Yoga Meditation – A Guide for Beginners
Yoga is a great exercise and an awesome way to practice mindfulness!! You should do yoga for at least 30-60 minutes per week!
Yoga helps you build muscle strength, increases flexibility, improves blood flow, decreases blood pressure, improves posture, concentration and energy, decreases stress and anxiety.
Taking to a yoga class is a great way to exercise, get hands on guidance, make friends and build community! If you’re new to yoga, check out this 20 minute yoga routine you can do at home!
A Strong Mindset for Strength Training
Mindfulness and strength training go hand in hand! Meditation through movement is easy, you just move mindfully and focus your attention on your body movements. Counting the repetitions in your lifts can be calming and meditative, similar to focusing on your breath. Try of these suggestions the next time you’re lifting weights:
– Focus on your breath. Pay attention to the air going in and coming out of your lungs.
– Have a mantra. Create a mantra to say with each repetition or each inhale/exhale. You’d be shocked how much having a powerful mantra can boost your workout!
Make your own mantra or try these out: “I am enough,” “I am strong,” “I am powerful,” “Yes I can,” “I’ve got this.”
– Concentrate on the movement. Move your muscles slowly and really think about the muscle groups you’re using. You can focus on any aspect of the physical movement you like. Some examples are focusing on your form or thinking about what the muscles feel like as you move them.
A Successful Workout Mindset
The right mindset is the most critical element to making an exercise routine work for you! Here are some important steps to getting the right mindset:
1) Set Realistic Expectations: It’s important to set a goal, but start very small. By making a large goal, you make it difficult to achieve. Instead of setting your goal to run a mile everyday, start with a goal to run 15 minutes 3 days per week. Once you hit your goal, increase it to slowly over time.
2) It doesn’t matter what you do … just do something! It doesn’t matter what you do, just get your body moving. You don’t need a gym membership or weight set to get healthy. Walk the dog, or run the stairs in your house for 5 minutes, anything that’s easy and attainable for you. Doing anything is better than doing nothing!
3) Make it fun! Pick an activity that you enjoy doing. If it feels like torture, you’re less likely to do it. Taking a fitness class or joining a sports league or dancing to a zumba DVD, whatever sounds fun to you!
4) Remember why you’re living an active lifestyle: When you’re working out, remind yourself why you’re doing it. Even if working out seems like a chore, adopting a grateful attitude and appreciating your ability to more your body will make every workout more enjoyable.
5) Get an accountability partner and schedule your workouts: Both of these tips help you get in the mindset of working out and inspire you to keep going. Scheduling your exercise around an existing habit is great trigger to also get you into the exercise mindset, so try to schedule at the same time so that exercise becomes second nature.
Meditation Through Exercise
Many people avoid meditation because they don’t like to sit still. But mindfulness can be an active process that happens through movement! Meditation during exercise can increase your satisfaction from workouts. Read this article for more ideas about how to bring mindful meditation techniques into your workout!
Holiday Mindfulness Tips
The holidays are full of joy but they can also be stressful. Here are some techniques to help make your holiday more joyful!
1) Take a walk. Pay close attention to the sounds, sights and smells. Really appreciate the scenery around you. Walking is an excellent way to decrease stress and boost your mood!
2) Take 3-5 minutes to meditate. Meditation is a great way to center yourself. It’s easy – simply find a quiet place to sit for a few minutes. Focus on your breathing, deep calming breaths that fill your lungs. If your mind wanders (which is natural), gently come back to focusing on your breath. The goal is to be present in the moment.
3) Be kind to yourself. Take a bath or a nap. Call a friend. Go to the movies or play a game. Anything to reminds you of the joy this holiday season is filled with!
Mindfulness & Gratitude
Want to feel more alive and enthusiastic? Hoping to ditch anger and resentment to enter the new year emotionally lighter? Check out this awesome step by step guide to a quick mindfulness exercise that’ll help you achieve these goals!
Self-Reflection is Good for the Soul
https://positivepsychologyprogram.com/introspection-self-reflection/
Self reflection is essential for personal growth!
Check out these articles for some ideas of some questions to journal about!
7 Scientifically Proven Benefits of Gratitude
https://www-psychologytoday-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/what-mentally-strong-people-dont-do/201504/7-scientifically-proven-benefits-gratitude?amp&usqp=mq331AQHCAFYAYABAQ%3D%3D&_js_v=0.1&fbclid=IwAR2C_YMisVrYjUS5XU5KJokosnOPRRmlv9t7uOZArw2ZRfAiD50ip-eg-EQ#aoh=15439046608359&_ct=1543904682378&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&_tf=From%20%251%24s&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.psychologytoday.com%2Fus%2Fblog%2Fwhat-mentally-strong-people-dont-do%2F201504%2F7-scientifically-proven-benefits-gratitude
Gratitude is the single most important thing you can do for your mental and physical health! An attitude of gratitude will improve the quality (and the sometimes even the quantity) of your life! Start focusing on appreciation and gratitude today!
