client stories here
To me, I have new found knowledge of the lengths some people might go with regards to themselves
And ultimately, I’m still learning about human psychology isn’t it?
2. Prayer
Regardless of your religion, prayer connects you to your God, or a higher being, or a source
Prayer can also be used as a form of wishing and wanting blessings upon yourself, to your family and friends
In fact, Dr Emoto water experiment shows how positive or negative words and emotions can affect water
Now imagine for a minute, when we pray, we are usually saying good things right?
So what happens when we pray over our food?
The tradition of praying and giving thanks before meals, can be considered a form of blessing to the food
And thus, when we consume such food, we revitalize ourselves as well
In fact, I was helping my fengshui master at a numerology workshop and decided to pray or bless a particular bottle of water before the attendees arrive
As luck will have it, one of them was a friend of mine and she decided to sit at the seat of the water bottle I prayed over
Later after the workshop, I had a chat with her and she shared something interesting!
She felt there was something special or different about the water she drank
Because after she drank it, she can feel herself getting energized!
So yes, that’s the power of prayer
So how to strengthen your mind?
I’ve shared 6 ways, broken into 2 ways per aspect from body, mind and soul
Hopefully this allows you to have an easier framework to start with
Naturally, once you got the hang of things you can continue to explore other ways to strengthen your mind
Feel free to start with one and progressively add on
Or you can do all simultaneously too
Just consider one fact
Your mind is with you 24/7
Don’t think that just 1 hour a week of meditation is enough to strengthen your mind
Perhaps 1 hour a day might be useful shrug
However, if you were able to adopt all the above practices
You will be maximizing your time and effort
Through nutrition and exercise, through active mindfulness and learning, and through gratitude and prayer
And I believe, just like some of my clients
You too will experience a positive change with your mind 🙂
