Friday, September 16, 2005

My Yang is out of balance

It takes only one week of inactivity for you
to lose muscle mass.


"The brain needs twice as much nourishment as the body", or so the saying goes. Clearly, I have been neglecting my body. I've been favoring Yin over Yang.

I restarted my morning workouts today and found that my cardio endurance was down to 50% and the maximum weight I can lift dropped by 10%. Of course, this is my first workout in three weeks, and still with a sleep deficit, so that drop is close to normal. It'll probably take a week or two for me to get back to where I was a month ago.

It won't help my mind's concentration if my body isn't in its best shape. That means I'll need to ensure that my fitness routine isn't compromised by my Go studies. I know that I perform better and am in an uplifted mood after my workouts. Coincidentally, Men's Health magazine ran an article on page 176 about the importance of cardio workouts to mental acuity.

1 Comments:

At 12:42 PM, September 19, 2005, Blogger Shugyosha said...

According to traditional Chinese theory, a person has two minds: The Yi mind, or the wisdom mind, and the Xin mind, which is the emotional mind (also the name for heart in Chinese). Many say that exercise can strenghten the Xin, while study may strenghten the Yi. In Go, many players alternate between periods of anxiety- with rushing heartbeats ..etc, and a state of pure calm. The emotion can help with strong play, while the wisdom can help maintain the balance of the game. Our bodies are like tiny worlds, and throwing off any one thing, throws off the other. Neglecting the body, also weakens the mind. Exercising too much will do the same thing.
With a sound body, we can use our Xin to balance with the Yin to become stronger at whatever we do. As they say in China, Yi Xin Hui Yi, or Control the Xin to match the Yi.
Chiyodad spoke of stepping back for a few days, which can be very good for both our Yi and our Xin. One can weaken the other. How else is it that we feel so physically exhausted after a difficult test?
The actual point (of which i veried from) is that during our games we can maintain a close watch on our strong Xin mind, not let it get too strong (thus making foolish errors) and try to let the Yi mind control the Xin and balance the mind as a whole.

 

Post a Comment

<< Home