Mindful Exercise

In Healing Walks for Hard Times, Carolyn Kortge, a breast cancer survivor, encourages readers to integrate mindfulness into their walks.

My lifelong habit is to listen to music and/or watch television while exercising, distracting myself to help the time pass faster. But now I'm going to try using mindfulness for at least10 minutes of my exercise routine.

Why? Mindfulness may increase the relaxing effect of the rhythmic steps by giving my mind a break from the complex, energy-demanding busy-ness of daily life, including television shows and music.

Minfulness may offer the same paradoxical benefit I've experienced when, instead of trying to block it out of my mind, I've focused my attention on an impending needle stick: Paying attention lessens my perception of discomfort. This effect was a surprise at first, but it has worked consistently with needlesticks. (Maybe it has something to do with my not being the least bit surprised by the stab.)

And maybe mindful self-talk will help recalibrate my self-perception. E.g., "I am strong, I am tough, I am strong, I am tough..." or "I am healthy, I am healthy...."

10 minutes of mindfulness can't possibly hurt me, so as a Healthy Survivor who is always a work in progress, I'll give it a whirl and see how it goes.

Comments

[Finn]

I've found that I focus so intently during tae kwon do class that not only does my stress level drop, I don't even feel any aches or pains I might have had when I walked in.

[Finn]

You might like this blog post from boston.com about the subject of mindful exercise:
http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/health/blog/dailydose/2011/01/boost_your_happ.html

And this Science News article revealing that when our minds wander to unpleasant thoughts, our happiness decreases, while wandering to pleasant thoughts offers no more happiness than focusing on the task at hand:

http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/65373/title/Many_unhappy_returns_for_wandering_minds

[Wendy S. Harpham, M.D.]

Thanks for the link, Finn. I appreciated the short post. Wendy