March Madness Mindfulness + Your Total Gym Workout = Max Results
Exercise and training your body is like anything else you do in life – if you are completely focused on what you’re doing, you’re going to get the most out of it. Read on to learn 4 simple workout concepts that will maximize your benefits and the ROI – Return On Investment – on your Total Gym training time.
Mindfulness and meditation are popular buzz words and all the rage lately. Why? Ultra-successful people will tell you that you can only be 100% effective when your mind and thoughts are in The Present Moment. Sure, you can plan for the future or contemplate and learn from the past, but all of your power lies in The Now.
I’ve been meditating now for over 31 years, and I’ve been teaching for 10. I am often asked what the difference between mindfulness and meditation is.
Mindfulness: Is simply being fully present in the moment and fully present with whatever you are doing. For example, think of your all-time favorite hobby or activity. It could be gardening, drawing, watching a good movie, playing a game like chess or a sport with friends like pickleball. When you are enjoying your favorite hobby, you are completely mentally immersed in the present moment, and you’re focused on one thing and one thing only – your activity. What a gift to give yourself!
You’ll know that you are being mindful and living in the present moment because one result is that time flies. You are so immersed in the here and now and the result is maximum focus, contentment and Joy!
A big part or your joy is when you’re immersed in the present moment, guess what you’re Not thinking about? What happened (or didn’t happen) at work, To-Do lists, the kids, what the stock market is doing, what you’re making for dinner, what you need at the store, or anything else in the past or future that can disrupt your focus and peace. It’s that powerful and rewarding team!
Meditation: Is a discipline that will help you live in the present moment more often in life- no matter what you’re doing. You will start having more control over your thoughts instead of your thoughts controlling you.
Homework: The next time you’re doing something mundane like brushing your teeth or showering or doing the dishes, etc. – Watch your thoughts and how they jump around. Ask yourself if you are in control of what your “Thinker” is doing or if it is just randomly doing its thing of being in the future or the past?
Make sure to watch the video to fully grasp these simple 4 steps and your own awesome, Mindful Total Gym workout:
- Close your eyes (this is a powerful team!) and identify the muscle you’re training.
- With eyes closed, Visualize that muscle stretching/lengthening during the eccentric movement, and shortening/flexing during the concentric movement.
- Coordinate your breath and core contraction (transverse abdominis) with your movement.
- Squeeze and hold the muscle you’re working at the peak contraction. And squeeze and hold for a good, two seconds. This is an internal squeeze (like flexing your biceps in the mirror!). This exemplifies my favorite Pilates principle: Focus on the Muscle, not the Movement.
Once again, the benefits?
- Max your ROI from your Total Gym Workouts
- Being Present and Focused = Less Scatter Brain and More Peace
- Being Present, Mindful, Focused, and in The Now during your Total Gym workouts is great practice for approaching other things in your life with the same mental discipline
“Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but The Now is a gift, and that’s why we call it the Present!”
Thanks TG Team!
