5 Simple (But Important) Things To Remember About Mindful Movement Activities

Being an active person or exercising isn’t just about pushing through miserable workouts or strenuous workouts each and every day, it’s about including days of mindful movement activities as well.

You should be choosing exercises that you enjoy, with variety, that put you in a great mental state.

Exercise doesn’t have to be a daily event either. Making sure to get in at least two to three days of exercise in a week is also a very healthy amount of activity.

So many people think that exercise is something that must be engaged in daily, strenuously, day after day.

Perform activities you find enjoyable, where you’re connecting to your body and the movement while make lasting exercise habits.

Let’s dig a little deeper into what mindful movement really is.

What are mindful movement activities?

Mindful movement consists of  blocking out ideas about the ways you should be exercising, and alternatively,  just doing what feels good for you.

Also known as joyful movement or mindful exercise, but it involves so much more than what we usually think of as exercise.

Any form of movement, whether it be  running, walking, gardening, stretching, hiking, etc. ― can all be classified as mindful movement. It’s more than just getting your Fitbit to 20,000 steps. Although that can be included in your mindful activity, If you truly find walking enjoyable.

Avoid any fitness routines that you absolutely hate. I personally do not enjoy spinning, so don’t incorporate that into my workout.

Just not a fan of that spinning seat. I digress.

Avoid group classes that you don’t enjoy. The easiest way to start enjoying exercise genuinely is to make sure you’re always doing something that makes you happy.

Even though I don’t do it very often, I find that Zumba brings me joy, but I love to dance and I love music, so it’s fitness that combines activities that I already enjoy, leisurely.

Although, I don’t take that class too often because it doesn’t give me the physique I desire. So I incorporate it into my weight training routine on occasion.

Practice great variety, it’s good for your body as well as your psyche.

Movement should be thought of as a way to appreciate your body, instead of a negative connotation that exercise is only for weight loss purposes. 

Avoid being affected by society’s version of what fitness should be.

Even though exercise and fitness will definitely improve your physique and your physical appearance…with mindful movement that is not the focus of exercise.

Society promotes an ideal body that everyone should strive to attain or that is seen as true beauty.

But we are very diverse as a people, our only standard should be a healthy body weight / BMI with proper waist circumference. 

Striving to look like celebrities or reality show stars will never end in healthy body image or self perception.

The current body ideals are unattainable for most, due to the fact that all of these celebrities have surgical augmentation to either gain the image that they want or to maintain said body type.

Most of these body types are just fad ideals of beauty. 

They’re always extreme in nature.

But the one body type that never goes out of style is that classically slim build.

A healthy body weight that isn’t too heavy or too skinny, toned and sculpted into natural beauty. 

Don’t become overly concerned and consumed with who you’d like to look like or what you’d like to look like.

Concentrate on being the healthiest most beautiful version of you.

Nothing is as beautiful as being confident in who you are and completely comfortable in the skin you’re in.

Fitness and a natural physique should be something individual and something you come to appreciate and enjoy.

Once you start to think about exercise as the way to appreciate your amazing body as a complex machine with so many capabilities, you will start widening your view of fitness with an appreciation and enjoyment turning into mindful movement.

Once you start choosing activities you enjoy, it’ll become easier and easier to make movement a part of your regular routine. 

Mindful movement activities will be different for everyone.

It can be likened to conscious eating or mindful eating.

Which encourages you to let go of society’s standards of mealtimes and numbers of daily meals.

It’s about eating intuitively when you’re actually hungry or during a period after a fasted state.

Mindful Exercise is about connecting with fitness and physical activity making it an enjoyable event and something that you look forward to, consciously or subconsciously.

Engaging in activities that are ideal for your body, that are enjoyable and pain-free.

So this would also involve improving flexibility and stretching as well as physical strength and endurance. 

It is important to challenge your body and work through difficult movements or poses.

Being conscious that pain is different from discomfort and that difficulty should be labeled as discomfort, not pain. 

Mindful movement can include doing a yoga class. Free weight exercises with dumbbells or barbells as well as just taking the dog for a walk. It depends on what your body feels up to doing that day and what you truly enjoy.

Mindful movement is a healthier, long term way to exercise. 

By finding what you enjoy you will be able to make exercise and Fitness a regular part of your routine. If it’s something you like to do you will perform it regularly, over and over.

While also incorporating different varieties of the same type of exercise or venturing out into new things.

Look at every day differently.

One day you may be energized and ready for a challenging or strenuous workout . Another day you may feel like doing something more relaxing and meditative, like yoga.

Both are very beneficial and improve your overall body and health, but you’ll be listening to your body on a daily basis giving it exactly what it needs, on that day.