The Eternal, Internal Battle of Mind vs. Body: Part 1
Posted by Peter James | Posted in Balanced Life, Healthy Living | Posted on 08-09-2008
Tagged Under : achieve anything, Achieve My Wildest Dreams, balance my mind & body, become successful, body, give me strength, mind, soul, spirit, wildest dreams
YinVsYang was created to help shed light on the internal battles we all have on a daily basis, but usually fail to vocalize with others. We wanted to open up our souls, and tell all of the things we silently tell ourselves to the rest of the world. We figured if we think like this, than it must be that other people do as well.
By understanding the way we all function inside, it will help us to better understand other people’s reactions as well. This helps us immeasurably in our daily lives. Each time you interact with people, your emotion subsides, and your understanding takes over. It leaves you calmer, with a clearer mind, and able to think from different perspectives. Instead of being mad at someone for how they are acting, you turn it around, by understanding their motives. This gives you the edge. The person who gets the most emotional is the person who is the most out of control.
So what is the Mind Vs. Body?
With this in mind, I have decided I am going to do a three part series on the Mind Vs. the Body. I hope that others will join in the discussion in hopes we may all learn from one another’s experiences. I have found that controlling this internal battle is the key to winning the external war we know as ‘life‘.
I always write about the story of the 4-minute mile. This short video explains a little more about the story and why it is an example of the MInd vs. Body.
The Mind
The mind is one of the most powerful muscles in the entire universe. It represents the cerebral part of life, where all of your thought processes take place, such as….
- Dreams
- Goals
- Desires
- Beliefs
- Mood
- Fears
- The Conscience
- Interpreting Emotions & Feelings
- Judgement
- Memory
- Visualization
- Willpower
The Body
The body, is the other part of the equation. It represents the physical world. Your body provides all of the communication about the outside world to the mind, such as…
- Temperature
- Perception (sight)
- Taste
- Smell
- Sound
- Touch
- Pain
- Breathing
- Energy Levels
- Health
Spirit
The balance & connection between these two entities make up your spirit. It is your spirit that drives your daily life. For example, the mind has dreams and desires which effect which sights, sounds, and any other stimulus you pay attention to. If you are interested in Jiu Jitsu, and you hear someone speak about it, then you are more likely to stop and listen.
What happens sometimes in all our lives is that one part of this equation takes control and messes up the balance inside us. You may have a person who is lost in their beliefs, dreams, fears, or past memories, and is unable to function in the physical world. This can be the story of their entire life, or it can be a small phase.
Or, on the other side of the coin, you have a person that is completely sensual, paying only attention to the physical aspects of life. They ignore all of their rational thoughts in order to pursue a life of the flesh. They have decided that feeling good physically is much more important than feeling good inside.
I’m sure, at one time or another, we have all experienced highs and lows like these in each of our lives. Maybe we let the physical feelings control our mind and our actions, or instead, had our fears override any normal logic. It is in this regard that life is a constant challenge that never ends. Each of us struggle to balance our mind & body on a daily basis, whether we are aware of it or not. It is the people who learn enough discipline on both sides of the battle that go on to achieve their wildest dreams.
How Can This Help Me Achieve My Wildest Dreams?
Well, you’ll have to be patient and tune in for part 2. I guess, this in itself, is your very first lesson in discipline
. But first, I would like to hear any thoughts or stories where you have found (or at least just realized) that your body & mind may have been a bit unbalanced. The first step is always awareness.
Before we continue, I want you to think about this idea of balance. See what takes precedence in your life: body or mind?. Are you a person who follows your emotions &/or fears, wearing them on your sleeve? Or are you a person who leads a life of the flesh, learns from experience only, and listens to no one but themselves? Or maybe, you are somewhere in between, like the majority of us? Either way, it is important to understand how you work before we go any further.
For me, I like to think I do a pretty good job of balancing the two. When I was younger, I was completely a Mind person. I was overridden by emotion, fear, and life like most of us are. As I grew older, I began to understand more about the body. I began to understand how my body communicates with my mind, and how to interpret what it is ‘really’ saying. I began to understand that there is a lot more to this balance than I thought.
I also began to understand the dual Power of the Mind and the importance of the spirit. See you here for part two, if you have the discipline…


