Health, Fitness and Meditation
In recent years you may have been hearing a lot more about meditation. You may also be quick to shunt it off if you do not know the excessive benefits it has on your health and fitness. Although it may have come to light more recently appearing as more of a trend, the practising can in fact be dated back from approximately 1500 years BCE. Here we take a look at some of the varied benefits that meditation has on individuals, making it clear as to why it has been around for so long and why you should consider making it a part of your daily routine.
Focus Enabler When Exercising
Studies have shown how practising meditation provides individuals with greater motivation to exercise. Not only this but it improves confidence and less thought disruption, allowing you to focus your attention when in the midst of your kettlebell swings and dumbbell squats.
Mental Health
The act of meditation is also known to relieve stress and help in fighting depression. And whilst we are all aware of how mental health is a part of our overall health and how it can have a knock-on effect on our physical fitness, this is an important benefit.
Sleep Benefits
We have spoken in other posts on the importance of sleep when it comes to our health and fitness. Well to help achieve this, meditation may be an option to try. It is recommended that practising meditation for 20 minutes a day could be a factor in improving sleep quality.
Who do we Know That Meditates?
Here we take a look at some of the world-famous athletes who believe meditation plays a vital role in their success
- Basketball player Lebron James believes meditation helps him focus on what he needs to accomplish when playing Basketball.
- Carli Lloyd the US professional football player feels that practising meditation helps her block any distractions for when she is playing and it is just as important as physical fitness.
- Novak Djokovic has stated how meditation provides him with both a state of calm and peace, which then provides him with an emotional balance that positively affects his play on the court.
- Three-time Olympic Gold Medallists Misty May Treanor and Kerri Walsh both include meditation within their training regiment and believe it to have a great impact on their success.
So next time you are feeling demotivated to pick up that body pump set, feel unable to focus on your balance when holding your Pilates ball or unable to get a good nights sleep and feeling too tired for your gym session, take a few minutes each day, that may be all you need to turn your workout around.