I don’t exercise much but I use my mind a lot. Every couple days I’ll stop and play a computer game for an hour. That still requires thought, but it is more restorative than meditation for me. I’ve been doing this for two months.

For physical exertion, I’ve been walking around the neighborhood in the mornings and painting my new office Dad is building. I sleep better when I walk a lot. I’m back in college now and I just walk around meeting people, giving out prints of my photos, and taking pictures of things. It’s interesting and fulfills all four quadrants in your chart.

When I’ve been reading and commenting on blogs or writing an article for a couple of hours, I’ll stop to play a song on the piano. I don’t try to learn new songs in this time. I play an old song I’ve memorized. It requires no thought to play, but it helps my fingers because it’s better than typing.

http://simplemom.net/finding-the-balance-of-mind-and-body-at-home/

I’m always shocked at how much more productive and pleasant I am when I have enough sleep. It’s the little things that matter so often.

I don’t exercise much but I use my mind a lot. Every couple days I’ll stop and play a computer game for an hour. That still requires thought, but it is more restorative than meditation for me. I’ve been doing this for two months.

For physical exertion, I’ve been walking around the neighborhood in the mornings and painting my new office Dad is building. I sleep better when I walk a lot. I’m back in college now and I just walk around meeting people, giving out prints of my photos, and taking pictures of things. It’s interesting and fulfills all four quadrants in your chart.

When I’ve been reading and commenting on blogs or writing an article for a couple of hours, I’ll stop to play a song on the piano. I don’t try to learn new songs in this time. I play an old song I’ve memorized. It requires no thought to play, but it helps my fingers because it’s better than typing.

To answer the question you asked about your matrix, I have lived with far too much emphasis in one quandrant or the other my entire life. I am always tweaking in an attempt to find the middle. After 42 years, I think I’m getting closer, though not quite there.

Thanks for the insight. It may help ward off my midlife crisis.

Debbie Ferm

Great place you have hear :) I’m looking forward to reading more of your stuff.

I tend to agree with your matrix but think that overall we go through different periods of ‘flow’ no matter what state your physical body is in. Mind and Body (I think) do tend to play in harmony (or not) with each other. Ie – sitting down all day at the desk can actually be quite frustrating for the mind, just as sport can be quite liberating for the strategic side of your brain.

To me, it is all about flow and staying in the zone to get what you need to get done before resting, both body and mind. Reaching this flow state is quite dependant on a number of things, but three main ones seem to be:

1) Fear

2) Impatience

3) Ambition

This makes a lot of sense to me. Getting into flow is a trade off between Anxiety and Boredom (you don’t want to get too fearful, but also not too bored) and the three things above talk to that. It’s very hard to do your best work if you are impatient with it, or feel that you should be ‘that much better’ because of your ambition to achieve something. Being scarred of the outcomes that might take place is also a sure fire way to hinder your own activities and induce alot of stress.

Such an interesting topic. Thanks for the post!

The matrix that you visualized gave me sense. Thanks =)

I pretty much live on the right side of your quadrant. I need to sleep (which isn’t always an easy thing to do) in order to have enougth energy to actively work on my blogs. I have Fibromyalgia and that doesn’t always allow me the luxury to do the things I’m passionate about.

I have two cooking/food related blogs. This entails research, testing, photography and writing. I’ve thought long and hard about making it into a profit enterprise but do not have the knowledge or sometimes the energy to explore the possibilities.

I agree that a balance in activity is natures’ way of keeping a person in check with their health, both physically and mentally. But some of us can’t afford the time to devote to each faction properly. So, we do what we can.

I admire your dedication to your work, your passions and of course to real life.

I’m looking forward to reading updates to this blog. :)

I absolutely agree about the need for balance. I find it hardest to push myself in the “body active/mind active” quadrant. I’ve always thought of balance as a pendulum between mind/body, or active/inactive. I like the idea of a four-way quadrant. I needed to be reminded of the need to get active, and I appreciate the reminder that the “body rest/mind rest” doesn’t necessarily mean sleep. We could all do with a bit more meditative time.