4 ms·

It think it's important to acknowledge the effect the body has on the mind. If I sleep early, sleep well, rise early, and do some physical exercise first thing

by girzel 10y ago

It think it's important to acknowledge the effect the body has on the mind. If I sleep early, sleep well, rise early, and do some physical exercise first thing in the morning, I'm essentially a different person: I feel like I double my work output, yet am still essentially calm. Beyond that, I think the next step is doing something active and intentional to improve the mind-body connection -- sleeping and exercising is essentially only refraining from damaging yourself. Meditation, yoga, taiji, breathing exercises -- I don't think you can go wrong with any of those. Especially for people who sit in front of computers all day, minds in the ether, it's important to remember that you're also a body, always also a body.

ge96 10y ago
What kind of exercise? I kind of envy people who bust out 10 miles on a 7.5min pace
- mgiannopoulos 10y ago
  Exact numbers don't matter. It depends on your physical status. I find that 20-30' of exercise totally changes my mood and stress levels without exhausting me, allowing me to do actual work afterwards.
- girzel 10y ago
  It's amazing how little exercise it takes to do the trick. Personally I feel like it's important to do something that opens the lungs and gets the heart beating, so cardio of some sort is what I choose (sometimes skipping rope). But some sort of all-body stretching (yoga sun salutation or similar) is actually enough.
- curun1r 10y ago
  Personal anecdote, so sample size of 1 and YMMV, but 5 months ago I started doing exercise in the mornings that has done wonders for my concentration and has helped me drop 25 pounds without changing much else in my life. It takes 15-20 minutes, 3-4 times per week and I literally don't have to get out of bed to do it. After being frustrated by my air consumption on a scuba dive, I got interested in free diving (apnea) training. I found an iOS app called Apnea Trainer that looked promising and started doing the breathing exercises. I've gone from being able to hold my breath for just under 90 seconds to breaking 6 minutes for the first time last week. It also revved up my metabolism (like I said, I'm down 25 pounds) and I've gone from having borderline hypertension (with a family history of stroke) to having blood pressure that's almost worryingly low (usually around 100/50). And, like I mentioned above, it's been good for concentration and stress levels as well. Wet training (in a pool or body of water) requires instruction and a partner, but dry training is pretty safe to do on your own as long as you don't push yourself beyond your limits on a regular basis.
  - lambdadmitry 10y ago
    Interesting! Seems that there is some evidence [1] that your experience can be generalizable. [1]: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19850416 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19850416
  - ge96 10y ago
    Nice little plug for your app there haha I'm kidding. I'm skeptical that you'd be able to lose that kind of weight just by breathing exercises. Thankfully I'm not super overweight but I want to be cut. Gotta start lifting again. I want to run though I think that makes your mind clear or soemthing.
- ciaranm 10y ago
  Cycling in the morning does it for me. I feel like a totally different person when I skip the cycle and get public transport. Even if it's as short as ~2 miles to where I'm going, I find getting the body going before the mind helps me focus.
  - ge96 10y ago
    I feel that I had to bike to work 10 miles a day, in a month I lost a good amount of weight almost zero gut! Build a bike sim with vr and a rheostat generator hehe
- 3chelon 10y ago
  I swim a mile. I've been doing it for about 15 years so it's automatic and almost meditative, plus a full-body workout. Surprising how much head work I can do in that half hour. I also paint, but you can probably insert any totally immersive creative pursuit here (music is probably more common amongst hackers). It completely switches brain hemispheres and unlike programming, my mind does not wander at all when painting, and I can literally go to another place for hours. Unlike when swimming, I can't think about programming or anything at the same time, I am completely absorbed in the painting. Paul Graham has lots to say on the subject.
  - ge96 10y ago
    I used to swim as well. The thought of drowning isn't pleasant haha = out of shape. Thanks
ericdykstra 10y ago
Agreed on all points. Good sleep and the first couple hours of the morning really set my pace for the rest of the day. For me those hours include meditation, daily review/planning and mental exercise over coffee, and some sort of intense physical exertion.
StanislavPetrov 10y ago
>It think it's important to acknowledge the effect the body has on the mind. I think its ridiculous that its not more commonly understood that the "mind" is literally (physically) part of your body. Whatever circulatory, electro-chemical, hormonal, or any other processes are happening in your body are also happening in your brain.
- alxlu 10y ago
  This makes sense to me. I hear this on HN all the time and don't doubt that exercise does provide mental benefits to most people. However, anecdotally, exercise (and getting a good night's sleep) has had no noticeable impact on my focus and/or productivity. Is there anyone else that doesn't feel like exercise doesn't do anything? Or is it because I'm not exercising long enough or with enough intensity to make a difference? At one point I went from being completely sedentary for about 6 years to spending about 3 months running 2-3 miles a day on an elliptical about 4 times a week with decent consistency. After a while, it did become easier to run further and for a longer period of time (from 2 miles to 3 miles), but I didn't notice any of the mental benefits that seem to be attributed to exercise. I still felt a general "brain haze" and sluggishness that I had assumed was a direct result of being out of shape. I've since gone to exercising on and off for another 3 months before going back to essentially being completely sedentary for several months and nothing about my mental state seems to have changed. That being said, I do plan on exercising again to ideally get healthy in the longer term regardless of whether or not I get any immediate mental benefit. And I also plan on recording things more diligently to determine if there actually is a result for me.
  - matwood 10y ago
    The elliptical machine barely counts as exercise ;) I have found that hard exercise, requiring mental fortitude to push through is what really helps. Sprints, power lifting, and distance running wear you down physically and mentally. IMO, continually pushing past the mental 'this is hard I want to stop' phase translates to increased concentration and acuity in other types of mental tasks.
    - 10y ago
swah 10y ago
The other day a buddy of mine said he started playing guitar again after 15 years without playing, and that it felt somewaht akin to meditation (which he had been practicing), since he had to be so present and focused in one thing while playing.

by girzel 10y ago

ge96 10y ago

What kind of exercise? I kind of envy people who bust out 10 miles on a 7.5min pace

mgiannopoulos 10y ago
Exact numbers don't matter. It depends on your physical status. I find that 20-30' of exercise totally changes my mood and stress levels without exhausting me, allowing me to do actual work afterwards.
girzel 10y ago
It's amazing how little exercise it takes to do the trick. Personally I feel like it's important to do something that opens the lungs and gets the heart beating, so cardio of some sort is what I choose (sometimes skipping rope). But some sort of all-body stretching (yoga sun salutation or similar) is actually enough.
curun1r 10y ago
Personal anecdote, so sample size of 1 and YMMV, but 5 months ago I started doing exercise in the mornings that has done wonders for my concentration and has helped me drop 25 pounds without changing much else in my life. It takes 15-20 minutes, 3-4 times per week and I literally don't have to get out of bed to do it. After being frustrated by my air consumption on a scuba dive, I got interested in free diving (apnea) training. I found an iOS app called Apnea Trainer that looked promising and started doing the breathing exercises. I've gone from being able to hold my breath for just under 90 seconds to breaking 6 minutes for the first time last week. It also revved up my metabolism (like I said, I'm down 25 pounds) and I've gone from having borderline hypertension (with a family history of stroke) to having blood pressure that's almost worryingly low (usually around 100/50). And, like I mentioned above, it's been good for concentration and stress levels as well. Wet training (in a pool or body of water) requires instruction and a partner, but dry training is pretty safe to do on your own as long as you don't push yourself beyond your limits on a regular basis.
- lambdadmitry 10y ago
  Interesting! Seems that there is some evidence [1] that your experience can be generalizable. [1]: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19850416 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19850416
- ge96 10y ago
  Nice little plug for your app there haha I'm kidding. I'm skeptical that you'd be able to lose that kind of weight just by breathing exercises. Thankfully I'm not super overweight but I want to be cut. Gotta start lifting again. I want to run though I think that makes your mind clear or soemthing.
ciaranm 10y ago
Cycling in the morning does it for me. I feel like a totally different person when I skip the cycle and get public transport. Even if it's as short as ~2 miles to where I'm going, I find getting the body going before the mind helps me focus.
- ge96 10y ago
  I feel that I had to bike to work 10 miles a day, in a month I lost a good amount of weight almost zero gut! Build a bike sim with vr and a rheostat generator hehe
3chelon 10y ago
I swim a mile. I've been doing it for about 15 years so it's automatic and almost meditative, plus a full-body workout. Surprising how much head work I can do in that half hour. I also paint, but you can probably insert any totally immersive creative pursuit here (music is probably more common amongst hackers). It completely switches brain hemispheres and unlike programming, my mind does not wander at all when painting, and I can literally go to another place for hours. Unlike when swimming, I can't think about programming or anything at the same time, I am completely absorbed in the painting. Paul Graham has lots to say on the subject.
- ge96 10y ago
  I used to swim as well. The thought of drowning isn't pleasant haha = out of shape. Thanks

ericdykstra 10y ago

Agreed on all points. Good sleep and the first couple hours of the morning really set my pace for the rest of the day. For me those hours include meditation, daily review/planning and mental exercise over coffee, and some sort of intense physical exertion.

StanislavPetrov 10y ago

>It think it's important to acknowledge the effect the body has on the mind. I think its ridiculous that its not more commonly understood that the "mind" is literally (physically) part of your body. Whatever circulatory, electro-chemical, hormonal, or any other processes are happening in your body are also happening in your brain.

alxlu 10y ago
This makes sense to me. I hear this on HN all the time and don't doubt that exercise does provide mental benefits to most people. However, anecdotally, exercise (and getting a good night's sleep) has had no noticeable impact on my focus and/or productivity. Is there anyone else that doesn't feel like exercise doesn't do anything? Or is it because I'm not exercising long enough or with enough intensity to make a difference? At one point I went from being completely sedentary for about 6 years to spending about 3 months running 2-3 miles a day on an elliptical about 4 times a week with decent consistency. After a while, it did become easier to run further and for a longer period of time (from 2 miles to 3 miles), but I didn't notice any of the mental benefits that seem to be attributed to exercise. I still felt a general "brain haze" and sluggishness that I had assumed was a direct result of being out of shape. I've since gone to exercising on and off for another 3 months before going back to essentially being completely sedentary for several months and nothing about my mental state seems to have changed. That being said, I do plan on exercising again to ideally get healthy in the longer term regardless of whether or not I get any immediate mental benefit. And I also plan on recording things more diligently to determine if there actually is a result for me.
- matwood 10y ago
  The elliptical machine barely counts as exercise ;) I have found that hard exercise, requiring mental fortitude to push through is what really helps. Sprints, power lifting, and distance running wear you down physically and mentally. IMO, continually pushing past the mental 'this is hard I want to stop' phase translates to increased concentration and acuity in other types of mental tasks.
  - 10y ago

swah 10y ago

The other day a buddy of mine said he started playing guitar again after 15 years without playing, and that it felt somewaht akin to meditation (which he had been practicing), since he had to be so present and focused in one thing while playing.