Mindful Movement as Cross-Training for Your Awareness
In this episode of the podcast, we’re exploring the idea of Mindful Movement as a form of “cross-training” for your awareness. It’s a fun metaphor for how Mindful Movement and meditation can fit together and enhance each other, and it might just inspire you to try something new.
Episode Details:
In fitness, cross-training is the idea that it’s healthy to round out your routine with different forms of exercise like cardio, strength, endurance, mobility and flexibility so you get maximum physical benefits.
So, what if we apply this idea to Mindfulness? Just like there are different aspects of physical fitness, there also are (many) different aspects of Mindfulness. For starters, the full spectrum of Mindfulness practices would include connection to the body, balancing our emotions, steadying our focus, observing our thought patterns, and cultivating positive qualities like compassion and equanimity.
Traditional meditation certainly develops all of those Mindfulness muscles, but we can also “exercise” them through Mindful Movement! And I would suggest that cross training with both movement and stillness practices gives us a wider palette to explore all of the ways we can be present with our moment-to-moment experience.
Mindful Movement styles and what they offer
I’ll speak specifically about Yin Yoga, Somatics, and Qigong, sharing what each of these movement styles has brought to my own deepening and expanding of awareness over time.
- Yoga has helped me wake up sensation and body awareness, while also developing a vocabulary for those sensations.
- Yin Yoga taught me a lot about being with sensations, observing them without immediately reacting to change them.
- Somatics helped refine my attention and the ability to sustain awareness on subtler experiences.
- Somatic movement also supports a very exploratory, non-goal-oriented attitude.
- Qigong helps with clearing emotional reactivity and regulating the nervous system, to support clarity and equanimity.
- And, Qigong also offers the opportunity to develop awareness in a simple repeated movement (much like Walking Meditation), or to invoke heart qualities like kindness and compassion through embodied gestures.
How Mindful Movement can benefit meditators
I’ve often talked about Mindful Movement as a great alternative practice for those who struggle with the stillness and silence of meditation. But in this episode, I’m also highlighting how Mindful Movement can really benefit people who DO enjoy traditional sitting meditation.
Movement practices can challenge you to apply your meditative skills in action and to be aware amidst more stimulation and complexity. This is especially relevant if you’ve ever felt a disconnect between the peace of your meditation and the reality of engaging with work, relationships, and busy-ness. Because Mindful Movement is more dynamic than sitting, it gives us a safe place to build our capacity to handle a little more, without being overwhelmed.
Think of it as a way of cross-training your mindfulness skills in preparation for the distractions and complications of daily life!
Resources and Links from this episode:
- If you liked this topic, you might also enjoy Episode 64: What Is Mindful Movement? Basic Definitions and Beyond or Episode 82: Training Mindfulness in Movement with Dr. Tamara Russell.
- This 5-minute video with my friend Jessica Patching-Bunch explains some of the neuroscience behind Mindful Movement, and why it helps reduce the impact of stress.
- And, you can find resources for cross-training your awareness in the Moved To Meditate Class Library! There are full membership options, as well as a Free Tier.
Learn to infuse mindfulness into your movement classes!
If you are interested in sharing movement-based mindfulness practices with others, take a look at the Mindful Movement Teacher Training! The next round of this online training program begins in October, and the application period is now open.