OnFitness Magazine - January/February 2022 - 30

WWW.ONFITNESSMAG.COM | VOL 22 NO 4 | 2022 30
Mind over matter
Biofeedback is an alternative medicine
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approach that teaches you to change the
way your body functions. It's a mind-body
therapy that can improve your physical and
mental health. In biofeedback, you learn to
change some of the ways your body works,
such as your breathing, heart rate, and
muscle tension, using signals from your
own body as a guide.
You can also practice deep breathing
exercises to become calm and treat
stressful conditions.
In hypnosis, you use your mind to
enter a trance-like state similar to
daydreaming. Your body and mind become
calm and relaxed. You then follow
suggestions to work on thoughts, feelings,
or behaviors that you want to change.
In meditation, you train your mind to
focus on your breathing without paying
attention to things going on around you.
This helps your mind and body to relax.
In progressive muscle relaxation, you
relax all of the muscles of your body, one
group at a time. It's known as body
scanning. You do this by first tensing a
muscle and then relaxing it. This helps
teach you how muscles feel when they're
tense. A good progression to follow is to
start with your toes, then your ankles
followed by your calves, then your knees,
thighs, butt, and on up your body to your
arms, shoulders, and neck; then down
again. All this is best done while laying on
your back on a comfortable surface.
Your mind can train your body. By
utilizing the power of your mind you can
overcome physical and mental obstacles.
Your mind isn't a passive observer,
simply perceiving reality as it is. Your
mind can change reality. Mind over matter
utilized in the gym would be pushing for
one more repetition despite your body's
cry to give up.
Your mind is the strongest tool you
have when it comes to training. You're
setting yourself up for failure when you're
convinced that you can't get in another
repetition. You'll never know your
capabilities until you try.
And if you convince yourself that you
just can't go on, you'll fatigue quicker.
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Mind over matter comes into play once
you're already in the game. When you're
near the end of your session and you're
about to throw in the towel, this is the
time it works wonders. Have you ever
been in a class or session and the trainer
shouts at you just as you're about to give
up?
As an example of mind over matter,
when you're participating in a friendly
competition, you always seem to find a
way to push yourself just a little harder so
you'll look good, you give it your best
shot, and then some.
If you listen to the aches and pains of
your body, the likelihood of getting in one
more repetition is not feasible. Think of it
this way, since you're already in the
moment and already doing the exercise,
what's an extra repetition? That's why
circuits work. You're doing so much and
pushing yourself so hard that you have no
time to think about stopping. As you're
already doing small intervals, it's easy to
convince yourself that you're almost there,
and as a result, you get there.
So how can you apply this mindset?
Just start! Once you replace negative
thoughts with positive ones, you'll start
having positive results.
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The power of the mind is a curious
phenomenon because it's so potent and yet
so difficult to control. We find ourselves
thinking a certain way, knowing that those
thoughts may be troubling, and yet we
continue thinking that way. For example,
many people have the experience of
getting sick at the same time every year or
every time they travel. Even though they
may be aware that it's all their mind, they
get sick anyway.
One of the most obvious ways that
your mind has power over your body can
be seen with the placebo effect. The
placebo effect occurs when a treatment or
medication with no known therapeutic
value is administered to you and your
symptoms improve. You believe and
expect that the treatment is going to work,
so it does.
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OnFitness Magazine - January/February 2022

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