Mindful Exercise Tips

Mindful exercise simply means paying attention to your physical experience, but it's not as easy as it sounds. Gaining body awareness means learning to focus on how you really feel instead of going on auto-pilot. Think about the last time you walked across a room. How exactly did you do it? What order did you activate your muscles in, and how did the floor feel under your feet? Chances are, you don't quite know, because you were thinking about other things. That's fine for walking across the room, but when you're working out, increasing your body awareness will help you prevent injury, identify weaknesses, and achieve better results from your cardiovascular or strength training program. These mindful exercise tips will help you train yourself to listen more closely to your body. That's means you'll be more in touch with where your muscles are tense, where your alignment is shaky, or where you're not following your full range of motion. Mindful exercise means getting more out of your workout routine. Read on to learn three simple things that you can do to increase your body awareness. Once you try these techniques, you'll want to make them a habit!

Start With Breathing

Before you warm up your body for your workout, warm up your mind. Once you're in your exercise clothes, take some deep breaths. Try inhaling on a count of four, then out on a count of four. Repeat at least ten times. While you're breathing, follow the air and see where it goes inside your body. Does your chest rise? Does your abdomen or your back expand? Don't try to force your breathe to go anywhere; just pay attention to increase your body awareness. "Listening" to your breath this way will help you train yourself for mindful exercise by training you to concentrate on concrete physical sensations.

Fact: Research has shown that regular relaxation through deep-breathing can reduce your risk of heart disease.

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