Mind over Mat-ter

Training in any discipline takes persistence and effort in mind and body, whether you are aiming to improve your physical fitness or improve your state of mind through meditation, all things take self directed effort that stems from intrinsic motivation ie. You are more likely to complete and successfully reach any goal if your energy and resolve come from an unbreakable inner motivation.

Take for example getting up early for a workout before your day job; it represents a self-sacrifice of sleep and usually requires going to bed at a regular hour, earlier than usual... which may not be compatible with your personal paradigm for everyday life.  

Conversely, if you see the positive side of going to bed earlier and waking up before the sun rises for yoga, meditation, or any mental and physical fitness session, the gains you feel and see will be exponential as the world of possibilities are opened up before you. Changing one simple behaviour can explode into a catalyst for a changed life in every realm and reality you experience, giving rise to the dreams and desires that were yet to be realised.

One of the most powerful tools we have as humans is the capacity for creative visualisation and retrospective analysis, to create the future we want to experience. By spending five minutes before sleeping each night doing some creative visualisation of the world you want to live in, and the life you want to lead, each and every neural pathway that is used will be strengthened and help to create your ultimate reality.

In a practical sense that can be applied to visualising yourself getting up early in the morning easily and full of energy, ready for action and feeling fully rested. By removing all doubt from the conscious mind and focussing on the outcome you ultimately want, the effort required in the physical world is reduced by the intricate mental rehearsal that takes place in your wakeful mind, that can then continue to be reinforced during your sleeping hours.

It's a skill everyone has and if you are one who loves to daydream or remember doing so as a child then that is the skill to be developed. A natural and powerful tool for changing your reality into whatever you want.

Studies carried out on athletes to test the recruitment of muscle fibres and activation of neural pathways, during creative visualisation vs. physically completing the task have shown the same pathways and muscles are activated with almost the same physical training response. Showing that if we really do put our minds to a task, then we can create the same benefits as when we actually engage in any activity, from chess to surfing and working we can obtain immeasurable benefit from visualising ourselves carrying out the task beforehand. 

Watch your thoughts; they become words.
Watch your words; they become actions.
Watch your actions; they become habits.
Watch your habits; they become character.
Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.

You may like to read some more on the technical aspects of the mind-body relationship and neuropsychobiology here:

Brainathlon - a game that is controlled by players' brainwave activity

Dejian Mind-Body Intervention on Depressive Mood

Optimizing microsurgical skills with EEG neurofeedback

Thanks for reading :) 

Tom@theAcumat.com 

Health & Fitness Coach | Acumat® Inventor  

The advantage of barefoot training and the Acumat® 

We were born barefoot with natural movement and adaptive co-ordination that develops through exploring the physical world, receiving sensory information from the ground that we first crawled on and later walked and ran upon... The feet and hands are dense in sensory nerve fibres and send loads of information to our brain about the texture, density, temperature and contours of each and every surface we touch. 

Once we remove the innate awareness of our environment by wearing shoes that protect and control the movement of our feet we lose a huge amount of sensory awareness and create a neural laziness that can inhibit optimal biomechanical movement and motor control of our stabilising muscles within the feet, ankles, knees, hips and spinal system.

From the ground up we create awareness of how we relate to the earth and control our movement upon it, which metaphysically represents the way that we control and move within our lives.

Re-engaging with our natural movement and awareness via barefoot training, be it running, resistance training or weights, yoga and pilates will create an increased sensory awareness and motor control of intrinsic muscles throughout the body - all the muscles you "didn't know were there".

Next time you're walking barefoot on sand or loose earth take notice of the way your feet fall on the ground, maintain awareness of your toes spreading and the arches lifting to stabilise your feet and thereby your entire body - your body naturally remembers the way it wants to move to minimise force into your joints and improve efficiency of movement to create a healthy balanced physique.

When you walk or run on sand the proprioceptive neural pathways in your body carry information about where your joints and limbs are in space and relay this information instantly so you can adapt to the changing environment in the same way we need to adapt to the daily challenges of our lives.

Create an adaptive and creative movement in your daily routine and feel the difference in your posture and sense of wellbeing!

Thanks for reading :) 

Tom@theAcumat.com 

Health & Fitness Coach | Acumat® Inventor