Integrating Mindfulness into Your Next WOD.

"Mindfulness means being in the present moment on purpose and non- judgmentally." As a therapist, I say these words regularly (to my clients and to myself). I integrate some form of mindfulness into my clinical practice on a daily basis; facilitating healing through creative and holistic means has always been of great value to me. Mindfulness practice has become a regular element of my emotional survival working with victims of violence and abuse as well as a necessary element in the enhancement of my personal health. When I started eating within a primal framework, I was surprised by the lack of discussion around mindfulness- primal eating is based on the principle of simplicity and awareness (we eat simply- meat, veggies, nuts, and fruit and we are aware of where our food comes from). Mindfulness is also based on these principles 1. when we can simplify our external lives we are able to enhance our intrinsic experience and 2. growth of awareness can facilitate health and happiness. So what does this have to do with your next WOD? I'm getting there.

I started primal eating a few months before I began CrossFit. Going Paleo was (unbeknownst to me at the time) actually a huge step forward in integrating mindfulness into one more aspect of my life. Eating for fuel was not only a relief because I didn't have to count calories anymore, but I began to connect the food being put in my body with how I was actually feeling. Gluten made my gut hurt, dairy made my brain fuzzy, and don't even get me started on refined sugar. Once I became aware of the connection between the food going into my body and the way I felt after, primal eating was no longer restrictive, it was freeing. As I've gone through the last few months, the cognitive ability to continue to grow in awareness in this way has been the hand pulling me back up when I almost fall off the Paleo wagon.

Last week in CrossFit, I realized that a similar concept applies to performing the WOD. CrossFit isn't easy, it's physically and mentally strenuous and the movements aren't easy to learn. After a month and a half of regular WODS, I just figured out last week how to deadlift 80 pounds so that my lower back doesn't hurt afterwards. While we have fantastic trainers who give great direction, I couldn't have accomplished that without the awareness of my own body in the present moment. In many ways, CrossFit demands mindfulness- when was the last time you were in the middle of a tough WOD and were thinking about anything aside from the present moment? The focus that it takes to correctly perform the tasks associated with CrossFit requires you to be present in the moment and in your own body.  This constant awareness of movement will eventually lead to constant awareness of action. Executing every movement with a focused and present intent to succeed is the only way to survive.

Just like the deadlift, mindfulness takes practice. Awareness is not an easy thing to come by, and just like any other skill mindfulness takes time and energy to truly develop. Taking a few moments every day to focus inward, focus on your breath, focus on how your food tastes, or clearing your mind through meditation, yoga, or a progressive muscle relaxation will make your next WOD that much easier (okay okay, not easier, but it might suck less). I realize that asking a CrossFitter to sit still for moments that are seemingly unproductive is a tall order, but the long-term benefits of mindfulness are not only good for keeping you on the Paleo wagon and getting you through the next WOD, a growing awareness of yourself and your body will have a long-term positive impact on your overall health and happiness.