Zen and the art of working out
By Lisa Snider 04/02/2009
As a devout skeptic, I never understood all the hoopla about the mind-body connection. It sounded like a pretty out-there concept to me. I was perfectly happy to get rote with my workouts and let my mind wander and float away from what I was actually doing.
It wasn’t until I took a Pilates class that I understood and made the connection. Like yoga, there is a definite mind-body link with Pilates, but it is more practical than spiritual. As with any exercise, staying in the moment yields greater success, and Pilates helps you learn to make that association. Verbal cues from a trainer that help you imagine what your body might be doing while it performs an exercise are particularly helpful in mastering poses and techniques. One of my favorites is, “Imagine you are getting taller, that your head has paint on it and you are trying to paint the ceiling.”
Mind-body techniques are not only beneficial with exercise, but in overall health and healing as well. Biofeedback is another technique that utilizes the mind-body connection and teaches how to consciously change and control the body's vital functions, which are normally unconsciously controlled. Breathing, heart rate and blood pressure can be positively affected by using simple biofeedback techniques. The concept has achieved mainstream popularity with uncomplicated handheld machines that monitor heart rate and provide breathing and meditation instructions to help reduce stress and enhance relaxation.
Meditation, prayer and positive thinking are among the tried and true mind-body practices that have been shown to improve health and help the body heal. Whether religious, spiritual or secular in nature, these techniques all have a few common traits: complete internal focus that shuts out the rest of the world, stillness of the body (there are, however, moving forms of meditation, like Tai Chi) and visual imagery. The National Institutes of Health National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine have reported that “regular meditation can reduce chronic pain, anxiety, high blood pressure, cholesterol, health care use, substance abuse, post-traumatic stress syndrome in Vietnam veterans, and blood cortisol levels that are increased by stress.”
Resources:
Ojai Pilates and Wellness Center, (805) 640-0300, and Ventura’s Mind and Body Wellness Studio, (805) 654-8354. Both offer group classes and private Pilates sessions.
The Brookstone StressEraser ($179.95) is just one of many biofeedback machines that examines your finger pulse and provides breathing instructions to help calm you down (www.brookstone.com or at The Oaks Mall).
If you are not familiar with meditation or don’t know how to meditate, there is a great instruction guide at www.insightmeditation.org.
Meditation Mount in Ojai provides a guided meditation service every full moon (www.meditation.com).
Whether you are trying to take your exercise regimen to the next level or reduce stress, try making the mind-body connection.
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