Are you interested in Exercise & Meditation?
I think exercise and meditation are fantastic things for peace, joy, energy and health. However I think there are some challenges with regularly exercising and with meditation
The challenges with exercise
- We don’t have motivation to exercise. In fact it feels like a chore or worse it feels like a stressful experience we have to do.
- We criticize ourselves and our body. We feel bad when we don’t exercise. And we criticze how our body looks, saying that we would look better and be more likable if we only had the “dedication” to exercise more.
The Challenges with meditation
- It’s hard to find our breathe and stay focused
- It’s challenging to really let go of our thoughts
- It’ can feel boring
- It feels like there isn’t enough time to do both exercise & meditation regularly.
Solution I am working on
I’ve been struggling with these things myself.
I found that I often had anxiety b/c of my expectations how intense I should be exercising.
So I started to Experiment with different techniques to be loving towards myself & more mindful in my body while exercising.
I found that mindful exercise also helped me deepen my sitting meditation practice.
Though ultimately even with my intention to be mindful during my workout, my mind would wonder if I didn’t have some type of external audio guidance that help me stay mindful.
So I set out to create exercise meditation, which is guided audio workouts that help us be mindful in our bodies & loving towards ourselves so that ultimately we can find a deep loving connection with ourselves.
I find after I do an exercise meditation session, I feel more peace, joy, and energy. I believe you will feel the same way so I’m excited to share this with you!
So what is Exercise Meditation?
This initial set of episodes, season 1, version 1.0, We are focusing on 4 main sections, verbal journaling, focusing on our breathing and body, affirmations & meditation.
Most episodes are around 30 minutes or less from start to finish. This includes a 6-7 min warmup, 15-22 min workout, 3 cool down, 5-7 min meditation.
What Exercise types
This first set of episodes have mostly running workouts.
However the last two I tried the format of interval training so that we could do strength workouts and to have some variety. Those were definitely more challenging for me to think through the format, timing and what exercises worked with which sections. I think I 10-12 hours into each of those episodes.
Verbal journaling, focusing on our breathing and body, affirmations & meditation.
While you’re moving we’ll do the verbal journaling which is when I ask you a series of questions to help you process your thoughts and feelings. You can answer out loud or to yourself. It’s like jogging with a friend.
The body breathe focus is where I guide you to let go of your thoughts and focus on your breathing, your body, your muscles. Finally affirmations are positive affirmations to stay aloud. We always do this at the end, and it works great with the empowering endorphins you feel at this time!
To wrap up there is a 3-4 min cool down and a 5-7 min meditation.
Exercise that starts from the heart
One of the key goals in exercise meditation is similar to meditation’s goal which is To turn towards ourselves 100% and let go of our thoughts & judgments. That means to show ourselves unwavering compassion & attention for our body, our emotions and our experience.
So that means if you show up and press play, and don’t feel like running that day, it’s ok you don’t have to. Walking is OK, or even stretching or sitting.
It’s really important that we trust and listen to our body. This helps our body feel loved and safe. And when our body feels loved and safe that’s when we naturally feel more Energetic to move! That also leads to feeling happier, more peaceful, and inspired.
Request feedback & support
I’m excited to workout with you. I would also love to hear your feedback on what you liked and what you didn’t like. I would also love to hear what you would want in your guided exercise meditation sessions. Could you share your thoughts via the survey link below. Or you can also email me at kristyo@kristyoshita.com.