I wish that I could tell you that I was a great meditator. The practice of regulating attention is a real challenge to me. Meditation would be great BUT… That’s just not how my brain works.
The people who need it most often find it the hardest. Ironic, innit?
A major turning point for me was getting into martial arts as a teenager. I remember thinking that it was the first thing I’d truly worked hard at in my life. What I didn’t realize at the time was that it was the first thing that I was able to work hard on.
Looking back, I can see how the dramatic increase in exercise made that happen. It boosted the entire suite of cognitive functions I needed to focus and really be present. In other words, exercise made it easier for me to be present.
I didn’t know it at the time but this experience would eventually direct the course of my professional life. That includes right now—where we are currently working to break new ground on exercise for mood, focus, and—of course—mindfulness.
First things first: what is mindfulness?
You may not personally enjoy broccoli but there’s not a strong anti-broccoli lobby either. We can all generally agree that it’s good for you. Mindfulness is like that. It’s thought to be a solution for many of our challenges—from dealing with chronic pain to living a more intentional life. So, it’s worth digging into it but before we can really talk about mindfulness, we need to clarify our language.
I asked people to describe mindfulness on a while back and they delivered. I would group their answers as falling under the following themes:
I think that these are a pretty good cross-section of popular thought. It’s also useful to see if there is a more established term used in the literature around mindfulness. That brings us to the Scott Bishop and Mark Lau from the U of T, who have—among others—contributed to a clear working definition of mindfulness. These researchers describe mindfulness as having two fundamental components:
Self-regulation of Attention
Focus on the period at the end of this sentence. Now on this one. One more for good measure. Mindfulness is not attaining some linear state of focus; that’s just not how our human brains work. However, as in the little game we played above, it can dance back and forth. Self-regulation of attention is the art of noticing when focus has drifted and bringing it back. Over and over again. As your skill grows, so does your speed in doing this.
Orientation to Experience
I would describe the fundamental component here as curiosity. It is stepping beyond the judging or critical mind. No assumptions are made. Openness and acceptance are expressed.
Can exercise be as effective as more common mindfulness-based interventions?
Funny you should ask. As a matter of fact, a recent meta-analysis has shown mindfulness-based practices to be no more effective than exercise. That’s for starters.
I think we're only scratching the surface
To really lock in to the optimal combination of the mental and the physical, here are some important considerations.
Understand your optimal level of emotional arousal for mindfulness
I personally need a higher than normal level of complexity to optimally regulate my attention. Not juggling flaming axes but definitely more than sitting. You may be need more complexity or higher stakes than that but you also may need things to be gentler and quieter.
Picture it: Sicily 1920. You getting into shape in order to woo someone from a neighbouring village. You’ve been told that aggressively digging holes is the best form of exercise. Do you:
a) Dig your holes in a remote place—free of distraction
b) Dig your holes next to a popular tavern frequented by your friends?
c) Give up and start googling Golden Girls quotes
The simple truth is that some versions of exercise have higher levels of distraction control hard-baked into them. You may also need to fine-tune your workout environment to make that happen. Yanking out your internet router comes to mind.
Coordinate exercise type and mental state
Attentional focus, task persistence, creativity, rash decisions… Your likelihood of producing any of these undulates over the course of the day. Understanding how these cognitive and emotional factors change can help you choose the best exercise tools from your toolkit.
Getting fitter still matters. One of the most persistent correlations between exercise and improved cognitive health is fitness. Certainly in the realm of things like fluid intelligence. Better markers for cardiovascular fitness (strength is woefully under-explored) are important here.
Caveat: As important as this is, sidestep the common pitfall of doubling-down on fitness to make up for lost time. Instead…
You’re ideally looking for at least two out of three of the following:
Contact Us
© 2024 All Rights Reserved
