Building and maintaining mental strength
Thursday 18 February 2021
You're probably already aware of concerns expressed in the media about the lockdown affecting people's mental health. All of us have had to cope with uncertainty, fear, deprivation and isolation, in a surreal environment none of us has any previous experience of. To keep ourselves steady and stay strong, there has never been a more important time to build and maintain our mental strength.
Below are a few tips to help you build and maintain mental strength.
1. Mind over muscle
Every athlete, every fighter, will tell you that when the chips are down, it's the mind that gets you up from the floor, not your muscles.
Remember, your muscles are an extension of your mind. The reason unimpaired people start to shuffle around aimlessly is nothing to do with their legs. Their legs are obeying their minds. So keep creating a direction for your mind, and your body will follow. However small the action, try and give it some meaning in your mind. All activities mean something, nothing is meaningless.
2. Be conscious of your breathing
We don't have to think to breathe. Our brain does it for us, via a breathing nerve.
However, becoming conscious of your breathing can have a profound effect on your wellbeing. In the Dojo, for example, we're taught to exhale as we connect with a punch or kick. But good breathing doesn't just relate to martial arts. It is also the key to relaxation and smooth body movement generally. So practise normal physical activities with conscious breathing. For instance, if you're picking something up, exhale as you lift. Not just heavy objects, but even a cup from a saucer. Make breathing in and out a conscious part of your body's activity, combining mind, breathing and movement together, so you flow like water through life.
3. Use breathing to meditate
Spend a few minutes of your day meditating.
No previous experience required. Do it from a comfortable, seated position. Close your eyes. Breathe IN through the nose, breathe OUT through the mouth. Say IN to yourself as you inhale, say OUT to yourself as you exhale. This is your mantra. Thoughts will keep trying to crowd in, but just focus on your mantra, IN, OUT. If you fall asleep doing this, no problem!
4. Give up multi-tasking
Give each task, however small, its own space and time, and carry it out properly and diligently.
This maintains order in your life, de-stressing and relaxing you.
5. There is no such thing as failure
Regard every experience as a success.
If the result is different from what you expected or hoped for, that is teaching you what didn't work. Store it in your library of experience. It will better equip you for the future. And remember Albert Einstein's quote: "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result".