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# Blood & Ink: Saturday
- URL: https://www.zenmedicine.co/06/
- Published: 2024-10-05T12:35:44.000Z
- Updated: 2025-02-09T15:58:31.000Z
- Description: psychological strength / body-mind connection / warrior initiations
- Author: Eric Brown
- Tags: Blood x Ink

## **I’m the strongest I’ve ever been right now…**

**I had a period in my early twenties of going to the gym regularly, but haven’t reclaimed that level of strength in almost a decade.**

I’ve far surpassed that now.

I’m not a Hulk by any stretch of the imagination, but the difference is visible and felt.

Sparked by my [**WARRRIOR100**](https://www.phoenixculture.org/warrior100-waitlist?ref=zenmedicine.co) initiation last year, I’ve stoked the flame of regular strength and combat training into an inferno. I’ve broken my weightlifting records, submitted people in jiu-jitsu, and watched my body develop.

**The psychological implications of developing physical strength are under-discussed in modern discourse.**

Maybe it’s just me *(though I suspect I’m not unique in this)*, but I spent a lot of my life being the smaller, skinnier, weaker one. That inner knowing pervades every interaction. 

A small voice—nearly inaudible—whispers, *“Don’t rock the boat, you won’t be able to do anything if they get upset.”*

**Developing physical strength and skill in combat changes this.**

When you know that you can take a hit and give one back, psychological space for boldness opens.

Things have become significantly easier:

- Being radically honest with myself
- Sharing dissenting opinions in conversation
- Establishing and enforcing boundaries
- Sitting in uncomfortable conversations

The mind and body are intimately connected. No separation exists.

Strong body, strong mind, strong will,  
Eric Brown.