A Sermon on Physicality

It's Sunday, so I thought I'd preach the benefits of a physical lifestyle. Not only that, but why meditation or mindfulness are intrinsic to it. I firmly believe that any human expression which involves the body is  by nature an extension of our spiritual self. Be it love making, power lifting or punching someone upside the head, if it involves a physical act then its root lies in spirituality. It is the human condition to exert ourselves to express our place in the world, through dance, movement, conflict or even on a more subtle level, simple gestures. All of these are extensions of our idea of self and therefore link back to what our beliefs may be, what we want to be in the world and how we develop interplay with our fellow humans. It blows my mind when I think that movement is effectively either a concentric or eccentric phase across muscle tissue that is sparked by a tiny bioelectrical pulse which is created deep inside the mind. Where that pulse begins who knows? Any extreme that the human body is capable of reaching, in any individual, is designed in the mind first and executed accordingly. We, as humans, are pretty amazing as are all species on our shared planet.

Physicality, much like learning a language, is vital to the core of  human existence. All the things that put people off physical effort usually lies with the processes at the beginning. The idea of doing anything for the first time comes with the burden of not knowing what to expect. Will it be hard? will I be able to do it? will I make a fool of myself if I fail at? I can't be arsed eating right, I can't be arsed getting up early, it will change my routine, it's all too hard, too much time wasted we think! Here's a truth for you, if you aren't doing those things now, you're wasting your time already, missing out on ways to express yourself fully. Getting started is genuinely the hard bit. Then it changes in time, your brain actually changes in time. The cognitive processes called executive functions improve, attention, memory, cognitive flexibility, reasoning, problem solving skills all improve. The brain and the body are so closely linked that physical training basically improves mindfulness. Most importantly inhibitory control gets better tuned and you can override habits, forming new ones, healthier ones. All of a sudden all those questions that first arose when you set out have been answered and you start thinking differently about what you are capable of. Stay motivated folks and keep the faith!