Physical and Mental Health Intertwined | Weekend-Engagement 297

Happy start to the weekend my friends! I think a great way to begin is by engaging with Galenkp's reflections in this community that always explores interesting topics. This time, I enjoyed more than one topic, but to avoid focusing on music and hiking again, even though they remain important parts of my life, today I want to share some of my thoughts on mental and physical health, a path I began a couple of years ago. Honestly, it wasn't very quick, but right now I feel like I'm in a good place and have made significant progress in terms of physical endurance and finding peace of mind.

For my mental health, I've been focused on hiking, learning a second language, and music and everything it has to offer for a long time. But right now, I can say that what I do to stay physically fit is also doing me good mentally, and it's the same strength training, cardio, and hiking. There's a secret that has helped me improve faster in everything I set out to do, and that's doing all these activities with people who are just as focused as I am. And I'm lucky enough that my best friends share my passion for being healthier.

The guys and I even dress up in uniforms for the gym or the mountains 🤣 The original group is the three of us in the first cover photo, but as you can see, we've gradually incorporated other friends from the choir into our new lifestyle. We recruited one of them for the gym, and another for hiking, and we already have other choir members interested in joining us for mountain climbs. There's such a positive vibe in what we do and around us that it's impossible for our mental health not to improve. These aren't routine office activities; it's about surrounding ourselves with people and environments that enrich our lives, and this, at least for me, has brought many benefits.

We have a new group, just couples from the choir, who will be hiking together on Fridays. It's only sopranos and tenors, and adding the women has turned out to be a good idea too. Maybe I'll share some of these recent adventures later. You might not notice it in the pictures, but I've lost several kilos since the beginning of January and I've got a lot of my favorite clothes back that I couldn't wear anymore. Besides the physical changes, church, studying music, singing in the choir, friends, and especially my wife and family are very present in my daily life. I'm feeling much better mentally, and that has made my relationships healthier. The only thing I know now is that I want to continue as I am, even if I have to be selective about the people I invite. It doesn't matter; there's too much peace to let idiots in on purpose. They're still around me, but I feel so good that I don't even notice them. Thank you for reading 🙏