Mindful Activities to Keep You Fit
Engage in Mindful Eating Exercises for Weight Loss and Management
Too many of us will use food as a means of helping us deal with stress. Some people eat without even realizing what it is that they’re doing. They check or zone out while eating.
This is why you can reach the bottom of a bowl and be surprised to find that all of the food is gone. You don’t even remember eating it all. The problem with eating to feel better about stress or not paying attention when eating is that it can cause weight gain.
Mindful eating can help you be fully present every time you eat.
When you’re fully present, this can stop the cycle of eating without realizing what it is you’re even doing. Anyone can practice mindful eating that can help you get rid of unwanted pounds or manage it if you don’t want to gain.
Even if you have health problems that make it difficult to lose weight, mindfulness has been shown to be helpful with losing weight and maintaining that loss. When you practice mindfulness, it causes you to be conscious of the food that you eat.
From the beginning of the meal to the end, you recognize and experience each bite. This practice can also be applied to when you have snacks – which is an eating habit that causes many people to gain extra pounds.
When you practice mindful eating, it causes you to take your time and enjoy the food that you’re eating.
When you eat slowly, this gives your brain time to register that your stomach is full so you eat less, too.
Mindful eating can be a natural way of helping to end wrong food associations that can lead to conditions such as binge eating.
To get started with mindful eating, you have to make sure that you’re eating to get it out of the way or just because you’re supposed to.
Don’t eat while you’re working or driving or watching television. When your mind is otherwise occupied, you can’t focus on the enjoyment of the eating. Some mindful exercises can help you lose weight and keep your weight managed.
When you eat, pay attention to how the food tastes. Concentrate on how the flavors of the food stand out separately rather than as a whole. Become aware of the spicy taste or the sharp flavor.
Enjoy the feeling of the food, the shape of it and notice whether it’s solid or soft. As you eat, relax your mind and body. Keep your thoughts focused only on eating and nothing else.
If you’ve always eaten a certain way such as sitting in a specific chair or using the same dinnerware change it up and use something different. Sit in a different chair. Face a different direction.
Use your opposite hand instead of the one that you always use. You can practice mindful eating by having a small piece of chocolate or a raisin. Pop the bite into your mouth and become aware of the texture of the bite, of the sensations that cross your tastebuds.
By becoming aware of food, you can eliminate the kind of rushed eating and overeating that leads to weight control issues.
Embark on a Mindful Walk or Run for Fitness and Stress Relief
There’s no doubt that walking or running can help you lose weight and get in shape. It can also keep your heart in good cardiovascular health. If you practice mindfulness as you walk or run, you’ll also find that’s it a great way to get relief from stress.
Using mindfulness as you walk or run can help quiet anxious thoughts, bring your emotions under control and keep your thoughts centered on the present.
When you do this, you’ll gain the ability to release the feelings that are causing you to feel stress.
By learning how to control your mind while you’re exercising, you’ll be benefiting yourself physically and mentally. You’ll need to keep your mind focused as you’re walking or running.
When you keep your mind focused, it turns off that inner noise that can make you feel unsettled. Once your mind is quieted, you’ll be able to hear your body as you’re exercising.
A lot of people think that exercising for fitness and stress relief is all about the body. They believe that it’s up to the muscles to find the right rhythm, but that’s not the case. There’s a strong body and mind connection that you tap into when you practice mindfulness.
This connection helps you be more relaxed as you move. It allows you to observe your atmosphere and gain a greater amount of energy. Your mind is the momentum that your body needs to get in motion.
It’s also the tool that can make your exercising healthier for you when you practice mindfulness.
As you walk or run, focus on what’s going on in your body. Feel the sensations of the surface against the bottom of your shoe.
Pay attention to the position of your spine and the way your arms are moving. Get in tune with the motion of your body. When you practice mindfulness, you’ll learn how to breathe so that your body is able to get more oxygen which will help you on your walk or run.
As you move, focus your inhaling and exhaling by timing them along with your steps. You should be able to sync your breathing with your walking or running tempo. When you do this, you’ll increase your energy and be more relaxed because deep breathing has a calming effect on the emotions and the muscles.
Mindfulness lets you tune in to your body as you move.
You’ll learn how to move and change the way that you move to induce a better run or walk. If you’re huffing and wheezing as you move, that’s a sign that you’re not in tempo with your breathing and it needs to be lined up.
When you keep your focus where it needs to be as you move, you’ll discover that your mind doesn’t become clouded with negative thoughts. You’ll be able to end your walk or run – not just full of energy – but calmer and happier, too.
Mindful Activities You Can Use Throughout Your Day
Going through life, we do so many things automatically. When you do something over and over, it can reach the point where it becomes a mindless task. You can do a task and finish it, then realize your body worked to complete the project while your mind was actively engaged in something else.
Mindfulness can help you learn to be present, to refocus your thoughts so that you’re actively experiencing your life rather than walking through it on autopilot.
Sometimes, people assume that mindfulness is a time-consuming practice where you have to sit quietly somewhere for a lengthy amount of time.
While you can enjoy sitting quietly, it doesn’t have to take a long time. In fact, if you don’t want to or don’t have time to just be still and practice mindfulness, then you don’t have to.
There are many ways that you can be mindful throughout your day without ever having to take a break from whatever it is that you’re going. Knowing this has helped many extremely busy people to be able to get into the habit of practicing mindful activities.
One simple way to practice mindfulness is by brushing your teeth.
You do this so often that you probably do it without even thinking about it. Instead of brushing your teeth on autopilot, take the time to focus on the steps involved in this routine.
Feel the bristles of the brush as they cross your teeth and tongue. Pay attention to the thickness of the toothpaste of the flavor of it. While you’re brushing your teeth, pay attention to the process and don’t let your mind think about worries or negative thoughts.
Another way that you can practice mindfulness as you go about your day is through mindful listening.
So many times, there are sounds around you and yet you don’t even hear them because you’re not listening with a focus.
Wherever you are, you can take a few seconds to listen to the sounds. You might be able to hear a bird singing, the wind blowing or the distant roll of thunder. You can practice mindful listening to popular music or with instrumentals.
Hear each sound and focus on it for a few seconds while tuning out anything but the sound. Mindfulness can be practiced by focusing on breathing. It doesn’t take long and can be done at any time of day and in any place.
As you breathe, focus on the breath that you’re drawing in. Then focus on the breath that you’re exhaling. Keep your mind centered on the movement of your body as you breathe in the air and release it.
Feel the air move within you and tune in to the sensation as you’re going through the exercise.
You can practice mindfulness through many other activities including walking, eating, while cooking or cleaning, and even while taking a shower.
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