Why MENS SANA in CORPORE SANO from acronym JUVENALA
Some 1900 or so years ago, in the satires of the Roman poet Juvenal, a well-known expression appeared. Literally it is said in satire 10, 356:
"Orandum est, ut sit mens sana in corpore sano ..."
"We must pray to have a healthy soul in a healthy body,".
Juvenal here describes the inadequate desires of the people for the gods
because the majority can't figure out what they need to truly attain happiness.
The most common desires are therefore "wealth", but also "political power"
"success as a speaker", "the glory of war", "a long life" and "beauty".
All these desires create great misunderstandings for Juvenal. So the rich man is constantly afraid of thieves, and the elderly fear all kinds of diseases. Juvenal uses as examples people from mythology who suffer in old age, or politicians who fall into disgrace.
In conclusion, he urges that life should run its course without asking the gods for anything, because they know what people need for their happiness anyway.
And if one really wants to pray to the gods, it is better to ask for something of the utmost importance: a healthy soul in a healthy body.
Nowadays, the expression is mostly superficially interpreted or intentionally misinterpreted as "healthy mind in a healthy body".
Physical exercise, which played a central role in German National Socialism for ideological reasons, was used with a short interpretation of Juvenal's motto.
Today, various mental gurus, such as Tony Buzan, repeatedly propagate that intense exercise training significantly enhances intellectual performance. But this is not scientifically proven.
On the contrary, in the current interpretation of the expression it denotes that in sick and weak bodies there cannot be a healthy mind. Such an analogy leads directly to discrimination against people with disabilities. In this context, representatives of people with disabilities vehemently reject the shortened interpretation of the expression 'Mens sana in corpore sano'. For example, a person physically destroyed by illness can be a brilliant scientist, recalling Stephen Hawking among others.
However, studies have also shown that exercise can reduce the risk of Alzheimer's ageing by up to 50%.
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