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- Shiv Pathak
Mental Fitness and Boxing
Boxing is a sport that we typically associate with mental resilience, and did you know that a huge amount of research has been done on the impact of boxing on the mind. It’s been found that boxing can foster confidence, improve concentration, increase self-awareness, and help with stress relief.
Research has shown that even just 15 minutes of intense physical exercise a day can have a significant impact on the brain, as it releases the feel-good hormones which can elevate mood. Boxing is a great way to expend energy and frustration, which can help to de-stress as well as relieve any pent-up anger. It also serves as an active meditation, helping the brain enter a focused state of “flow”, where you’re completely absorbed in the activity. Finally, it’s a great way to improve self-efficacy and control which has been negatively correlated with depression and low mood.
It’s because of this that at Evexia Collective we are excited to partner with Spartan’s Boxing in Singapore, where we will be providing our Mental Fitness solution to Spartans clients, allowing them to Measure and improve their Mental Fitness alongside their physical fitness.
To celebrate, we wanted to share a bit more about our methodology for Mental Fitness here at Evexia Collective. Mental Fitness consists of three core pillars, each corresponding to different parts of our brain and therefore to different behaviors.
Energy:
This relates to how much energy you have right now, it is a combination of how awake, positive, motivated, passionate, and driven you feel
Behaviors: Motivation, drive, behavioral & emotional responses
Limbic system
We all know that feeling of waking up feeling well rested, energetic and ready to start the day. Unfortunately, this feeling can be tricky to come by if we aren’t sleeping well or if we are running on empty. Therefore, a core part of Mental Fitness relates to the quality of sleep we are getting. But Energy isn’t just about sleep, it’s also about how passionate and excited we feel about life. This often comes down to a sense of purpose in life and can impact how motivated we feel in our personal and professional lives.
Find out more in this video: https://youtu.be/x1ouHp-4ph4
Calm:
This relates to how calm you feel, including how well you are managing stress and how easily you can relax.
Behaviors: Wakeful rest, balance, self-referential processing, introspection, memories
Default mode
We often associate our mental wellbeing with how stressed we are. Yet, whilst chronic stress is bad for us mentally and physically, we also need a certain amount of stress to drive motivation, helping us perform to our best. We focus on our sense of calm; whilst a certain amount of stress can be healthy, it is important to have ways to bring on a sense of calm and relaxation when you want to.
Find out more in this video: https://youtu.be/FriVmAPp690
Focus:
This relates to your decision-making ability and how well you can pay attention to one task at a time without being distracted.
Behaviors: Wakeful rest, balance, self-referential processing, introspection, memories
Parietal Frontal Executive System
Being able to focus on one task at a time without distraction is a common difficulty in the workplace, especially when other aspects of Mental Fitness are weaker (Energy and Calm). When we have a million things to get done, it can be difficult to pay attention to each one in turn. Unfortunately, that’s usually when we need to focus most! As well as attention, Focus includes the ability to make decisions and aspects of logical thinking, both of which are particularly important in the workplace and come under strain when our Mental Fitness isn’t doing its best.
Find out more in this video: https://youtu.be/NxRXjnxufuo
All three of these pillars are impacted by Social Connection, which is how connected to others we feel. Note that this doesn’t mean you need hundreds of friends, but focuses on the importance of the quality of the close connections you have. These relationships help us feel calmer, more energized and in turn can impact focus. So it’s an additional key aspect of Mental Fitness.
As we launch our partnership with Spartans Mind, we are excited to explore these aspects of Mental Fitness alongside boxing and see how it helps to improve Mental Fitness.
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