Medito’s ‘Getting Active’ course is a great place to start if you’re trying to get active for the first time, as it allows you to listen to the meditations before getting up and moving.

The study itself doesn’t suggest exactly when you should do mindfulness meditation in regards to exercise – simply that you do both on a regular basis. The team behind the study are actually planning on doing a follow-up to look at the “optimal intervention moments” for combining the two, so more on that later.

What we’ve discovered here at Strong Women, however, is that mindfulness meditation can work brilliantly as a kind of mental warm-up alongside your more traditional dynamic stretches and heart rate-raising moves.

It’s also possible to use mindfulness to boost the mental health benefits of exercise while you’re moving. Yoga, for example, places emphasis on being present and in the moment, while trends such as mindful running and awe walking are also a great way to incorporate the two. The key to getting started is turning your attention towards what’s going on in the here and now – rather than all the worries that are floating around your mind.

Want to reap the mental health benefits of exercise in 2024? Mindfulness could be the key