Half of Plato’s dialogues, masterpieces of philosophical thought, are set on the backdrop of… a gym. Yes, really! Look it up. Regarding the condescending buff gym dude questioning the subpar buffness and dudeness of another bro’s muscles, a “bro” really should lift. Why? Because the body and the mind cannot be separated and neither can philosophy and the body.

Back to our Greeks and away from the buff frat boys/men… It is rather strange to wrap your head around such an unusual thing that a purely intellectual exploration of a human state would in half of its instances be set in a gymnasium. No, Greeks were not as shallow as their goods were moody, but they actually got it. They got right away a thing that we might have known but forgot. As manual labor became less prevalent and our faculties took the front seat in societal development, moving most of our work into technology and education requiring little to no physical movement, we forgot that the bro who “lifts” is actually moving his body improving his faculties. The funny connotations of this sentence – suggesting not a very intellectual bro – actually touch on a deeper level. The Greek philosophical dialogues were set in a gym because “exercise” was not something they pushed in a separate box. It was not a 30-minute cardio in between meetings, or finally rushing to a yoga class after you’ve sat your whole day through and “got everything done”. The Greeks understood that moving the body is an integral part of a fulfilled rich life. Why wouldn’t you have both? Why wouldn’t you discuss philosophy or business with your heart rate up bringing more oxygen to your cells and neurons? Greek Gods were not the embodiments of martyred, starved, and beaten bodies of the saints and deities of monotheistic religions that believe there is something noble in making the body suffer to attain eternity.

The Greeks were intelligently hedonistic, the body was a vehicle equipped with senses that are to be used and enjoyed as a compliment, and not a hindrance to attain a higher state of self. Their goods were depicted as strong, lean, muscular and powerful embodiments of a human form. The full well rounded healthy life was given a name “Eudamonia” meaning “a contented state of being healthy and happy” – and the body was an integral part of such a life. Eudamonia is flourishing and health in all areas – physical, moral, spiritual, emotional, ethical… So in the texts you’ll find discussions on the highest moral questions going on simultaneously with sports or while washing and grooming the body. For them, philosophy and thought were not disassociated from life but were going on in real time, simultaneous with life, it’s like applied philosophy, a “use it in a sentence” kind of thing.

So if you’ve been cooped up somewhere, glued to your chair, screen or office trying to figure something out and getting nowhere, the best way to get somewhere new is to step out of just being a mind in a passive body. Get out and move, run, cycle, do some sun salutations, lift bro, lift… Mind and body are intertwined, take care of both.