Change your Mind, Change your Body Image

When I work with bodybuilders, I teach them the relationship between how they conceive the shape of their body and how it actually is. Going further, I show them how by changing their mental image of their body, they can actually accelerate improving their strength, building up muscle mass, and burning off fat. Even though most people are more concerned about losing a few pounds and improving their physical fitness and not winning a bodybuilding competition, these lessons may very well apply to them as well.

The brain maintains a map of every organ and cell of our body. When we are ill, a change in our body, such as what happens during an infection, will cause suffering. However, our mind also affects our body. In the event of feelings of elation, fear, or arousal, our body will react. Please note, however, that your body will react equally when you are responding to a perceived event as it will when it is adapting to your fantasies. Yes, suggestion and imagination will create the same results as our experience of an actual event. Since this is true, wouldn't it make more sense to start directing your body's evolution through deliberate choice?

When you change your mental body image, specific pathways in your brain will react. By repeatedly imagining your desired results, those same pathways will become thicker – and as a result, more powerful. Think of this as a weight lifter challenging his biceps by continually repeating an exercise. The more often that he does it, the faster that he shapes his muscles and achieves the desired strength improvement. Likewise, the more often that you imagine your ideal body image, the faster that it will manifest. This is a very scientific and well-proven fact.