‘Health, wellbeing, and vitality are a mindset,
mental clarity and health are vital to gaining physical fitness.’
Over the course of this mini-series of articles, I have shared with you some simple things that you can do to help you make fitness a lifelong habit. Throughout my own wellbeing journey, I have discovered and implemented tools into my everyday life to help me stay consistent with whatever it is that I want to call into my life. I have broken these down into seven steps – clarity, releasing expectations, intention, awareness, knowledge, connection, and gratitude. These simple to implement steps will have you looking forward to your workouts!
Today I Delve Deeper Into Awareness…
According to the Oxford dictionary the definition of awareness is:
/əˈwernəs/ [uncountable, singular] knowing something; knowing that something exists and is important.
Not entirely satisfied with this definition I decided to type into google ‘what is the real meaning of awareness?’…
Awareness is the state or ability to perceive, to feel, or to be conscious of events, objects, or sensory patterns. In this level of consciousness, sense data can be confirmed by an observer without necessarily implying understanding.
This definition completely resonated with me, how I apply awareness to my own life and how through my work I guide others to do so too. Once we understand it, we can apply awareness to all areas of our everyday life and our health and wellbeing journey.
How Are You Today?
We ask others this question repeatedly day in day out, to family, friends, colleagues, strangers in a supermarket etc, sometimes on autopilot, not really taking in the response. But how often do you stop and check in with yourself?
I make a point of sitting in stillness every morning before I have even gotten out of bed, sometimes before I have even opened my eyes. I do this to give myself the chance to notice how I am feeling emotionally and physically. Are there unexpected thoughts or emotions running through my body and mind that I have carried through from the unconscious into the conscious? How did I sleep? What is my mood like today?
This awareness and connection to self are so important, it will help to shape the day ahead, and influence the choices and actions that we make. Make sense?
“The Only Bad Workout Is The One That Didn’t Happen”
We have all had those workouts that left us feeling deflated because we were feeling tired, not really in the mood, and this possibly led us to cut it short. Sound familiar? If the answer is yes, then I may be correct to assume that this is how those good intentions fall by the wayside.
It is my belief that all physical symptoms and disease have an emotional root cause, so if we apply awareness to those times that our workouts have not felt so good, it is more likely that we will be gentler on ourselves, that we will stop and take notice of what our emotional, physical, and spiritual bodies are saying to us.
Every workout is an opportunity to pick up valuable feedback from our bodies that we may not have otherwise become aware of. Take a moment to notice how you feel before, during, and after your workout. Did you feel restriction, discomfort, or tightness, if so where? Do not assume that these symptoms are simply because you are not strong or flexible enough, or because you are getting old or simply unfit.
Did any emotions come up at any particular points? When we move our physical bodies with mindful practices such as Pilates and yoga we are shifting stagnant emotions that have built up over time which can result in an unexpected emotional release.
How To Apply Awareness To Your Workout
- Check in with yourself before your workout. Ask yourself “how am I feeling today?” or “what type of movement do I feel that I need?”. No day is the same and neither should your workouts.
- Pick up on the feedback that your body is giving you, you do not have to understand it, but if you are feeling discomfort then it is very likely that this is not what your body needs today.
- Take a moment to notice how you feel once you have completed your workout and thank yourself for prioritising yourself.
Thank you
I hope that you are finding this series of articles helpful, I would love to know if you have had any takeaways or even implemented any of the tips that I have given you so far. Please do comment or get in touch, I would love to hear from you.
About The Author
2022 was a voyage of discovery for me, a year of working on myself led me to create a new brand which I am now in the process of birthing. I would very much like to introduce to you www.rockyourbodytruth.com please do pop by and check it out. Whilst I move through the transition from one brand to another you can still find me at www.pilatesfromwithin.com
In addition to this, I am also reverting to my maiden name Karen Sanderson Sanz, which you will see that I have begun to filter through on my social pages.
What I do remains the same, it is simply packaged much more authentically to who I am and with a higher vibration…