Health Redfined – Pillar Two: Mindset

This is the second post in a four-part series. Find Part One HERE

The next pillar that I believe creates a “Joyful You” is Mindset. This pillar is probably my very favorite. It’s also the one I struggle with the most -go figure!

Our body and our brain are very much connected. You can’t have a healthy body without also having a healthy brain/mindet and vice versa.

What is Mindset?

Mindset is the way you think. It’s the thoughts you have, the things you believe, and how you show up in your mind. Your mindset, your thoughts and your beliefs are what determine the results you get in your life. Our mindset is powerful! Have you ever heard the saying, “Change your thoughts, change your life?” It really is true. This concept might be new to you. You might have been taught that life just happens, that we have no control over it. That’s simply not true. Life doesn’t just happen, we are actually creating our life with the thoughts we think. This is good news because it means we can create any life that we want! A healthy mindset leads to a healthy life.

Be Aware of Your Thoughts

The first tool to having a healthy mindset is to just be more aware of your thoughts. We think anywhere from 60,000 – 80,000 thoughts a day. That’s an average of 2500 – 3,300 thoughts per hour! 90% of the thoughts we think are repeats from the day before! Pay attention to your thoughts. Do you like what you’re thinking, especially when it comes to yourself? I’m happy to report that we are not our thoughts! We are the thinker of our thoughts, and as the thinker, if we don’t like them, we get to change them. In order to do this, we have to intentionally think new thoughts. We have to do this over and over and over again. It like to think of it like doing laundry. Just like we never stop having laundry to do, because unfortunately clothes are always getting dirty, we will never stop having negative thoughts. It’s just human nature. It’s the natural man in us. We have to think and control our thoughts every single day. This is a big topic and there are tons of tools to use around changing your thoughts. Don’t worry, I’ll be posting a lot about this in future posts.

Challenge Your Beliefs

The second tool to having a healthy mindset is to challenge your beliefs. What do you believe about yourself, about your weight, about your body, and your appearance? What do you believe constitutes health? Do you believe skinny equals healthy? Do you believe skinny equals happier? Really look at your beliefs and then decide if they’re true? If a belief isn’t working for you. You have permission to change it.

Meditation

The third tool is Meditation. When you read the word ‘meditation’ do you automatically think of a monk in a long flowing robe sitting in a sterile silent room chanting for hours at a time? Yes, that is one form of meditation but there are 100’s of others. Meditation is so good for our mindset because it helps us bring more awareness to our thoughts, and what’s going on around us. It also gives our brain a mini vacation. When we deliberately focus on one thing, instead of 1000 things at once, we allow our brain to rest. Meditating also allows us to be more aware of thoughts that do pop into our mind. Taking time to meditate everyday is key. You can use an app to guide you through a meditation or you can simply be more mindful every time you wash your hands or do the dishes. Paying attention to how the water feels, and how the soap feels between you fingers. You can also meditate by tuning everything else out for just a minute, and focusing on your breath. Yoga is also a form of meditation. See meditation doesn’t have to be weird or boring or have it take all day.