About this Article
Explore the concept of Mental Fitness in this comprehensive blog post. Learn about its definition, how it works, and the effective methods to improve it. Discover MYNDY's unique approach to working on your mind, focusing on three mind movements and six mental muscles. A must-read for anyone seeking to boost their mental fitness, wellness and productive.
It makes up 2% of your body weight and uses at minimum 20% of the energy you burn daily. Yet, most of us forget about our brains because it sits behind our eyes and we can’t see it (aha!). But just like you go to the gym to exercise your body, there are exercises you can do to workout your mind.
You're not alone if mental fitness as a concept is new to you - as kids, we were never taught to work on our minds and even though most people are unfamiliar with the concept, many are looking for ways to improve mental fitness without realizing it.
If you find yourself consistently craving or looking for ways to find more time in your ‘best’ zones - think focused, energized, in control, excited and less time in your ‘suboptimal zones’ - think tired, stressed, annoyed, overwhelmed …. then you’ve already gotten started.
Paula Robinson introduced Mental fitness as a concept in her 2014 thesis, Conceptualizing and Measuring Mental Fitness. Robinson found that so many cognitive elements we talk about as traits (for example, confidence, optimism, and resilience) are not necessarily inherent but skills we can practice over time.
MYNDY's definition of Mental Fitness: The daily practice of positive, research-backed habits that fight burnout* and lead to focus, resilience and high-performance.
Here at MYNDY, there are two parts to the basics of mental fitness.
At the most basic level, your brain needs to protect four things each day to function well:
It's incredibly difficult to make positive change when you're tired (surprise!). And in order to work on your mind, it’s important to understand patterns that aren’t serving you against these 4 basic needs (e.g. back to back meetings without a break, scrolling while you’re on the toilet, skipping a 5 minute walk) and help you change them with small, incremental goals.
There are six mental muscles and three daily mind movements when it comes to mental fitness at MYNDY:
Your brain needs a break to recharge, rest, and create space to make new connections. There is a reason why so many of us do our best thinking when taking a walk in nature, relaxing in the shower, or doing some "mindless" activity. Simply being present in the moment allows us to build self-awareness.
Examples of Slow Exercises: One minute of deep breathing, a five-minute walk, doing neck stretches for three minutes, or speed journaling to build awareness of your thoughts.
"... while it may seem counterintuitive, taking regular breaks can actually help you be more productive than working without stopping. Effective breaks can help to reduce your stress levels so that you're ready to refocus when you return to your work. If you find yourself growing increasingly frustrated or stalled on a certain task despite your efforts, this may be a sign that it's time to rest your brain and take a break." (Source)
As we mentioned above, your brain is a pattern maker and repeater and one of the patterns we get stuck in involves our negativity bias. We are hard-wired to focus on the negative instinctively - negative events, emotions, and the things that could harm us. That's great if you're in danger, but getting stuck in this pattern can distort how we view our world. Slow movements help you shift negative thinking patterns and broaden your perspective.
Examples of Slow Exercises: Committing an act of kindness, writing down 3 highlights of the day or expressing gratitude for the good in your life.
Once you've taken a moment to stop and build awareness in your mind, you can notice your thought patterns, observe what is happening, and choose to go in a different direction. The slow movements broaden our perspective, allow you to see new solutions and ways of thinking, and begin to create new patterns that serve you well.
Go is all about taking action and celebrating small wins as you progress towards your goals. In his book Tiny Habits, Stanford researcher BJ Fogg says, "People change best by feeling good, not by feeling bad." You won't overcome burnout in a day, but you can take little steps every day that are worth celebrating. Most of us only allow ourselves to celebrate the big wins, the culmination of our efforts. But think about it: would you have made it to the end without the hundreds of tiny victories along the way? Recognizing progress is your fuel to keep going!
Examples of Go Exercises: Taking a few minutes to write down your three accomplishments for the day or week, writing down one thing (personal or professional) that you want to accomplish in the next 24 hours (e.g. finish the presentation deck or call grandma).
It wouldn't be mental fitness if we didn't give you a little perspiration (small exercises to work out your mynd for impact) to wrap things up. So, answer this:
What small, tiny action (think less than 3 minutes) could you take today in order to improve your mental fitness?
With Heart,
The MYNDY Team
