The Importance of a "Mental Workout"

According to Dacher, the first thing we have to do in order to have integral health is to expand our psychospiritual awareness and functioning (Dacher, 2006). We must do this because it is the most underutilized area of our beings. This is indeed the case. Being a nurse and a personal trainer, this concept is very easy for me to understand. In order to be able to function at a high capacity, we must train our bodies to do so, and this requires a daily practice using a program specific for what we want to do. For instance, I am a distance runner, and if I want to be able to perform well in a half marathon, I must train for that distance by actually running longer distances over time, as well as practicing other programs to improve strength and stamina. So, although we are all born into the primal sensory awareness state, in order to reach the higher levels of functioning we must train our minds to reach that level. We must do it step by step in order to reach the next higher level of functioning, just as we would when training for a half marathon. We will not be able to go from a one hundred yard sprint to a 13.1 mile run in a few days, or even a few weeks. We progress to longer distances over time. The same can be said about mental workouts, we will progress through stages until we reach the highest functioning level our minds can obtain. Only then will we be considered "Mental Olympians," when we have trained our conscious and unconscious minds to work in a state of integration that not only controls our thoughts and actions, but also our physical body systems, and allows us to achieve our highest potential holistic health.
The research cited in our textbook by Lutz compared the gamma wave activity of contemplative scholars to those of a control group, and found that a well trained mind functions at a higher level of organization and integration. They themselves spoke of having a high level of wellbeing, happiness, compassion and overall wholeness of being. Their serenity and joyfulness showed externally and was obvious to those around them. If this is the state we all want to reach, then we must follow in their footsteps and study the methods that they use to reach and maintain this state of overall health. It is amazing to me that the medical community is adverse to using these methods to help people attain a high level of health. It does not require abandoning traditional Western medical techniques and education, but only blending the concepts with that of mental workouts to bring the mind to a point where it is just as healthy as the rest of the body it is contained in.
Dacher, E. (2006). Integral Health: The Path to Human Flourishing. Pg 59-60. California: Basic Health Publications, Inc.