A Brief Note on the Importance of Mental Training

Often downplayed or even ignored, the mental side of performance in any arena (sport, work, school, hobby, etc.) has been shown to impact outcomes in both directions both positive and negative. The mind, body, and spirit are innately integrated within our experience and our bodies and play important roles in holistic health, attitude and mood, and homeostatic balance. So why then is it often overlooked? Our day-to-day experience is largely entrenched in the physical somatic experiences we have. We are taught from a very young age to live through our five physical senses while little attention is given towards integrating our inner (mental) experiences into our daily living. Suppression, repression, avoidance, and ignoring our internal mental states seem to be the norm in the West, much to our decrement. These maladaptive responses to uncomfortable mental states are partially the cause of many mental disorders we see in our society. In truth, human experience is multi-faceted. Integration of the Body, Mind, and Spirit so that all three work together in unison should instead be the goal for each of us. In my experience, when all three of those individual components of human experience come together in unison towards a unified purpose or goal, the sum truly does become more than the individual parts and we can achieve things greater than we can even conceive.