You know that feeling after a workout that is part exhaustion part satisfaction? You feel like you’ve conquered that workout and now you can conquer anything. Yeah, it’s awesome. But did you know it’s also part meditation? Or it might be science. Or better yet, both!
Mindfulness is a peaceful mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations.
I’m sure there are yogis and meditation masters among us who are very familiar with the idea of mindfulness and living in the moment who actively practice it in their everyday lives.
But recently it’s been pointed out to me how the effect of exercise is not only awesome physically, but can also leave you mentally refreshed. Now, I think this is something I’ve always known, but once it was pointed out to me, there was no way of avoiding it anymore. And that’s a great thing.
Regular exercise keeps you physically fit, gives you endorphins, and can also reset your mind. You don’t have to focus on or even be conscious of the mental centering. Heck, you don’t even have to know what it is entirely. It just happens.
Those of us familiar with Core9’s 31-minutes circuit style training know, the only thing on your mind while you’re at that station is the next three minutes. Your work meeting, fight with your friend, or generally busy schedule is put into a time and place where it belongs. And for those 31 minutes, you’re right in that gym, focusing on that moment.
Once that time is up, those stressors have an unfortunate habit of coming back. But that half an hour break from your hectic life can be pure bliss.
Okay, so we can experience a form of mindfulness during our workouts, but what does mindful meditation actually do for you?
Mindfulness, being aware and focused on the current moment, has been proven to help with:
These effects have been studied and proven through conscious meditation, but the same effects could hold true for subconscious mindfulness through exercise.
Some of the runners in the group might be familiar with a sensation called runner’s high. It’s a feeling of elation that runners sometimes get while on a long strenuous run. And it’s not just the post-exercise feel goods, it’s a real good high.
Most professionals relate this to the brain releasing endorphins to overcome the pain of the strain. While not exactly the same as mindfulness, I think they kind of go hand in hand.
A lot of runners find a long run to be a type of meditation already. It’s a time when they can focus on breath rhythmically going in and going out, and all other worries drop away. Those few runs that give them a runner’s high is just an occasional extra it seems.
To hit this high, your run needs to be quite long and quite strenuous. Your brain releases the endorphins in order to cope with the pain and discomfort of your run. But it isn’t just endorphins that give you runner’s high. Your body also releases hormones called endocannabinoids, which are essentially your body’s natural version of cannabis.
A lot of articles explaining the feeling call it a high, but I don’t think that’s exactly the right word. It’s more of a euphoria, a feeling that all your troubles seem to slip away, you feel unstoppable, calm, and relaxed.
Sounds pretty similar to the effects of mindfulness meditation if you ask me.
So whether you’re convinced by the science of it or the practice of meditation, try to notice it in your next work out, running or otherwise. Be conscious of your current state throughout, and the relaxed feeling you experience afterward. Who knows, meditation and its benefits may make their way into your everyday life.
Focus and empty your mind with our 31 minutes workout. Try it out for yourself!