your physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health… is an inside job.
i wrote in my last email about how i believe we are born with infinite knowledge deep within us but our human brain is only capable of so much at once. for example, have you ever heard of a young child speaking about a moment in history that they lived and experienced when there is no way someone taught them that and they most certainly didn’t read it in a book. it’s like they haven’t fully lost touch with that infinite knowledge within themselves yet and so they speak of it. it’s more than likely that these same kids won’t remember ever talking about this just a few short years later.
my point is, even if we knew all there was to know in the universe (cuz you do), even if we had all the answers we need for every problem (cuz they are within you), we would still be human (a mess of imperfection)—with human problems to solve on the regular. being human is so damn difficult there’s no way for us to tap into everything we know, or have ever known, all at once. it’s more common for us to have to keep learning lessons over and over again than it is to meet someone who’s got everything figured out, and seems to consistently have it together.
aside from all of the problems that arise with being an adult human like finances, family and more, there’s a very very important job that we human adults are always working on whether you know it or not. i’m talking about your physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health. and the reason i’m calling this a “problem” is because you are human, and humans are a mess. it’s a problem until you’ve solved it, and even after you’ve solved it, there’s always more problems within these areas and more work to be done.
if i had to piece it out in the order in which we come to work on our health, i’d say it begins with a mental health shift that makes you aware of your physical health—then, in doing so, makes you aware of your mental health more keenly. if you think about our lives like the souls locked into the matrix, it’s like we are helplessly plugged into the chaos of the world and our tiny little lives in it. to come online to your mental health, you have to become “unplugged” from the chaos (or the matrix) for the first time. first you release from what appears to be in order to become a witness to what is within you. this opens the door for you to become a witness of how all of that chaos impacts your physical body. once you realize the impact on your physical body, you realize the impact on your brain, your mind, your mental health more keenly.
when it comes to health, mental, physical and emotional health make up the foundation of your human health. the difference between humans and animals is, we can consciously come to see ourselves and how we, and this world, impact our health, animals cannot do this.
this ‘first-level’ recognition of ourselves unfortunately means you can never go backwards to un-know what you now know. for the rest of your life, you will know when you are betraying your health on every level because you have become aware. and so, the game begins—to play a role in enhancing your mental, physical, emotional and spiritual health, OR to ignore what you now know begs of your attention.
mental health is learning mental self-regulation and control. you mental health dictates the well-being of your physical and emotional states.
physical health is learning physical self-regulation and control. your physical health dictates the well-being of your mental and emotional states.
emotional health is learning emotional self-regulation and control. your emotional health dictates the well-being of your mental and physical states.
spiritual health is learning self-regulation and control of your mental, physical, and emotional states in order to find the path to your own spiritual well-being.
‘discipline’ is the name of this game. the object of the game is ‘you do you with intention to continuously grow your health physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. the game ends at death. the winners of this game are raw, real, and authentic humans with a deep spiritual connection to earth and ether. the winners are not afraid of fear, not afraid of pain, not afraid of living or dying. the winners understand what they have control over and what they do not. and the winners understand the capacity of their human body and they fucking own it.
it’s a big deal to do the work to play this game. you have to pay attention to yourself and others. you have to look at patterns, habits, and neuroses. you have to open door after door to rooms you know you don’t have the energy to walk into yet but need to know what you’re in for.
playing this game means to explore yourself from end to end curiously and continuously. it means to poke at your habits and deprogram yourself. it means you reprogram yourself intentionally and often. it means being present a hell of a lot more often than being absent. playing this game means you live until you die.
in closing, i’m curious: are you going to play or not?
don’t be a stick in the mud.
don’t be afraid to lose.
just come as you are and participate.
riding the bench is optional (and fucking lame).
play a good game and you will be rewarded.
a good strategy for this game is balance. you cannot be perfectly conscious because you are wildly human. walk the line: wildly conscious as a perfectly flawed human.