Though mental well-being is the cornerstone of high-performance, achieving the elusive harmony between mind and body can feel impossible. Let’s hit the trails together and see if we can find our stride.
I recorded this moving meditation as a guide for being mindful while riding a bike; encouraging us to connect with different parts of our body and senses while riding to help us stay focused and present.
Together, we’ll unleash the potential of blending athletic pursuits with the power of meditation and discover new techniques and practices that will help you achieve the perfect balance between your mind and body.
Here’s what we’ll explore:
- What is Moving Meditation: Understand the basic concept, different forms, and why it is essential for athletes.
- Implementing Moving Meditation: Learn practical tips and techniques to incorporate moving meditation into your training routine.
- Real-Life Applications: Gain wisdom from personal anecdotes and lessons learned by an elite athlete practicing moving meditation.
- The Science Behind Moving Meditation: Delve deep into scientific research that supports the positive impact of meditation on athletic performance and mental health.
I’m excited to start this journey with you!
LISTEN TO SONYA
LINKS
- Become one of my clients! Health Coaching | Mental Performance Coaching
- Learn about the science of meditation with Dave Vago
- Feel skeptical about mediation? Check out this interview with Jeff Warren
- Enroll in my Moxy & Grit Mindset Academy
- Check out my newsletter for productivity, mindset, and mental skills
If you want to work towards your goals and more, check out my self-paced online course: Moxy & Grit Mindset Academy.
Episode Transcript
Sonya Looney 0:21
This is something I’ve been wanting to try for a while in a recording format. And a lot of yoga classes that spoke to me, it continued to do so start with powerful, mindful moment and a grounding session before you start moving your body. But I kind of wanted to start the session, while we’re already moving our body. The idea being that we are on our bike, or on a run this, this will be focused on being on a bike because that’s where I currently am. If you’ve been here, my bike, I don’t know if you can hear the birds chirping. But it’s really powerful way to be mindful. Practice, focus and self awareness. If you don’t like sitting down and doing a formal meditation practice. I thought about recording this while sitting in my office, but I think it’s gonna be more powerful. I do it with you. So it’s everything a little bit hard, or you hearing noises. That’s what that is. So let’s just take a moment to hop on our bikes. Keep your eyes open, of course. And just leave behind everything that you were doing to get here. We were rushing, you’re trying to get your bike working, it wasn’t working and it was frustrating. Or maybe you have a totally open day. And it was leisurely getting on your bike. Whatever it is just coming into the moment. Starting with gratitude, grad gratitude that you have a body that can do this, you have the means to have a bike you have access to the outdoors. And that you made time for this. That’s a gift in and of itself. We can forget about that sometimes. We’re first going to start with focusing inward. I guess more like focusing outward. To get into our body. Let’s start with the contact points on the bike. Noticing the feeling of your feet on the pedals the pressure and the weight in your feet and how that supports you your balance and in general as you ride the ball of your foot the arches maybe even noticing every time your right foot does a revolution on the pedal
I’m thinking about your feet and noticing your feet come into your hands. Your hands that are gently gripping handlebar, with control, to allow you to slow down when you need to, to shift. Maybe just to coast. Feeling the Heat potentially on your hands, the pressure. Maybe even over the course of this ride, noticing how the pressure in your grip changes with your mental or emotional state. Maybe you can learn to relax your grip just a little bit when things get challenging. Now moving to the saddle, you’re sitting on the saddle. Feeling the sit bones grounding down or maybe you’re up and down on the saddle standing up and sitting down. Allen’s attraction
to the breath noticing the rising and falling the chest noticing how each inhale also feel fill Is your belly the luxurious feeling of the breath in your body
and how the power of that breath can impact how you show up. Also how you ride breathing in and filling up letting it go each moment, rising and falling
now that you’ve connected with your bike, think about how the feeling of the dirt is connecting with your tires as you read how the footprint of the dirt is underneath your tires rolling up or down the hill being one with your bike
never gets the attention to open awareness. Trying to notice many things around you all at once but starting one at a time. How does the air feel on your skin feeling the breeze the temperature as you move through space
noticing if you’re slightly cringing if it’s cold
now to the sounds What do you hear
picking up the smallest sound that you can hear and how it connects with all the sounds around it
maybe it’s the wind in the trees. Maybe it’s cars are honking the faint car of a crow
coming to the sound of your tires, and especially if you’re on the dirt, the crunching of the dirt
noticing how bringing your attention to one thing can create focus or how opening your attention to how you notice as much as you can creates space
just taking the last couple of breaths on your bike
and you always have this level of awareness with you. Whether you are out for a hard ride an easy ride in a group in a race. When your mind says ruminating or you are starting to lose some of that emotional regulation or maybe feel overwhelmed, maybe feel disappointed or even maybe overly excited, coming back to the body, how the body feels. Maybe picking one of those contact points as your anchor or coming back to a sound or smell. And every time your mind wanders, coming right back to that anger hope you enjoyed this moving meditation on your bike and can continue to come back to that moment of peace and focus at moments throughout your ride.