Recreation as Meditation
Fran CareyShare
© Copyright 2023 Fran Carey, All Rights Reserved.
We've all heard the benefits of meditation, including reducing stress and anxiety, lowering blood pressure, and increasing our ability to focus. We all know physical activity can do the same thing. But did it occur to you to mix the two, and get all the benefits of both at once? Not all exercises lend themselves to mindfulness practices, I am sure, but some are perfect ways to focus on the here and now.
Rowing
A solid rowing machine workout consists of repeating the same movements over and over, and requires regulating your breathing to sync with your body motion. What could be more meditative? When you start your workout, focus completely on what your body is doing. After a while, you will probably want to tune out. Not yet. Go at least the first five minutes in pure focus on your movement. Then, when you up the resistance, concentrate again on what your body and breath are doing, but allow your mind to drift to a lake or pond on which you imagine yourself rowing. Fully experience what that would be like: the smell of water, plants, whatever is coming in on the wind. The birds around you, the temperature of the day, the sunlight, whatever is around your water feature. Is it a pond, a lake, a river, a canal in the city? Are there other people there? Look around at what your mind is conjuring. Stay there as long as your focus allows. You will probably find that the time is longer each session. Once you can no longer maintain the illusion, slowly reintegrate yourself to the real world around you. Come back to focus on your breath, then your body, then expand your awareness to the outside world. What are your fellow fitness enthusiasts doing? Are they lifting, running, stretching? Continue your session until the end of your workout, focusing again on your own breath and body. After, give yourself some time to review what your brain showed you during the imagination section. Was there something you should pay attention to, a solution to a problem, anything unusual and noteworthy, or just a really nice row on an alpine lake?
Running
I hate running. It is, however, for many people, supremely meditative. Your arms and legs are going in repeated circles, your breathing is deep and regular, and, for road running, there are no complex movements to recall. It is also, if done outside, a good way to get fresh air and immerse yourself in nature. Trail running involves a greater range of motion, but that in itself can laser lock your focus, so you have no extra band width to worry about day to day things. Either way, you are increasing your oxygen intake and your blood flow, which are both conducive to problem solving. Start by focusing strictly on your movement and breathing, then let autopilot take over as you watch the world go by. Soon you should be able to greet each thought as it occurs and watch it go by, just like in meditation. The repetitive rhythm is also helpful with the meditative state. Don't forget to pay attention to your surroundings, but let the thoughts go until the last 5 minutes of the run, during your cool down, when you will again integrate yourself to the real world. Allow the oxygen and deep breathing to wash away your stress and anxiety.
Rock climbing
There is no better way to laser focus your thoughts than to walk up a vertical surface. All you can concentrate on is keeping your carcass on that wall.
Indoor or outdoor, climbing is dangerous. Sure, the worst you're likely to get on an indoor toprope is a good bruise, but the full body workout, attention to small details, and range of motion involved is enough to chase any worry other than climbing out of your brain. The learning curve to meditative movement is steeper than for many other sports, but the rewards in terms of accomplishment, self-efficacy, and endorphins are substantial.
To truly reach a fully meditative state, I've found climbing well below my limit works best, and on routes or problems with movements that flow. If I am doing that, I can concentrate on breathing, and being fully aware of my body in space and my movements. Any other thougtht, should it make it in at all, is easily released and I am very much in the moment.
Whatever your chosen fitness strategy, use the opportunity to practice mindfulness as you regulate your breathing and pay attention to where your body is in space and how it's moving. If it's a repetitive motion exercise, take the opportunity for a visualisation meditation. If not, be here now, and let the other thoughts pass by like dandelion fluff on the breeze. Make your recreation your meditation.
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