Work with your Mind, Rest with your Hands
I don’t know where I heard this classy old axiom, but it’s a good one that I reflect on frequently. It speaks to this idea that your mind and your body need to be in equilibrium to be healthy. The way it was presented to me was as a way to structure down time: if you work with your mind in an office all day then you should spend your time out of work doing something physical. If you’re moving your body all day in physical labor, in your downtime it’s incredibly healthy to let your mind get some exercise by reading, learning, or communicating. Sounds simple enough right?
This resonates so deeply with me because I’ve ground-truthed it for myself. I’ve worked in several different capacities in my life, and the work that has made me the happiest has been when I’m about 50/50 on the manual versus mental labor. I think this is one of many reasons why the homestead/private practice life works for me. I get to work with my hands doing chores around my place, run or ski most days and work in the garden, but I also get the rich pleasure of connecting with others for deep conversation, reading and learning. At times when I haven’t been able to honor this balance in my life, I find my emotions a little bit trickier to regulate. Dysphoria and irritability result for me when I’m cranking too hard physically, and anxiety seems to be the fruit I bear if I’m stuck in my head too much without practical encounters with what I’m thinking about.
If there is a side to this equation that gets neglected most often in our society, I would hazard a guess that in the rise of the digital age, most of us have forgotten how to connect to our body. We might throw our bodies a bone by hopping on a treadmill or lifting some weights a few times a week (and that’s good if that’s all you’ve got time for) But we’re really short changing ourselves from the sort of kinesthetic wisdom that develops when we use our bodies for complex physical undertakings. Things like digging a hole, weeding a garden, trail running, or splitting wood demand a whole different level of physical integration than your typical workout in a gym setting.
I see a parallel cheapening of the pleasures of the mind that are sought out as well. If a gym based work out is a mediocre imitation for real physical activity, our typical mental diet of media is not the best substitution for the type of deep thinking and contemplation that further our character development and expand our thoughts into broader horizons.
The ills of faux mental and physical activity could likely be expounded on at much greater depth, but for now, as you read over these thoughts, maybe cast an eye over your lifestyle to see if it needs some tweaking. If you’re already in your body all the time, maybe add some classical literature or a debate class into your schedule. If you’re sitting in front of screens all day, why not take out a plot in a community garden (it’s not too late!) or try a DIY home improvement/landscaping project? You might be surprised at the fruit it bears for your wellbeing to have a better balance.
