Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim on Body-Mind Connection

Discipline of your body works to discipline the mind. Discipline your mind and you strengthen your body.

Appreciation is the first step. What if you could use only certain parts of your body? Have you ever thought of what you would do if you had only one arm? Or no arms? Or no sight? Most people who enter my martial arts school are physically healthy and take their bodies for granted. It’s for this reason I sometimes have them try to do what they think are normal, everyday things without the use of their legs or arms or eyes. Very quickly they learn how complex the movements of their hands can be, or how precious their sight is. Your body is a miraculous gift. Utilize it, care for it, and strengthen it. Don’t waste it or take it for granted.

If you want greater physical freedom, you must understand that your body will respond very much to your mind, and your mind will respond to what you do with your body. Free physical movement is a picture of the free mobility of consciousness. Have you tried to play a good game of your favorite sport when your mind was preoccupied with a worrisome situation? You may have noticed that when you’re tense and nervous, your body doesn’t move freely and easily. The tense state literally tends to keep your muscles rigid. And just the reverse is true. When you are happy and relaxed, your physical movement is generally free and easy.

Even the medical profession recognizes the connection of body and mind in the physical therapy process. A person who must learn to walk again after an accident goes through many emotional and mental changes in the process of reconnecting with the walking muscles. Therapists work with the patient’s attitudes as well as with their muscle groups.