Mindfulness: Make Today Count
In the event that you’re having a case of the Mondays, here is a reminder on how to reframe your thinking to ensure you maximize every single day. Our bodies like to naturally find the easy route, and so do our minds. But to live each day passively is defeating the purpose.
Getting into a rut is natural, but the challenge is getting yourself out of it – to mentally tap in: to be present in your work, to focus on your goals, to actually connect when in conversation, and to embrace each waking moment. It’s easy to get caught up, just as it’s easy to get stifled with boredom – make a choice to not do either, and instead to mentally tap in. You are your own best investment. Make today count.
Time is something that never stops and is constantly moving. We cannot create more hours in a day, minutes in an hour or seconds in a minute. What we can do is be more present in our minutes of the day and be more aware of each moment to make it feel like we have created more time. Or at the very least, take advantage of every minute of every day.
To not just live but to live fully. Taking this mindset while we are working out can have a huge impact, much less in life in general. There is a significant difference in mindlessly going about your workout and just “getting it done” and actually being aware of each and every repetition your body moves through.
Test it yourself.
Go ahead and stand up… wherever you may be right now.
Perform a squat, just a quick up and down, no thought behind it. Now perform a squat and pay attention to your legs bending as you lower your bottom to the ground, push your heels into the ground and straighten your legs back into starting position. Lastly, squeeze your bottom at the top of the squat, pressing your hips forward slightly.
Take a moment to think over the differences between your first squat and your second squat. If that wasn’t enough to fully feel the huge difference in each squat, then I challenge you to perform 10 squats turning your mind off, take a few minutes rest and then 10 squats with your find fully aware. It is definitely then, if not before, that you will feel the effects the second set of squats-the mind turned on squats.
It was fascinating to see the difference in the mind. I tried this little experiment while using Muse meditation headband. While you meditate, Muse measures whether your mind is calm or active, and translates that data into weather sounds. When you're calm, you'll hear peaceful weather sounds. This neat product is great if you are developing a meditation practice or want to dive deeper into it, but definitely not required for this mini exercise.
It is amazing to think about the difference of a simple 10 squats—but think about if applied this mindset to each movement during your entire workout routine – or more so, your entire day.
How do you beat the Monday Blues? Share with me here!
