Physical Essentials
Body as our basic provider of multiplier effects
An open request: please, share links and books that you trust on the topics below, and we will compile another post out of them in several months. So far, this article is mostly a prompt.
A healthy body contributes tremendously to our mental capacity. We won’t focus too much on this but skim through the most important aspects of physical wellness.
Aside from the disclaimer at the bottom of each post, I will specifically elaborate here that we recommend to avoid practicing the techniques described in this newsletter if you have a physical or mental condition. Please consult with a doctor if you have any doubts about any of the practices or exercises before committing to doing them.
Breathing
There is a significant effect of proper breathing on attention and stress reduction. The very basics of good respiration are to measure your CO₂ tolerance and learn to steady your inhale-exhale cycle with the “box breathing” exercise.
Literature on the topic is various and there are many traditional breathing practices, especially in the spiritual heritage of the East. It’s better to cross-check if those were tested in a double-blind study with a sizeable number of participants.
Exercise
Studies find a clear and strong correlation between fitness and mental health. It’s still debated though whether the relationship is causal. Another paper states that students who do sports regularly have a significantly higher capacity for problem-solving and are more confident about their abilities.
Many sports are also pretty demanding in terms of tactical thinking and reaction time which is yet another modality to add to your mind-expanding set of activities.
Nutrition
The supply for brain chemistry processes depends directly on what we digest. It is a highly controversial topic and I cannot recommend any conclusive research yet, but this can be great to find some with the help of the community. The point is, I have included this section because I tend to agree that our diets matter.
Sleep
I won’t link any particular paper on how good night’s rest affects mental capability and productivity but such papers abound. For starters, here’s a great video in which Andrew Huberman elaborates on various things that affect the quality of our sleep.
Meditation
A dubious practice from a scientific point of view but a lot of anecdotal evidence tells us that meditation does improve quality of life. Personally, it’s helped me to build up agency, steady my emotional background, and improve my persistence when I work.
If you are interested in what you’ve just read, I’d love you to:
subscribe to this newsletter,
join our Discord server,
and share it with your friends!
Disclaimer: all content in this newsletter and any associated platforms is for informational purposes only. It shouldn’t be construed as a call to action, medical, or psychological advice.
If you want to support Architect of Thought, feel free to do it on Patreon.