Contents
- Exercising is key to performing at 100%
- Whatever exercise you like to do can be the best form of meditation
- Be in the present moment
- Mindfulness and exercise
- These are some examples of how mindfulness and exercise can be in harmony:
- Immerse yourself in the moment
- Pick a sport you would like to do and get started
- Listen to your body and take some time to recover
Exercising is key to performing at 100%
Mindfulness and exercise are a necessity and in order for you to put in maximum effort into your work. You need to exercise your body as well as your mind; of course eating right is crucial too.
Your body is a machine and you need to look after it for the long term. Eating good food and taking regular exercise helps you to function at 100%.
Whatever exercise you like to do can be the best form of meditation
Cultivating mindfulness is key to recharging your batteries. People talk about mindfulness and the term itself is misleading and probably linked in your mind to visions of hippies sitting cross legged chanting.
Mindfulness can be found anywhere there is peace and tranquillity. Whatever sport or sports you do can be utilised to clear your brain from all the distractions; bring back a clarity and a focus that is needed to enable you to function at a higher level.
Be in the present moment
Bringing your thoughts to the present moment and not worrying about the past or the future is amazing; it takes away the anxiousness you may feel about your mistakes from the past and also the possible things that can go wrong in the future. Mindfulness and exercise that you enjoy can put you in such a state of bliss, it is truly fantastic. Mindfulness and exercise go hand in hand. They may not always be harmonious but given the time and effort you can create a happy peaceful time for yourself if you can only learn to combine mindfulness and exercise together.
Mindfulness and exercise
Meditation includes mindfulness and exercise makes that happen as it gives you something to focus on. It must be remembered though mindfulness and meditation can be found in anything that you enjoy doing; you will be able to use it to cultivate a break from the modern world.
These are some examples of how mindfulness and exercise can be in harmony:
- Fishing
- Karate
- Walking
- Cycling
- Flying
- Driving
- Meditating
For me personally I find exercise recharges my batteries, I have been practicing martial arts and Taichi-chuan in particular for the last 20 years, I have sought out one of the best teachers in the world and from time to time I go and visit him.
When I spoke to Sifu Tong Chi Kin at our first meeting I asked him why he entered the South East Asian open style tournament, he said “because I wanted to make more money.”
So without knowing it, he was working on his personal brand, just by winning this tournament and travelling with his teacher to deliver workshops, he built a reputation for himself and could charge a lot of money. He lives in Guatemala and has been teaching Taichi for over 47 years.
I have been very fortunate to have trained with some of the best people in the world and learned exercises that have been passed down from many hundreds of years. I practice every day and put myself into this state of mindfulness and exercise helps to achieve that! If one is not mindful one may fall over from the pain!
Immerse yourself in the moment
Whilst I am meditating or focusing on the task in hand, trying to stand up, it creates mindfulness. It creates a space in my mind, which controls the gorilla brain we all suffer from during our lives. I also jog regularly, lift kettle bells and love to do other sports when I get time.
The main thing, is to find some sort of sport that you like to do, find a sport that you can begin slowly or you will de-motivate yourself. Don’t lift the heaviest weight immediately, don’t try and run the longest distance or the fastest you can; don’t go to an intermediate’s Yoga class because you don’t want to be a beginner.
Try to avoid people picking your brain too. It can be such a waste of time…learn more about that here.
Pick a sport you would like to do and get started
Take your time to pick one sport you love to do and then try to fit in a couple of other activities you love which suit your lifestyle. You can mix the two, mindfulness and exercise go hand in hand!
Listen to your body, if you do some exercise one day and your body is hurting a lot everywhere then perhaps take it a little easier so that you can recover.
The aim, is to get your exercise regime integrated into your life. Planning out your days is key, looking into your diary and perhaps shifting some things around to fit in your exercise is best.
Most people I know who are really successful and truly happy exercise a lot, they share the love of being focused in the present moment, they are truly happy, when asked about it they keep quiet and generally have a little sparkle in their eyes.
When you do finally find a sport you like, then practice and continue to practice every day if possible, depending on what it is of course. That way you will find the mindfulness and exercise go hand in hand.
Listen to your body and take some time to recover
There are many schools of thought around recovering from exercise and it may be a good idea to take a day off to eat food and not exercise much. It all just depends on your body and you must listen to it. Then make sure you eat enough of the right foods to ensure your muscles recover from the gruelling exercise you have put them through.
I am giving you permission to have a massage, having a massage will help your body to recover, it will help your mind to relax even more and taking care of yourself is one of the best things you will do in life.
Take the time to go to a spa, go and sit in a jacuzzi and relax, you cannot over extend in any area of your life. Life is about balance and whilst you cannot perhaps achieve it all the time it is good to at least try to create a balanced life.
If you have any useful tips please drop them below.