Mindfullness

We know this is the buzz word of the year but what does it really mean? Why is it so important? In the simplest of terms, it means being observant of your current situation. By stopping, taking 3 breaths, observing your body you can learn to tackle more stressful situations. Become thought empowered, reduce procrastination and improve focus and embrace change. Enhance your resilience to challenges and priorities your well-being.

Have you ever noticed that we always start and finish our classes with three deep breathes? Mindfullness and leaving your daily stresses are so important to us here at Flourish. So remember, turn that phone off, put do not disturb on your apple watch and take that moment to be here for you.
Struggling turning the day off when you walk into the studio? We’ve rounded up our top 3 ways to do the work:

• Before you get in the studio, ask yourself why you’re doing it. Need time to yourself? Are your muscles are telling you they’re craving movement? Wanting to connect with your community? The reasons are endless—and they’re all valid. Your reason is your own, and that is enough.
• Be mindful of sensations in your body. When your mind starts to wander, try to bring awareness to parts of your body that are talking to you. Label the feelings. “My glutes are on fire.” “My right hamstring is tighter than my left.” “My breathing is shallow—let’s try a few deep breaths.” This is a judgement-free zone. Don’t judge your experience, but notice and label it.
• Remember, you’re surrounded by a supportive community that has also decided to show up. Keep the focus on your experience in class, and share a smile (or potentially a grimace) with someone around the room. Recent studies have shown that exercising in groups can benefit you more than a solitary sweat sesh. Why not maximize the camaraderie and acknowledge the shared experience? Yes, everyone takes her own journey through class, but we all are all in the room together.

All this said, we’ll admit that sometimes we have those days where it’s—quite frankly—a miracle that we’ve even made it to class. We’re human.

But what if we challenged ourselves to dig deeper? Challenged our minds as well as our bodies? We’re challenging ourselves to stay present from the moment we don our spandex to that sweet, last, final breath of class.