The Head Leads the Body, But Attention Leads the Mind.

Some of you might be aware that I’ve spent quite a bit of time practicing the art of Parkour.  I also occasionally spend my time practicing classical gymnastics and trail running.  And in all my time spent practicing these activities, I’ve learned one very important lesson that’s carried over into almost all aspects of my life:

The head leads the body.

Anyone who’s studied the Alexander Technique has heard this before.  For those who haven’t…it just means that wherever the head turns, the body will naturally try to turn itself to follow the head.  In gymnastics, this is particularly important, because the movement of the head is what keeps most flips and spins going.  If you want to keep spinning left, keep looking left.  If you want to keep flipping forward, keep your head tilted forward.  And so on.  Keeping the head in a static position halfway through a maneuver is one of the worst things you can do, because it kills all of your momentum.  You must commit to the move, spot your target, and see it through to the end, or it won’t work.

So why is this important?

Well, many of us don’t realize it, but this simple physical phenomenon is a microcosm of how our minds work.  Physically, our bodies are constantly trying to align to whatever we are facing…or, more appropriately, whatever we are focusing on.  Who’s to say that our minds aren’t constantly trying to do the exact same thing?

The Dangers of Distraction

I very rarely share this, because I’m used to telling people about personal successes, but this is a story about one of my failures.  When I was learning how to front tuck a year or two ago, I wanted it more than anything else in the world.  I had wanted to learn how to front tuck ever since I was a child.  I dreamed about the technique.  I mentally rehearsed it before I went to sleep.  I knew it from start to finish.  But when the time came to perform, I jumped high off the trampoline…began the rotation…and froze upside-down four feet in the air.

Up until that moment, I had known I could do it.  I was sure I could do it.  But in that moment, my mind decided to start voicing all of my doubts and that got me thinking about the consequences of failure.  So I froze up.  I stopped tilting my head forward.  And my entire body(210 pounds at the time) came crashing down on the back of my neck.  I suffered severe neck trauma, and for several weeks, I couldn’t turn my head without pain shooting down my spine.  But it could’ve been worse.  Much worse.  My hesitation could’ve caused me to break my neck.

Maintaining Focus

I eventually got back on the horse with some minor rehabilitation, and I achieved my front tuck.   A lot of my friends thought I was crazy.  Maybe they figured I’d be in a constant state of fear, now that I’d seen what a mistake could do.  They thought that my chances of failure were even higher.  But even though that single moment of doubt…that small millisecond of hesitation…could have paralyzed me in pursuit of my dream, I was more convinced than ever that I could succeed.  Do you know why?  Because I wasn’t focused on what could go wrong.  I was focused on what could go right.  I wanted that front tuck too bad to think about anything else.  I knew what I had done wrong, and I was dead-set on not doing it again.  So as soon as I launched into the air on that first successful front tuck attempt, I knew I was going to kill it.  And kill it I did.

The head leads the body.  But attention leads the mind.  The things that you pay the most attention to are the things that your mind gravitates toward.  When you focus on the positive aspects of any situation, you are directing your mind toward those things.  And when you focus towards the negative aspects, your mind  is directed towards those things.  So why focus on the negative?

Thanks for reading, friends.  Stay focused, share, and have a great day!