Carolyn Hansen: The art of mindful exercise

If exercise is so important to our health, why do so many give up on their fitness goals? Photo / 123rf

Fitness must be a priority in our lives because our bodies are made to move. It is not a luxury but a necessity to keep in shape if we value our lives and want to enjoy healthy vitality and longevity.

Why then, if it's so important to our health, do so many give up on their fitness goals?

For many, it's because they don't enjoy it. Not everyone is a "natural born exerciser" (those who seem to really enjoy challenging their bodies without much outer motivation) as some seem to be and do not draw any type of inner excitement, satisfaction or pleasure from exercising. And there's only so much any of us are willing to put ourselves through without gaining some sort of pleasurable return.

Giving people a good reason to exercise when they don't enjoy it became a challenge for Dutch scientists and the backbone of a recent study. This study performed by scientists at Utrecht University, Netherlands, was focused on determining how much exercise volunteers got along with how satisfied and mindful they were during exercise.

The results were not surprising. Volunteers that reported feeling most satisfied with their exercise were the same ones that exercised the most and vice-versa.

However, mindfulness also played an important role and volunteers who practised "mindfulness" while exercising reported overall satisfaction with exercise. This suggests that "mindfulness may amplify satisfaction because one is satisfied when positive experiences with physical activity become prominent. For those experiences to be noticed … one must become aware of them. We would argue that this can be achieved by being mindful."

It's common practice to immediately pop in headphones whether working out at the gym, at home or out for a run. Photo / 123rf

Focusing in on our immediate environment and our senses and being in tune with what we feel mentally, emotionally and physically while exercising creates a much more satisfying and enjoyable experience and can even be considered a form of meditation.

This is valuable information and especially helpful for those that struggle with quiet sitting meditations. Just as mindfulness is an awareness, a moment-to-moment focus on our surroundings and sensory attachment to them, mindful exercise can also be a powerful form of meditation.

What is mindful exercising?

Listening to music or watching TV while exercising is high on the list of modern fitness motivators and it's common practice to immediately pop in headphones whether working out at the gym, at home or out for a run.

However, rather than plug-in to escape what's happening during exercise, mindful exercise has us doing the exact opposite. We tune in and become "mindful" of our surroundings and what our bodies are feeling physically. Our breath, muscles, resistance and tension all come into play.

Mindful exercise creates a harmonious connection between mind and body. Our fitness/exercise routine provides the ideal opportunity to expand out of our comfort zone, to experience what it's like to stretch and challenge our bodies beyond our normal perimeters.

This type of moment-to-moment attention on details while exercising promotes a deeper appreciation and connection to our bodies and it doesn't end with attention on the body but includes attention and focus on our surroundings as well. If outside, we can easily take in the changing scenery and employ all our senses.

What's the temperature of the air? Does it feel hot or cold? Is the ground smooth or rough? If our fitness routine is in the gym, we can tune into the rhythm and pulse of the gym along with a focus and awareness on our bodily sensations as we move through each exercise.

Focusing on our breathing, following the in-breath and out-breath, is the perfect anchor to begin the practice of mindful exercise. As we focus on the tempo of our breath, it's important we take notice of any thoughts that find their way in as thoughts are not present moment experiences. If we are in our thoughts, we are not in the moment. We are in the past or future of our mind.

Thoughts about actions from the past or anxiety about the future steal away our present moment. When a rebel thought vies for our attention, we simply need to let go and bring ourselves back to our breath where we can feel and enjoy the challenge of the moment again.

And, this brings us to the bonus we receive with mindful exercise. Our deeply fortified spiritual connection. Our connection to the divine is always there but our minds are usually so tied up in "thought-filled dramas" that we cannot feel this connection or hear its intuitive voice.

Physical exercise releases life-giving hormones gets our heart pounding, our body sweating and our breath deeply expanded opening this divine intuitive connection. Negative thoughts and feelings have no place in a heart pounding with energy.

When we are mindfully focused on what our bodies feel and the surroundings we're in when exercising, we have little to no room for negative mental and emotional issues to take over. This emptiness opens us to our higher, intuitive selves, our power centre. This is the "zone" that professional athletes talk about and it can only be accessed in the moment. Those powerful intuitive flashes of inspiration that we all have from time to time come forth from this power centre.

Being mindful supports our exercise routine and our exercise routine supports being mindful. Whatever your fitness choice, try unplugging and being fully present. Give it a go without music or TV. Place your focused attention on the moment where you don't just do the exercise but engage all your senses in feeling the exercise and all elements that contribute to it.

Only then can you feel real gratitude and gratitude is the magic attitude.

Carolyn Hansen is co-owner Anytime Fitness