Fitness & Wellness News Your Source for Fitness News, Wellness News, Health News, and Nutrition News!
by Michelle Sutton-Kerchner
Whether your workout is spent on the treadmill, pumping iron, or grooving in Group Fitness, your success depends on this …
You may be sweating it out with perfect form and powerful execution. But, don’t forget the link between your body’s performance and your mind’s thoughts. Health and wellness require acknowledgement of this connection. Take a holistic approach to your workout. Be mindful.
Most modern exercise regimens consist of movements designed to strengthen and improve the physical self. The ancient value of interconnectedness often is forgotten as we strive to sculpt muscles and improve physical health. When we incorporate mental fitness, we can advance beyond a better body to become truly well.
Good health thrives on mind and body fitness. Myriad mental exercises exist to sharpen the brain and cultivate mindfulness. Done alone, they won’t contribute to weight loss or lowered cholesterol. Obviously, we cannot envision our cardiovascular system working more effectively to improve blood pressure readings.
Similarly, we cannot be genuinely healthy–and not plateau in our efforts—unless we bring our brain to the Exercise Floor or Group Fitness classroom. Mindfulness may be the missing element in efforts to become more fit, lose weight, and perform better. And, if you’re using fitness to reduce stress, mindful workouts are essential.
Cardiovascular health is a perfect example of the gains achieved through a mind-body workout. Research shows mood, outlook, and stress levels strongly affect the body, including the heart. A healthy diet and commitment to exercise helps prevent heart disease. Stress-reducing exercises and mind-body practices complement those benefits and significantly improve heart health.
Workouts to Get You Started
Some fitness routines were created with mindfulness as the fundamental element. Being mentally present is practiced and perfected while the body is worked. These include exercises like Yoga, Pilates, T’ai Chi, and Feldenkrais. The instructor includes mental focus as part of the workout. They require mindful breathing and movement. This aspect is taught just as form, reps, and execution are taught in other forms of fitness.
Which Came First?
We tend to associate yogis and other such fitness gurus with a certain personality type: calm, serene, focused on nature and simplicity, peaceful. Is that personality drawn to yoga and such, or does it evolve from yoga? According to practitioners, yoga can transform the most stressed and stiff of us into beings of fluid mind and body. Perhaps then, it is the mindful workout that creates the person. And everyone can use a little (a lot of) serenity in their lives.
Beyond Chants and Poses
Those interested in achieving more fulfilling, holistic fitness may wish to use the typical fitness methods (like yoga and Pilates) as an introduction to mindful workouts. Once you learn how to adjust thoughts, and bring them into the present moment, you can take this discipline anywhere from Zumba® class to the office.
Balance your high-intensity, power workout with one that takes thought into consideration. You’ll be able to better acknowledge how far you have progressed, even if it has not yet shown on the bathroom scale. This realization is great motivation to keep striving for the skinny jeans and beyond.
Sources
“5 Mind-Body Exercises for a Healthier Heart,” by Jennipher Walters at sparkpeople.com/resource/wellness_articles.asp?id=1613
“Mind and Body Fitness for Lifelong Good Health,” at webmd.com/fitness-exercise/mind-body-fitness-lifelong-good-health
Image Credits
Reset your mind: pixabay.com/en/mindset-mindfulness-meditation-743161/
Beach jumper: pixabay.com/en/fitness-jump-health-woman-girl-332278/
