Beyond the gym: General Hospital's Cameron Mathison champions inner growth as well as muscle growth

Drew’s (Cameron Mathison) life has devolved into chaos on General Hospital. Now that he confirmed to Willow (Katelyn MacMullen) that he did sleep with her mother, Nina (Cynthia Watros), she wants nothing to do with him and blasted him at the altar. He’s got a lot of damage control to take care of, but things probably won’t end well for him. In real life, Mathison has navigated his own heartache when his family home was burned down in the LA wildfires. But the ever-resilient actor has overcome that and continues to share his wisdom about personal health, which recently evolved to include inner growth as well.

Train your heart like you train your body

General Hospital star Cameron Mathison shared a video on Instagram to explain his concept, and captioned it, “I try to spend at least as much time training my mind and my heart as I do training my body. Preferably more:).” He continued, stating that a former teacher told him, “If you spend 60 minutes getting ready for the day—working out, shaving, picking clothes—try to spend at least that much time working on inner qualities…developing patience, compassion, wisdom, generosity, and peace of mind.”

Mathison also explained that, “As we know, real happiness comes from within, and growing these inner qualities will definitely make us more peaceful, even in the face of challenges. Our happiness will become more stable and so much deeper and long-lasting…not just based on favorable external conditions.” Along with several crying-laughing emojis, @tori_girlmama commented, “Drew needs to do some work on his INNER self.” Truer words have never been spoken as Drew has leaped headlong into the Dark Side.

Make time for your soul

General Hospital's Nina and Drew. | Image Source: ABC

In the video, General Hospital’s Cameron Mathison reiterated that a former teacher had told him to spend the same amount of time developing one’s inner qualities as they do on their physical health. He listed those qualities as “love, compassion, patience, generosity, kindness, wisdom, respect, equanimity.” His journey to better himself brought him to a special place, as he explained, “So I'm on a retreat right now for that exact purpose and feeling super peaceful, and I just wanted to share it with you guys. A nice rule to kind of go by. However much time you spend getting ready, doing your hair, your makeup, your workout, your diet, your walks, your whatever.” He ended with, “Whether you're religious or non-religious, it doesn't matter. Just something to think about.”

One fan, @erin_k3, commented, “You are inspirational, I must say!!” And when @alenabrenfalt asked, “So interesting!! Did they provide ideas as to how someone can mindfully work on developing those inner qualities?” Mathison set up future posts with, “Yes! More to come on that!”

General Hospital can be seen weekdays on ABC and Hulu.