Dear Friends, 
Let's explore the connection between exercise and becoming mindful. Staying in the moment can give a motivational boost to physical activity and achieving exercise goals can motivate a habit of being mindful. Rather than being mutually exclusive, they are remarkably intertwined. In fact, they work together to improve your health as well as help you to succeed in living a balanced life.
Jon Kabat-Zinn, in his book "Full Catastrophe Living" discusses the many ways mindfulness helps improve mental states which in turn improves physical health and overall well-being. I promote mindful walking on the labyrinth to guide people to frequent, moderate exercise that brings comfort and confidence that motivates having more activity in their lives. Walking the old paths of the labyrinth raises awareness of new directions for exercise and other life enhancing choices. In my book, "Bringing Life to the Labyrinth", I show that familiarity with mind/body skills very easily transfers to many other areas of life.
Mindfulness overcomes many of the obstacles to regular exercise as we age. Some of the common barriers are feelings of inadequacy, self-consciousness, and unrealistic expectations. In short, various fears arise that are detrimental to attitude and chip away at commitment. Being mindful cuts right to the heart of these matters - slowly and surely!
The benefits of mindfulness and exercise has a spiritual component, too. In "Body Prayer" which is highlighted in this Newsletter, I describe the personal empowerment that comes from body awareness. Focus on the body systems that include breathing and sensation and perception, as well as muscles and nerves, grows a habit of personal respect and mastery over thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. As a consequence we are open to spiritual, even religious experience.
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