Stress is familiar to most of us. It exists on a continuum from mild to extreme, 0 to 10.
The good news is that although we can’t control all the triggers of stress, we can make ourselves more resilient through exercise and meditation. Even better, we can train ourselves to think of exercise as a form of meditation. By combining exercise and meditation, we have joined the two most effective stress management tools into one. What a deal!
Here’s how to do this.
Instead of secluding ourselves in a quiet room with soft music and space to focus on the breath, we get ourselves to an exercise class. The meditation space becomes a studio with sweat, loud music, lots of bodies and probably plenty of mirrors. We take a deep breath and focus on the instructor’s cues.
(Hint for beginners: Give yourself at least six consecutive classes before either quitting or going more often. Also, be prepared to feel a little silly. Learning something new makes us – all of us – feel awkward and unsure. Tell yourself, “I survived junior high, this is a piece of cake.”)
As we listen to the sound of the instructor’s cues, we go inside our own bodies to the muscles we are engaging. We imagine them as sets of pulleys and focus our internal eye on the awareness of the contraction and lengthening that is happening within us.
We stay with this and return to it if our mind wanders. We do this for longer and longer periods of time.
Each breath-to-movement coordination is a form of meditation. Each one counts. They add up.
We make deposits into our stress resiliency account. Soon (in about 4 to 8 weeks) we have created a new habit.
We feel better about ourselves and are well on our way to that wonderful relief that comes when something we have been putting off turns into a natural part of our daily routine.
