Being Mindful When Working Out

If you want to start adding more movement into your life or if you want to be more mindful when exercising to avoid overdoing it, this post is for you.

We all know there are many benefits to incorporating movement into your life. It relieves stress, increases strength, maintains functionality, promotes cardiovascular health, etc etc.

Unfortunately sometimes these benefits get lost in fitness messaging -

We hear about how you have to be sore for a workout to be effective.

That workouts should be hard and intense otherwise there is no point.

That sweating is indicative of how effective a workout is.

No pain no gain.

Not only are these messages incorrect, they are dangerous.

A Fresh Start

How about thinking about movement in a different way? A way that doesn’t immediately illicit shame or guilt or feelings of not being enough? Sounds kinda freeing doesn’t it?

Movement is a gift - not a guaranteed thing. Try taking the pressure off and enjoy the gift of movement in a way that works for you. If you are open to it, wipe your slate clean - everything you know about traditional fitness culture (which is often toxic) gets the ax.

From here, let’s keep it simple, because adding movement into your daily life doesn’t need to be a whole thing. More importantly, you can always make it more involved once the basic habit of moving more each day becomes consistent.

There are no rules, but if you were to put guidelines on it…

• Fitness should be something you look forward to, not dread. Have fun (seriously)! It doesn’t need to be serious.

• The activity you chose should align with what your body and mind can (realistically) handle. There is no need to be a hero. With illness, how you feel daily can change so it only makes sense that the amount and type of activity you do should also adjust.

• Your movement practice should have an open and flexible approach, which means there’s no time requirement or specific type of movement required. No forcing yourself to workout for a certain amount of time at a certain intensity when you aren’t feeling it.

Reflect

Pause and think about this for a minute…

How would your thoughts around movement and your willingness to add activity into your day shift if you were to take a more open ended approach to fitness?

How to Begin

Maybe you are into the idea of making movement a little more joyous and a little less stressful….How are you supposed to figure out the details - like what type of movement to do and how much?

Well, the fact is that each person’s body is different - what works for one person may not necessarily work for another. And of course, chronic illness adds another layer of complexity and variability to this. Therefore, it makes more sense to learn about what works and what doesn’t for YOU specifically vs following blanket advice.

No one knows your body better than you. Learning your boundaries and what works for your body (and mind) puts the power back into your hands. That way, even when your illness is trying to be all cute and throw curveballs, you know yourself and can remain flexible to handle the unexpected with ease.

Start with Why

To start, think about why you want to start or continue moving - Is it for the stress relief? Is it to maintain a specific skill like balance? Is it to carry all the groceries in in one trip? What about strengthening your grip so you can hold things for longer?

There are so many reasons to workout, what is yours?

For example, I want to have a movement practice because I know I function better that way physically and mentally - my balance improves, I don’t run into shit as often and I am less stressed (or bitchy, whatever you want to call it haha). All that leads to more confidence and a better version of Sam overall.

Get Creative

Next, think about activities that fit within your boundaries that you could try. It could be anything. Yes, there are the typical exercise activities like walking, dancing, strength training, yoga, mobility work, and more. But, there are also things that would add more activity into your daily life like parking a little further away, standing to cook, walking to get the mail, etc.

Remember something is something. Nothing is nothing. Even adding a little more activity in your day can be beneficial and is better than nothing.

Commit to Trial + Error

After that commit to yourself and start small, maybe even smaller than you think. You don’t get bonus points if your workout is a certain length or intensity. Be chill. Starting small makes the activity less daunting and more likely that you will try it at all.*

*Friendly reminder that you can’t have trial without error - you will over-do or under-do it. That is normal. Don’t let it stop you from trying again. Brush it off and continue on.

Check Yourself

Now that you have an idea of an activity to start (small), check in with yourself at different points of said activity, take note and adjust as needed.

A suggested way to do this is below -

*Disclaimer - when asking yourself any of the questions below, you are merely observing and answering. You are not judging or comparing.*

Before you start:

• Check in with yourself - How is your mood? Energy levels?

• How does your body feel? Tight? Heavy?

Decide if the type of movement you decided on is best based off of how your body + mind are feeling. Be intentional. Is blasting music and lifting heavy shit the way to do? Or is gentle yoga more your speed today? What about a walk outside?

During your workout:

• Check in with your breath. Are you holding it?

• Focus on engaging your muscles with each movement. Really feel your body move.

• Are you balanced and using each side equally?

• Pay attention to your exertion level. Do you need a break? Push harder?

• Always always celebrate yourself. A lot. Be proud of every movement. If it’s not perfect, be proud that you are doing it and learning. That’s way more than if you didn’t even try.

After the workout:

• Check in again, just like in the beginning. How does your body feel? How is your energy? Your mood?

• Replay your workout and focus on the wins. Even if it didn't go as planned, you fucking did it. Feel yourself take control of your health.

The day after:

• Check in again longer after the workout. This could be a day later, or just a few hours. Preferably both.

• The more you bring awareness to how movement affects you, the more knowledge you have to modify it and make it work for you.

Repeat, Repeat, Repeat

If you repeat this process over and over again, you will gather SO much info about what types of activity feel best for your body when it’s fatigued, in pain or when you are feeling good as hell.

With that knowledge comes power, a sense of control and more confidence in your ability to make a choice that suits you best based on how you are feeling. And, that is WAY better than forcing your body to do something that it isn’t into.

More flow and less fight - that’s the way to live with illness and fucking thrive.

Much love,

Sam