Mindful workouts...celebrating what the body can do
Today I ran and ran. I found myself looking at my legs and thinking 'wow what a magnificent piece of transportation you are!' As I kept running about the Royal Parks I enjoyed the serenity of the cleverly crafted natural space and mindfully ran for the first time and it was the best run I have ever had.
As a fitness fanatic, I love challenging myself to be better, achieve goals, craft the body I want. I know I am good at achieving anything I set my mind to. I also know in the past 5 years since my football days ended, I have very rarely exercised to simply enjoy the moment. Let me explain.
I love working out. I love challenging my body but I never fully marvel at its wondrous creation whilst I'm pumping iron at the gym. The thought has never crossed my mind. Even when I run or swim my goal-oriented mindset takes over and makes it a competition against myself. I'd like to say this was the result of football training on my mind but it is just who I am. So today when I laced up my Adidas Litestrike trainers and hit iconic London pavements it was pure bliss to simply enjoy the moment.
When I rose at 6:30 am, took the train 30minutes to my favorite running destination, and realized my phone was incapable of playing my HIIT playlist from Spotify I was a little anxious. My Spotify playlist had always provided the beat where my body was waning motivation. Still, I placed my headphones in my ear (because I had no option other than to hold them and I enjoy being a hands-free runner) and ran tune free. Through an entire lap of Hyde Park, Green Park, and a dalliance down and around Buckingham Palace and Pall Mall I enjoyed the chirping of birds beginning their slow morning in a day soon to be haunted by needy tourists and selfie sticks. I enjoyed witnessing people take a slow walking pace, enjoying the calm of the morning. Most of all I enjoyed looking on at the competitive fitness fanatics and knowing I was simply enjoying my body's ability to move.
This probably seems fickle but I think movement it's something we take for granted. I have never been a mindful runner because I have always been in competition with myself or I have used running to escape life rather than to live it. There is a fundamental difference. As an ex-footballer with ankle injuries that plagued me, I knew full and well that my body, not my skill ability determined the length of my football career. Still, I would push it to know the end, try and recover sooner, fail to give it proper rest and wonder why I was reeling yet again from another injury. I knew the reality was rest and a mindful attitude towards protecting my body was what I must do but I prioritized competition first.
In professional sport, this is a major issue because coaches and sporting teams do all they can do persuade athletes back sooner than they need to be. They do not consider the longevity of an athlete's career and the asset they provide a team, they also at times do not see the opportunity they have to develop other athletes while they protect another's body. However, the reality is mindfulness improves performance.
Today I was able to run and run because I was enjoying the run paying attention to all of my senses, noticing my body's capabilities and how much it had improved over time through all those hard slogs competitive sessions in the gym. I wasn't focused on work, writing this post, or my long list of to-dos. This took the stress away from the event which allowed my body to last longer. Did I run slower because I was being mindful? No. In fact, I ran faster and for longer. This goes to show that mindful workouts have a place in our exercise regimes. It’s not about taking a book and recording your results it’s simply about being able to focus on the effort your body can deliver because of the hard work you put it through. It's about appreciating that your hard work has paid off.
Do you have a story about mindful workouts?
Share your stories with me. Email me direct: a.written.revolution@gmail.com to feature in an upcoming post. You don't have to be a fitness fanatic to send me an email.
Till next time...
Jules
PS: this post was from the vault of Trask goodness, originally written in 2016 and well-liked, proof that good, healthy habits never go out of fashion.
