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Home / Northern Advocate

Carolyn Hansen: Exercise the tool that nurtures a healthy body, mind and spirit

Carolyn Hansen
By Carolyn Hansen
Northern Advocate columnist·Northern Advocate (Whangarei)·
19 Mar, 2019 01:00 AM4 mins to read

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Physical activity reaches into the deepest level of our awareness and taps into and puts us in touch with our spiritual side/our higher consciousness. Photo / Getty Images

Physical activity reaches into the deepest level of our awareness and taps into and puts us in touch with our spiritual side/our higher consciousness. Photo / Getty Images

HEALTH BY CHOICE

Exercise is empowering in so many ways. It strengthens our mental state, helps to balance hormones and level our emotional wellbeing and heals the physical body.

It is the vehicle that delivers fresh oxygen and blood to the brain that helps clear the demanding and incessant mind clutter that otherwise results in depression, sadness, anger, anxiety and stress. It produces our happy hormone serotonin (as well as other mood-altering hormones) and works as a powerful antidepressant.

But the benefits of exercise don't stop there. The reality is, exercise has a wide range of influences that help heal us and aids nearly all systems in our bodies.

Real authentic living has never been about existing, it's about thriving. To "thrive" means to grow vigorously, to flourish - to realise our goals despite or even because of our circumstances. We cannot thrive until all our energy bodies are aligned – our spiritual, mental, emotional and physical and exercise is key to getting us there.

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It's physical movement that stimulates our energy fields to shift and align. It forces energy blockages and stagnate areas within us to loosen up and makes it easier for us to recognise and work on them. It allows us to disconnect from our demanding mind-chatter and reconnect with what really matters the most, our hearts. It helps us redirect our psychic, emotional and physical energy.

The body is the temple, it houses your "inner light." Take care of your body and it takes care of you. Photo / Getty Images
The body is the temple, it houses your "inner light." Take care of your body and it takes care of you. Photo / Getty Images

But, more than all that, physical activity is empowered to reach into the deepest level of our awareness and tap into and put us in touch with our spiritual side/our higher consciousness. Don't let the word spiritual throw you off. The spiritual body is simply our connection to energy. Think of it as a connection to your atoms. We are electro-magnetic beings of energy/light.

Our endocrine system is a fundamental hormonal transmission and exchange system and hormones are powerful beyond any knowledge we currently have.

What we do know is that when our hormonal system is damaged and not working properly, we don't receive the inner guidance we need because everything is connected and works as one unit. Without inner guidance leading the way, our mind-chatter has a hay-day. Never a good thing!

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Exercise gives us the opportunity to be fully engaged in the moment where body, mind and spirit join and operate as one force. It offers the perfect time to detach from chaos and self-reflect.

Exercise not only allows us to discover areas within ourselves that are holding us back, but gives us the confidence and courage to face them and change them with determination and fortitude. It fosters discipline, and discipline plays an important role towards succeeding in everything we do. It trickles down and empowers us in all areas of our lives.

When we exercise, we produce new neurons in the hippocampus (our learning and memory centre) which gives us clarity. When our mental state is alert and sharp, our problems get solved quicker and easier and we experience more success in reaching our goals. Mindfulness becomes our daily practice and gratitude and appreciation become our daily mantras.

Exercise is also key to detoxing. An important aspect when you realise how many times we are challenged during the day with toxic poisonous substances either in the foods we eat, the air we breathe or the words we accept as truth. That's right. Words can be as poisonous to our hearts as rat poison is to our body, causing disease and death.

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It's exercise that's empowered to help us avoid and block these negative conversations from taking root and festering. It is the perfect panacea towards the health of our entire person - body, mind, emotions, and spirit.

Ancient cultures worldwide recognised and honoured the connection between body, mind and spirit. They were fully aware their overall health depended on the health of all bodies, not just the physical body.

Your new mantra: Healthy body, healthy mind, healthy spirit.

Exercise is the tool that bridges them together as one empowering unit. A stronger heart, a sharper mind, balanced emotions and a deeper connection to your spiritual side are the result.

Once you have them working as one unit, what has the power to stop you?
The body is the temple where all this all takes place. It houses your "inner light". Take care of your body and it takes care of you.

• Carolyn Hansen is co-owner of Anytime Fitness.

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