Seven Sweaty Minutes. Wellness Challenge 2019: Day 1
Wellness Challenge 2019 – Day 1
6-Minute Mindful Workout
Well, well, wellness challenge 2019. I’m no stranger to the quick-minute workout, which is what Day 1 of our Wellness Challenge has you do. I sporadically do them in the mornings, mostly to warm up in the winter.
Though this morning, I definitely didn’t need warming up. Summer is truly here and my sweat glands are telling me it’s hot. But I powered through… for six minutes. And, I survived.
The workout is a ‘mindfulness’ workout. Picking exercises that force you to listen to your body’s needs. It’s guided, so a voice is prompting you to stay on your wellness track throughout. “Are your knees in pain?” The voice asks when you do lunges. “Listen to your body.” It says. “Remember to breathe.” During the jumping jacks.
The general idea is not to change your body in one workout. Not to make your muscles bleed. Not to make your veins bulge. But just make you move a little bit.
What I Thought
This wasn’t a tough workout. I like to think I was only sweating because of the heat. But, that wasn’t the point. The point was to listen to your body, be mindful of your movements and focus on the routine. The program links to an article about the science behind mindful exercise.
“The message is that mindfulness may amplify satisfaction because one is satisfied when positive experiences with physical activity become prominent. For those experiences to be noticed one must become aware of them. We would argue that this is achieved by being mindful.”
Kalliopi-Eleni Tsafou, a Marie Curie Research Fellow at Utrecht University who led the study. (Link)
This article talks about the link between movement and mindfulness. They say that your exercise routine intensifies when you incorporate some mindful thought. They argue, linking positivity to exercise (as opposed to grouchiness I suppose) satisfaction increases. As a result, you are more likely to want to exercise again.
Not sure how they could scientifically prove this. But they’re definitely testing the theory with this 6-minute guided workout. As it taps into some of that thought. It was like a guided yoga session, except I was jumping around in my pyjamas. Not the worst way to start the morning!
If you want to read about what I’m doing: Click Here.
Or if you want something unrelated: Here’s something fun I wrote.
Thanks for reading.