Good Attitudes Create Good Health

Why are people who exercise always in such a good mood? Why do the people who eat healthy seem to have all of this extra energy?

I realized this many years ago. I made a correlation around my bad mood directly resulting from not exercising that particular day. It’s a huge generalization because of course there were other things going on that day most likely that also contributed to that bad mood, however I was noticing that things did not bother me in the same way, I did not react to situations with the same quickness and frustration on the days that I exercised.

Interesting, right?

I truly believe that poor health, a painful condition or a general sense of malaise are the result of often being in a negative state of mind. We become, literally, what we most think about.

Working with an injured population for the past 14 years, I would often wonder why some individuals would respond to treatment right away and others would linger, not progress and become one of those patients you can’t help. Why are some people in chronic pain from a condition but yet someone else with the same condition is not? It has everything to do with your beliefs and attitude around it.

I like to point out, just in my opinion, that a large percentage of the healthcare system chooses to perpetuate these situations. If a doctor told you that all you had to do was clean up what you’re putting in your mouth, meditate for 20 min daily and get some physical exercise - would you feel gipped? We seek answers, we seek the quickest, least effort way to feel better. We rely on medications (that are often causing more harm than good) that make no significant difference other than now you’re on them for life and the healthcare system makes tons of money. Are these generally happy people? Or are these people who see the glass as half empty all the time?

So, getting back to your attitude and feeling better and it’s connection to the body. When you have something to be grateful for, when you view your condition as a temporary hurdle that you will get through, when you realize that a physical condition is both pathological and psychological, to NOT change your attitude toward the surroundings and condition would be to not heal. Become more OPTIMISTIC in the outlook of your condition. Mental exercise is part of getting better, part of accepting and healing.

I believe that if someone works on changing their attitude to positive on a consistent basis then their health will have no choice but to follow.

For me, I am not sure what came first the chicken or the egg. Did I exercise daily to achieve a more positive outlook on my life or did I change my perspective that allowed me to exercise? All I really know is that they are correlated for me and the way I keep myself positive now is to commit to daily movement of my body.

The mind-body connection is the realest thing that I know. I work with people and their bodies and I generally know within 5 minutes of meeting them if they’ll get better or not. And that’s before the physical evaluation.

Looking for an exercise buddy? I’ve got a group for you.