{"id":2724,"date":"2024-08-28T15:21:34","date_gmt":"2024-08-28T20:21:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.med.virginia.edu\/mindfulness\/?p=2724"},"modified":"2024-08-28T15:22:39","modified_gmt":"2024-08-28T20:22:39","slug":"mindful-exercise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.med.virginia.edu\/mindfulness\/2024\/08\/28\/mindful-exercise\/","title":{"rendered":"Mindful Exercise"},"content":{"rendered":"<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>By John Schorling<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong>Many of us try to exercise regularly to maintain fitness and for the general health benefits. Exercise can also be a great opportunity to practice mindfulness. If we choose to do this, it is important to do it in a safe environment, like a gym or a pool, and if outside somewhere where there is not a lot of traffic or other activities that we need to be aware of.\u00a0 I have been running regularly for many years, and when I go on a run I practice mindfulness for a period of time, usually not the whole run, as often as I can.<\/p>\n<p>There is a lot that we can pay attention to while we exercise.\u00a0 We can notice all that is happening in the body- where we feel the exercise, and we can be aware of our breathing.\u00a0 If we choose to, we can notice sight.\u00a0 If we are exercising outside, walking, running or biking, we can notice our surroundings.\u00a0 We can also notice our thoughts.\u00a0\u00a0 Are thoughts arising about how well we are doing, or how much we are enjoying the experience?\u00a0 Or are thoughts arising about how hard the workout is, and perhaps how much we are not enjoying it?\u00a0 Is it possible to notice and be with whatever thoughts are arising without judging them?<\/p>\n<p>If we are not exerting ourselves too much, perhaps we can just be with the sensations that are arising and let all thoughts go.\u00a0 Then there is just whatever activity we are doing.\u00a0\u00a0 If we are walking, there is just walking.\u00a0 If we are swimming, there is just swimming.\u00a0 For me, when I am running I try to just be running.<\/p>\n<p>One aspect of mindfulness is nonidentification- not identifying with our current state\u00a0and believing it defines us.\u00a0 The construct of a self arises through thoughts- thinking that we are a certain type of person with certain characteristics.\u00a0 Yet these characteristics change moment to moment as our circumstances change.\u00a0 We can be calm in one moment, then something changes and we feel anger.\u00a0 Nonidentification means recognizing that neither state defines us- they are just bodily sensations, thoughts and emotions arising in the moment, and they will soon change.<\/p>\n<p>When exercising we can practice this- just paying attention to the body and letting thoughts go, not identifying with any of it. In this moment, we feel our feet on the ground and just notice walking. If thoughts arise we can let them go.\u00a0 Then there is just walking.\u00a0 We likely have chosen where we are headed, but there is no goal.\u00a0 If we finish what we planned to do, fine.\u00a0 If not, that can be fine too.\u00a0 It\u2019s all about the journey, noticing what\u2019s happening in the present moment, rather than trying to get to any particular destination.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Many of us try to exercise regularly to maintain fitness and for the general health benefits. Exercise can also be a great opportunity to practice mindfulness. If we choose to do this, it is important to do it in a safe environment, like a gym or a pool, and if outside somewhere where there is not a lot of traffic or other activities that we need to be aware of.\u00a0 I have been running regularly for many years, and when I go on a run I practice mindfulness for a period of time, usually not the whole run, as often as I can.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0There is a lot that we can pay attention to while we exercise.\u00a0 We can notice all that is happening in the body- where we feel the exercise, and we can be aware of our breathing.\u00a0 If we choose to, we can notice sight.\u00a0 If we are exercising outside, walking, running or biking, we can notice our surroundings.\u00a0 We can also notice our thoughts.\u00a0\u00a0 Are thoughts arising about how well we are doing, or how much we are enjoying the experience?\u00a0 Or are thoughts arising about how hard the workout is, and perhaps how much we are not enjoying it?\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1202,"featured_media":2363,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2724","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-monthly-musings"],"acf":false,"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Mindful Exercise - Mindfulness Matters<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.med.virginia.edu\/mindfulness\/2024\/08\/28\/mindful-exercise\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mindful Exercise - Mindfulness Matters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Many of us try to exercise regularly to maintain fitness and for the general health benefits. 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