The Benefits of Mindful Moving
Welcome to part 2 of this interesting approach to becoming a mindful mover. In part 1 we discussed how mindfulness can help the way you move. And in part 2 I will be sharing more ways to help you begin to enjoy moving in a mindful way.
Missed Part 1? Go take a look here as it is full of lots of motivating ideas!
Your body is always working for you. Homeostasis is the body’s drive to keep the internal conditions in the same state. Whatever you throw at the body, it tries its very best to get you back into balance or homeostasis. The mindful mover is excellent at stepping aside and letting their body teach them what it needs.
Varying factors affect our ability to move, including age, injury, pregnancy, stress, menopause to name a few. The body also undergoes hormonal changes constantly which can have an unexpected impact on the results of our efforts.
There are no rights or wrongs! We can all move! We can all meditate!
Mindfulness is at the core of a peaceful and fulfilling life – Osho
Somewhere along the line in our ancestry, active resting (such as the savasana pose practiced at the end of a yoga session) has been deemed to be less important than physical work. When we rest in this way, we are teaching the body to:
- integrate and absorb all the learnings from physical activity.
The body then becomes conditioned to remember new and healthier patterns and the parasympathetic part of our nervous system, responsible for rest and digestion, can bring the body back to balance.
A client of mine wanted to lose the weight she had gained after breaking her foot which left her immobile for 3 months. She had been trying for a year with no physical results just a decline in her motivation and self-esteem. Once she understood that her stress levels were too high and she was producing too much cortisol in her body, she mindfully vowed to give up the diet and gym plan and turned to Pilates and Yoga. When her stress levels had reduced, she started to feel more balanced and then began to naturally lose weight.
If we focus on the problem, we are only ever fed back to the problem. Let go and rise above this and you will begin the steps to practicing becoming a mindful mover helping you to balance your:
- hormones
- perceptions
- negative conditioning
- bring your body back to an optimal state of health.
Your body is amazing – it is worth looking after it.
Whatever your physical practice ritual is then make it varied.
Vary the styles! Vary the music you listen to! Vary the teachers!
Most importantly vary the language you adopt in association with your movement practice. The one person who is always listening to you is you! The unconscious mind responds with the instructions it is given therefore we must make sure we program it with information that is relevant and benefits our health in a positive manner.
When you choose activities that motivate you, you begin to move with awareness. This keeps your mind present and allows your body to move at its optimal for that day. And in that exact moment-making, you are the mindful mover.
So, whether you choose to be a mindful mover with joy in your feet at a salsa class, or to sweat it out in a hot yoga class or to running a marathon, bring balance to your body always by programming and teaching it to perform and rest in an intelligent and proactive way.
Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a little suggestion of challenge for you over the festive period:
- Invite friends over for a Christmas ramble – head out into the woods or nature and be mindful of your surroundings as you walk what birds can you hear which trees can you see.
- As you cook your fav Christmas recipe – take a little time to really smell the ingredients especially the spices – drink the smells in and then as you eat the dinner remember to taste the smells – take this time to be mindful.
- Pop 5 tennis balls in a row about half a meter away from each other – mindfully crawl on your hands and knees (yoga tabletop position) to the right of the tennis balls and each time you reach one tap it with your hand or foot. when you get to the end move backward and repeat. This will work your core muscles and create an animal-like walk as you have to slowly challenge the body to touch the moving object momentarily. The slower the better with this one!
- Play a Christmas carol and dance. Nutcracker comes to mind. Mindfully move like a ballerina (doesn’t matter what you look like close your eyes even) and feel the lightness of your body reacting to the lightness of the music. This is similar to ecstatic dancing it’s such fun.
Natalie is an intuitive coach and author of Light The Way. Through her work as a writer, author, radio presenter, yoga teacher and founder of Natalie Farrell Coaching, she empowers Soulpreneurs to push to their edges: bring balance energetically into their lives and embrace their soul’s purpose.