Mindful Exercise

In my last post, I touched on mindful eating. I want to further explore the theme of mindfulness by looking at how we exercise.

Mindfulness applies to all areas of our lives so it’s no surprise that there’s such a thing as mindful exercising.

My gym recently focused on this for a week and initially it seemed like a painfully drawn out conversation when the instructors would go over the importance of being mindful. But as the weeks went by, I could see the value in what they were saying.

I started to pay attention to the muscle I was working and I soon realised that when I did that, I was able to better isolate the muscle and focus on it.

Quite often at the gym, when I allow my mind to wander – aka not being mindful – I soon find myself missing out on the instructions or forgetting to do the exercises correctly. At best it means I don’t get the best out of the exercises and at worst it can easily result in injuries.

When I exercise mindfully, I find that my muscles are better worked or relaxed depending on the class I’m in.

Some people have a passion for physical exercise while others are exercise junkies who love and thrive on it.

I find exercising tolerable and I do it because I know it’s good for me and not always because I enjoy it. There are a few exceptions like Aqua Aerobics which I thoroughly enjoy.

So when I exercise, I am determined to get the best out of the session to make the pain worthwhile.

Once I saw how mindfulness could help me get the best out my exercises, I was hooked. Now I pay attention to my thoughts to make sure they don’t stray away from the present moment and when they do, I gently bring them back.

Mindfulness is simple and hard at the same time. The concept of being fully present in the moment sounds really simply but putting it into practice can be quite challenging.

It’s been estimate that between 30,000 to 65,000 thoughts go through our mind everyday so it’s no wonder that we struggle to stay in the moment.

Some of the tips I learnt are as follows:

Be gentle and kind with yourself

We can all choose to be kind to ourselves and not fuss too much if we find our minds have wondered.

This is a natural thing so accept that it will happen now and again.

When it does, simply and consciously bring your thoughts back to the present. Don’t sweat it.

Make the pad and pen your friend

Some thoughts come because they are important so rather than being distracted by them, simply write them down and then you can refocus on the task at hand.

Our brains are wired to work for us so sometimes it will remind us of some important tasks or information and it will do that without regards for the right timing. So appreciate your brain, record the thoughts and re-focus.

Focus on your breathing

This can help you to better stay in the moment. When you focus on your breathe and become fully aware of its rhythm, you will soon find that you can’t think of much else.

The next time you go to they gym or decide to go out for a walk or run, try and be more mindful to help you get the best out of it. Whatever is worth doing is worth doing well.

Thanks for reading my post. Here’s to our purposeful health. Have a great week and don’t forget to share the post with others.