An active lifestyle can be so much more than just obligatory exercise and boring routines. You don’t need to put on your trainers at six in the morning and head out into the cold for a jog (if you don’t want to!). You don’t have to swim a hundred laps of the pool if it’s one of the most mundane activities you can imagine yourself doing. You don’t have to go to the gym and take part in classes that make you feel overly uncomfortable and uninspired. On the other hand, maybe an early-morning run fires you up like nothing else, or a hundred laps of the pool help you feel energised, calm and happy. Perhaps a class at the gym is a great way for you to exercise, while also meeting new people and enjoying the energy of working out in a group.
For me, exercise is all about experimentation. It’s learning more about my body and what it needs at different times, as well as finding ways to get moving that feel genuinely fun and meaningful. An active lifestyle allows me to explore new activities and reap the benefits of exercise (without feeling like I’m going through the same old motions again and again and again).
And it gives me an incredible opportunity to practise mindfulness.
Let’s rewind to early 2011, when I first moved to Melbourne. Having spent the previous fifteen or so years dancing (and absolutely loving it!), I began searching for a new dance studio. It’s easy to describe what I loved about dancing: the connection with the music, how nothing else seemed to matter while I was absorbed in the movements, the elation of creating choreography from nothing. When the show So You Think You Can Dance began airing on Australian television, I recorded every episode and watched my favourite dances until I knew them by heart.
Even though I was shy and introverted – struggling to speak up in groups of more than two people and shaking the whole way through any kind of speaking presentation – I absolutely loved performing. I competed multiple times throughout my childhood and teenage years, and for someone who couldn’t stand not having everything planned out, I revelled in the thrill of going out onto the dance floor for an improvised-dance competition, not knowing which song was going to play or what moves I’d make.
Once I joined a dance studio in Melbourne, I promptly fell out of love with dancing. I missed the people I used to dance with and the teacher who inspired me. I felt awkward and lonely. For an activity that had felt natural for so long, it quickly became something foreign to me, and remembering the steps felt like trying to hold on to water with my bare hands.
I stuck it out for several months, hoping to find that spark I knew had to be inside me, somewhere. But it just never felt the same.
When I started to dread going to class and spent weeks avoiding it (feeling incredibly guilty as the membership money came out of my account each fortnight), I decided it was time to let it rest for a while.
I missed the physical activity and decided to join a nearby gym. I attended boxing classes, weight-lifting classes, yoga classes and zumba classes. I swam in the pool and ran on the treadmill. I realised that I didn’t have to stick to one activity; I could mix things up as much as I wanted.
And from realising that I had the freedom to move my body in whichever ways felt right at the time, I quickly fell back into an active lifestyle. When I grew bored with the gym, I took up long-distance running around my neighbourhood. Then I started going to boxing classes and went to the local pool to swim laps. My partner and I moved to a new area and I joined the local yoga studio.
If you haven’t already guessed, variety is the spice of my active lifestyle. Without it, I grow bored and frustrated and end up feeling as though exercise is a chore, rather than an opportunity to have fun and engage with my body in a mindful way.
But maybe you prefer your routine and there are activities you genuinely enjoy, day in and day out, and that’s okay, too! It’s important to understand what works well for you and to know that you can change things up whenever you need.
Maybe you could organise a hiking trip, or go rock climbing with some friends. Or you could try out a karate class or practise tai chi. You could volunteer to walk a friend’s dog, ride a bike to your local café (rather than drive) or learn how to surf. You can find small ways to incorporate activities into your everyday life, like taking the stairs instead of the lift, or organise regular adventures to try new things.
Mindfulness and moving your body
You may already know about the various benefits of exercise: the release of endorphins, better sleep, protection from chronic diseases (such as heart disease and type 2 diabetes), the maintenance of strong bones and muscles, weight management, improved brain health and increased energy. However, an interesting benefit I’ve discovered over the last few years is the opportunity I have to practise mindfulness every time I move my body. It’s a chance to really connect with myself and to actually experience exercise in a way that is meaningful, fun and enriching.
I can find joy in a sweaty session on the bike, when my legs are burning and my heart feels like it’s racing wildly enough to shoot out of my chest. I can also find joy in a yoga pose that has me lying on the floor with my eyes closed. All experiences of exercise can present something unique, something powerful, something deeply grounding. Sometimes, we don’t even need to practise mindfulness intentionally; the experience is simply so captivating that there’s no room for anything but total presence.
For example, imagine you’re rock climbing indoors on a challenging wall. You can feel the strength in your arms as they anchor you in place, you notice the texture of the rocky handles under your fingers and you experience each breath, using it to help channel your focus and stay calm. Every time you move further up the wall, you feel the power of your legs propelling you upwards. You may even notice different emotions as they arise – fear, intimidation, determination, excitement, happiness and pride.
You might notice a similar connection with the present moment, free of judgements and distractions, via many different exercise experiences. I now search for and savour moments like these and that’s why exercise has become so much more than a chore or a simple requirement to maintain my health.
Let’s explore the connection between mindfulness and exercise a little deeper, looking at the breath, bodily sensations, the environment and letting go of judgements. I hope this chapter will not only help you find more mindfulness via exercise, but also inspire you to connect more with your own body and physical experiences.
Exercise and your breath
When you’re exercising, it’s totally normal for your breathing rate to increase as your body works to provide extra oxygen to your muscles and eliminate more carbon dioxide. With this change comes a powerful chance to tune in to your breath.
While breathing is perhaps my most-used mindfulness technique, it’s one which can easily be overlooked. On average, we breathe around twenty thousand times every single day, or approximately twelve breath cycles every minute. Cultivating awareness of the breath can take effort, but it’s a practice which can easily be built over time because there are so many opportunities to try it.
Have you ever gone for a run and found yourself paying close attention to the increased depth of each inhale? It might seem like the only thing that’s truly important in that moment is obtaining as much air as possible. Or maybe you’ve found yourself swimming laps at the pool with your focus deeply entrenched in breathing at exactly the right moments to avoid a mouthful of water.
These are just a few examples of how the breath can gently direct our attention to the moment during exercise, but I highly encourage you to try this for yourself.
Next time you’re exercising, see if you can explore a few different aspects of breathing, including where you can feel your breath, how it changes and whether there are any patterns you can find. We’ll explore all three of these aspects of breathing below.
Feeling your breath
Maybe you can follow each breath as it enters your nostrils, moves down your throat and fills your lungs (and then follow the journey back out again). I find this is a simple mindful breathing technique to use when I’m doing light exercise, such as walking, yin yoga and stand-up paddle boarding, because each breath cycle is quite long and gives me enough time to actually feel the different areas.
When the type of exercise becomes more intense and my breathing rate increases, I like to hone my focus to just one area of my body where I can feel my breath. Usually this area is my chest, but feel free to experiment with different areas to find what works best for you.
How the breath changes
Become curious about the changes in your breathing cycles as you exercise. You may find that everything is quite slow and calm at the beginning, then speeds up and slows back down again.
Recognise the incredible intuition of your body and how it knows to increase your oxygen intake, without you consciously telling it to. There are so many amazing ways that our bodies work and I think it’s important to appreciate just how phenomenal they really are. At a time when there is so much focus on the outward appearance of our bodies, there has also been a rise in displeasure and frustration with what our bodies look like (rather than what they do).
Learning to notice and appreciate the breath is a wonderful starting point for anyone who might like to build a greater sense of worth around their body and the functions that it’s actually capable of.
Breathing patterns
Another exciting feature of the breath is that it is entirely your own. In 2013, a study led by Professor Renato zenobi of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in zurich suggested that each person’s exhaled breath is as unique as a fingerprint. Not only does the breath seem to vary between individuals, but it also changes throughout the day depending on chemical changes within the body.1
With this in mind, what can you notice about your own breath? Even though you may not be able to detect chemical compounds in your breath, there may be other individual aspects you can discover and pay attention to. Do you pause at the end of each exhale? Do you naturally breathe in time with the movements of your exercise? For example, when you run, do you inhale for a certain number of steps and exhale for a certain number of steps?
Exercise and bodily sensations
If there’s one thing exercise isn’t short on, it’s physical sensations. I can’t remember a time when I exercised without noticing something about how my body felt (and that includes all the years of exercise I did before I learned about mindfulness!). Whether it was an area of tension in my body, the feeling of my skin heating up, the releasing and lengthening of my muscles, or the sensations of my posture, physical aspects of exercise were always incredibly salient to me.
Before I learned about mindfulness, however, this was actually an area of frustration. I was constantly wanting to push past my limits (feeling disappointed when I couldn’t), while I perceived the physical signs of needing to slow down or go easier on myself as problems to overcome. I always wanted to run faster and further, to achieve difficult yoga poses quickly, to swim fifty laps when I felt tired after five and to lift weights I wasn’t ready for. In many ways, exercise often felt like punishment and provided a reason to feel frustrated and angry with myself.
These days, I do my best to respect my limits and to move forward at a pace that genuinely feels good for me. I can do this by mindfully tuning in to my body and understanding when I’ve had enough and by noticing when I’m starting to feel frustrated. Instead of being pushed by that frustration into doing exercise that doesn’t feel good (and actually has the potential to cause harm), I recognise that I’m feeling frustrated and I pause to take a few deep breaths. During this time, I usually notice that it’s time to slow down and show some self-compassion.
I can return to the exercise and simply embrace where I’m at, without needing to push myself more or achieve something I’m not ready for. The mindful experience of exercise is rich and meaningful enough, just as it is.
Here are a few simple steps you can take to invite mindfulness into the experience of bodily sensations. These steps also spell the word FEELS, making it easy to remember when you’re exercising!
Feel
Notice what your exercise actually feels like. Can you feel your muscles supporting you, or lengthening, or strengthening? Can you feel your breath moving in and out of your body a little faster? Can you feel the different movements of your arms or legs?
Extend
Extend yourself to the point where you feel comfortably pushed, if you would like to. Exercise can be a wonderful opportunity to build your resilience and strengthen your body, but don’t forget to support yourself with kind self-talk and encouragement. Notice if your inner dialogue becomes mean or critical and see if you can replace those thoughts with meaningful affirmations, such as ‘I am doing really well. I’m here, I’m trying and that’s awesome.’
Embrace
It can also be important to embrace the stage you’re actually at with your exercise. It may not be where you want to be, your progress may be slower than you anticipated, you may achieve things quickly and then take a few steps back, or you may reach a point and feel happy just maintaining it. Try not to compare yourself to others and focus instead on your own journey and the benefits it’s given you. For example, I may not be particularly flexible, but yoga gives me the opportunity to slow down, connect with my breath, tune in to my body and stretch out areas of tension.
Listen
Consciously choose to listen to your body and what it needs as you exercise. Do you need more water, a short break, a gentle stretch, a few deep breaths? Maybe the endorphins are kicking in and you’re feeling energised and ready to kick things up a level? Also, be conscious of when you’ve had enough, even if it’s earlier than you intended. Listen to your body and allow it to guide you through your experiences with exercise.
Start
Now that you know some simple tips for being mindful of your body and engaging in exercise in a self-compassionate way, it’s time to get started! Sometimes, one of the hardest moments is finding the motivation to begin. I’ve found that the best ways for me to exercise regularly include mixing up my routine; some days, I’ll go for a walk, some days I’ll go to the pool and some days I’ll roll my mat out and practise yoga on the lounge-room floor. As soon as I have the thought ‘now would be a good chance to do some exercise!’, I try to just get started, without procrastinating or looking for excuses. Even if it’s only for ten minutes, that’s still better than nothing at all!
Exercise and the environment
Exercising in nature offers so many opportunities to be mindful, from the igniting of our senses to the little challenges we can discover and embrace, such as rolling hills, moving water, different temperatures, higher altitudes, abrupt weather changes and heavy rain. Nature can be unexpected, and therefore tends to draw us into the moment in a very compelling way!
There are no fancy techniques or top tips here; I simply encourage you to exercise outside and explore whatever may be there to be explored. You might have an experience like this one:
You are standing on a paddle board in the middle of a smooth, still lake. Each time your paddle dips into the water, it makes a quiet splash and then sends out waves of ripples as it cuts through the water like soft cheese. You feel the sunshine on your skin, droplets of water on your legs and your body moving intuitively to stay balanced.
Try going for a hike and feeling the strength of your legs as you climb. Go to a lake and walk around it, watching birds floating on top of the water and creating ripples. Practise yoga outside on the grass, instead of in a studio. Head down to a beach and swim or bodysurf in the salty water. There are so many ways you can blend exercise, nature and mindfulness together for a rich experience.
Exercise and letting go of judgements
Judgements can suck a whole lot of joy away from our experiences of exercise. I know that when I’m being overly critical towards myself – noticing every flaw, demanding that I change things I can’t even control, or adamantly repeating negative thoughts – it’s much more difficult to be mindful and appreciate the moment.
Letting go of judgements can be such an empowering thing to do and allows us to not only increase our potential for mindfulness, but helps us become kinder and more compassionate towards ourselves.
The first step towards letting go of judgements is simply noticing their presence. For example, ‘I just noticed myself having the thought that I’m not good enough at this’ or ‘Hey, that judgemental thought about being too slow/weak/fit just came into my mind again.’ Know that it’s okay to have a judgemental thought – and try not to add another layer of judgement to the situation by feeling guilty about it! I used to do this all the time when I first started. Now I try to just observe the judgemental thought, as though I’m digging in the garden and I’ve found an unexpected worm in a handful of dirt. It’s allowed to be there, there’s nothing wrong with it and it’s just a normal part of life.
Notice the judgemental thought, remember that it’s okay to have that thought, then simply refocus on what you’re doing. You could move your attention back to your breath, your physical experiences, or the environment around you.
Another helpful technique can be to simply say ‘Thanks, mind!’ to remind yourself that your mind may be trying to help you, but it’s not always right. I first learned this technique from a book called The Happiness Trap by Dr Russ Harris,2 and it’s one I’ve used again and again over the years to remember that even though my mind always thinks it’s right, sometimes it’s not. For a long time, I let my own mind dictate so many of my actions unnecessarily with thoughts like ‘I don’t belong in a gym, I need to exercise somewhere private’ or ‘It’s a sign of weakness to slow down before I get to the end’ or ‘Everyone here is better than I am and there’s no point even trying.’
To show you the potential influence of my own judgemental thoughts, here’s an example. When I was growing up I felt sick at the thought of swimming carnivals. Swimming wasn’t a sport that felt natural to me and I talked myself into truly dreading it. In my journal, I wrote about how much embarrassment I would feel about coming last, about how people would be laughing at me and about all the mistakes I was bound to make. The one exception to this was breaststroke. I loved that style of swimming and often did quite well in those races (a sign to me that I was ‘good’ at it).
Once I reached high school, the swimming races we participated in were optional. I always chose to compete in the breaststroke races, while telling myself that the other races weren’t worth my time because I wouldn’t do well and there was a chance I’d embarrass myself.
However, in Year 11 I was elected as the leader for my sports team. My school had always been divided into three teams for the sports events (swimming and athletics) and we could win points for our teams. Coming first, second or third earned larger amounts of points, but just participating in each event also earned a point.
Once I realised how important each point was (and how little my ego mattered), I decided to sign up for every possible race in the swimming carnival. Not just breaststroke, but also freestyle, backstroke, relays – even the longer freestyle event that involved swimming multiple laps (which I came last in, by the way!). I told the team that I was entering all the races, even though I wasn’t a confident swimmer and I knew I wouldn’t win. And I encouraged them to do the same.
I let go of my previous judgemental thoughts and replaced them with new ones: it was worthwhile to compete in all the races to earn the points and encourage my team. I could come last and show my team that it wasn’t the worst thing in the world. It was more important to me that I tried and came last than if I didn’t try at all.
It was easily my favourite swimming carnival out of all the years I’d been attending them. I was exhausted, but I also felt incredibly empowered by putting my judgemental thoughts in the back seat while I encouraged myself and allowed myself to be proud of what I’d done. I found joy in that – and it was one of the first times I remember showing myself that I didn’t have to believe my own negative and judgemental thoughts about not being good enough at exercise.