How to Shape the Mind

“Your mind will take the shape of what you frequently hold in thought, for the human spirit is colored by such impressions.” – Marcus Aurelius
 

The habits, behaviors, and strategies that people develop only start to take root with repetition. If you eat salad once a month in order to “get your greens,” it will be better than not eating it all, but realistically it doesn’t reflect a healthy diet. The body will respond to what you ask it to do most often. The fitness of gymnasts and athletes reflects this as does the conditioning of people who spend much of their time at a desk or on a couch. There is an observable and predictable relationship between habit and health.  

As Marcus Aurelius reminds us, this relationship is also at work with our attention. There is little that we can do to control external circumstances and the onslaught of the stresses of life. Yet the extent to which those external stresses color our spirit is determined by how much we allow them to do so.

The recent passing of the solar eclipse presents an opportunity for massive reorganization on all levels. It is a time to choose and to begin to consciously shape what we are calling into life. This happens when we accept the responsibility of being accountable to what we frequently hold in thought and what kind of energy we bring to the field.

I’ve found it helpful to ask: What are you frequently holding in thought? Is it serving to uplift you? Does it support those around you? Is it congruent with what you want your life to look like?

The Problem with Maintenance

In the alternative health field, many people choose to continue care even after there has been resolution of the problem for which they initially sought treatment. In the absence of pain or a clinical condition, continuing care that is “not deemed medically necessary” is called maintenance care. The implication is that the person has achieved a state of health that is better than when they began and they desire to stay there.

This is a reasonable position and one that is understandably desirable. There is also a problem with this perspective.

The problem of maintenance is that the objective is to plateau. The very nature of the language and the intent of maintenance is to keep someone where they are. Even if the current state is better than the old state, if the goal is stasis, this is inherently limiting in both perspective and in practice.

The experience of life and how we are able to navigate through storm and still is not done by picking a place and staying there. Life happens in the balance of stability and instability. There is comfort in stability, but also a massive impediment to growth.

A richer alternative to maintenance would be, as the Stoic philosopher Epictetus counselled, to “make the mind adaptable to any circumstances.” The adaptability of the mind is a direct reflection of the integrity and the tone of the nervous system. It stands to reason (and is evidenced in practice) that an approach to health, wellness, and well-being that promotes neural integrity will not lead to maintaining a static plateau, but a way to embody strategies that advance the human condition.

Diving In

You can’t learn to swim by looking at a lake.

Sitting on the shoreline, observing the water, and studying the technique of other swimmers will never teach you what it’s like to dive in. It is only by taking the leap that we can know how it feels to be immersed in a different element.

The ability to experience life with fullness often requires the energy for courage to do something new or uncomfortable. The extent to which we can tap into this energy and let it fuel the experience of life is directly related to the integrity of the spine and the nervous system.

The quality of the relationships we have with ourselves and others, the choices we make, how effectively our physiology functions, and how well we feel and move is all mediated by the clarity and the coherence of the nervous system. This is the reason chiropractic is interested in the spine and improvements in these quality of life measures are a hallmark of the discipline of Network Spinal Analysis.

It’s one thing to get your feet wet, but the best way to explore the breadth and the depth of the Lake of Life is to dive in.

See you in the water.