Physical training and meditation

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Daily physical activity generates daily moments of wellness

As time passed by, I enjoyed not only the post-effort satisfaction and post-strain relaxation but also more and more the pleasure of exploring the places around me by running around (literally), whether it be a city or the surroundings mountains (I prefer that second option). 

With more time spent on running, came even more satisfactions : 

• During the effort, I enjoy the focus on muscle work, on the effort and pain management. I appreciate the focus on maintaining the heart rate and the breathing in balance.
• Sharp and crisp feeling/ sensation of being here and now – running up a path or running down a technical slope requires attention, which dissolves circling or intrusive thoughts. I’ve noticed that does not work if the path is not asking for enough concentration.
• An overall state of physical flow of energy, with no ‘swamps zones’ in the body, nor in the mind. Physical wellbeing through endorphins and a good sweating, not to mention an improved fitness. Mental state oscillates from focus (technical path, uphill strain) to relaxed mindstate (just after a peak effort, when relief sets in) – with times of tiredness or boredom.

I believe physical exercise is about bringing balance in the flows in your body. It generates a positive state of mind, a feeling of wellness and quite often straightforward happiness. In my case,  the positive state of mind lasts on average 24 to 36 hours after the training session. Then it fades out and I need to go back running on the trails. This is where meditation came in necessary, to extend the positive state of mind to all the rest of my daily life. 

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Daily meditation training sessions stabilize, deepen and extend my happiness

2020 is my fourth year of daily training on the mindfulness path. I train the way I do everything else, trying by myself exercises I find interesting (mostly found in books (1)) and observing what happens in time, without worrying too much about it. If it has positive impacts, cool, if not, no worries. The training is a mix of breathing and visualization exercises, with a sequence based on ethics (altruism and compassion mostly). My first versions were light, not lasting more than 5 to 10 minutes, still the results motivated me to enrich them with more exercises (2) found in books.

The fruits of this training : 

• I do no longer react with 180 pulses per minute heart beats under any stressful situations (even benign ones would have done that to me in the past). Recently a car driver honked in an unfriendly way while I was biking – I managed to avoid completely the heart rate increase, by not reacting with anger. At work as well as at home, I manage conflicts with more serenity than before, hence solving them more easily. My ability to step back from nocive emotions (fear / anger / resentment…) has seriously improved.
• I cannot tell whether I generate more positive vibes for my relatives or friends than before, as I’ve always been an enthusiastic guy. But what changed is the stability of my mood: some depressed or nostalgic moments I would experience in the past simply vanished.
• And last but not least, I experience much longer periods of positive wellness after effects of the training sessions.  

Today my path to an even happier life is a balanced practice of physical training (I bike daily to work and I run and swim two or three times a week) for the wellness moments they generate, and daily mindfulness training to deepen and extend them to all daily activities.