Exercising the Soul

Photo: Painting by Alex Grey www.alexgrey.com

What is the soul? Without diving into a complex and convoluted philosophical argument about what it exactly is, I'd like to take a stab at defining it for the sake of helping you practically apply some concepts I'd like to share. Regardless of your spiritual background or lack of thereof, let's define the soul as the part of us that connects our mind's perceptions with emotions and feelings that completes our whole experience of the world. The body acts, the mind perceives and the soul, well it can really be considered the root of our experience if we define it as a collection of feelings and emotions evoked by our experience. Now I know this mostly a fitness blog and you may be wondering why I am getting all touchy-feely. This is because there is much more to human wellness than just physical well-being. Mental and emotional health is just important to our life experience as a healthy body.

With that said, I think it is important to address the need for what I will call Soul Exercise. This comes in two forms: Self-reflection and pursuing creative outlets you enjoy. When there is a lack of Soul Exercise, there is a decreased sense of happiness, an increased sense of stress, a decreased sense of fulfillment and an increased sense of burden and frustration. This comes from consistently choosing an experience that evokes these emotions. If you are over stressed, frustrated, feel burdened or just plain burned out on life in general, I want you to participate in the first form of Soul Exercise: Self-reflection. It is important for us to look at our life, our work and the relationships we've built to evaluate how much we're growing as people and how content we are with life. I don't think too many people out there will argue that the one of the most basic life aspirations for humans is to be happy. To be happy you have to understand first who you are and address any thoughts, words or actions you endorse that impede you from reaching happiness. Second, you must learn how to evolve mentally and emotionally so that you may properly embrace real happiness when you find it. This state will not be achieved without self-reflection and contemplation about yourself and your relation to the world.

The second form of Soul Exercise comes from pursuing creative outlets that make you feel alive. How many of you have a a secret (or maybe not so secret) passion for singing, music, for drawing, for art, for writing or sculpting? How many of you have this connection to an activity or physical location that just makes you feel calm, at ease, peaceful and happy? Now for some more self-reflection: How often do you participate in those activities or visit those places? Often, rarely or unfortunately in many cases the answer may be never. Finding creative outlets, activities or even just being in a place that makes you feel connected to life, alive and happy is really essential to feeling fulfilled. The reality is, pursuing activities or endeavors that make you feel peaceful, connected and happy are usually so fulfilling, it takes very small doses to keep you feeling great! If you spend 50 hours a week at work, give yourself fifteen minutes a day of exploring one of your creative endeavors and I can bet your sense of well being and happiness will be elevated.

Sorry for the long blog, just something I wanted to put out there for those who are searching and willing to listen. I would love to hear how this works for you all!