Exercise vs Meditation – Both or Neither?
Do you enjoy meditation? Will adding exercise take away from the benefits you receive from your daily breathing mantra? Of course not! it will likely enhance your wellbeing and help combat feelings of anxiety and worry. They have both been proven to help individuals feel happier, and relaxed, and experience a deeper awareness of their everyday lives – they are more alive!
How can exercise which involves physical activity, perspiring, and increased heart rates and meditation which is heavy on concentrated breathing, staying focused but hardly moving our bodies effect the same response on our bodies and brains?
Exercise
The positive vibrations are endless, studies have shown that exercising can improve the functions of the prefrontal cortex, also known as the region of the brain right behind your eyes, this part of the brain has shown that exercise is an easy way to boost your mood.
Meditation
It was discovered that mediation could increase the size of various brain structures, including those portions that regulate our attention and emotions. Additionally, these studies found that, like exercise, meditation also has an impact on our mood.
Exercise + Meditation = Optimum
By combining the two disciplines, the benefits are even stronger for cognitive development and recall ability. Producing effects in the same regions of the brain, it has been proven that both exercise and meditation have more in common than you might think. In fact, they have a synergy, emitting good vibrations on the mind.
Exercise + Mediation + You = Good Vibrations!
This is a win-win and it is not difficult or time-consuming to incorporate both. Begin your mornings with a brief 10-minute meditation, followed by a 40-60 minutes of aerobic exercise and watch the benefits you receive. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain — an improved mood, and an enriched life!
Until next time
