Setting a mindful intention from the start

If you want 2020 to be the year that you achieve a fitness goal, have a think about the following:

What do I want? How am I going to achieve it? How will that make me feel?

If getting to your goal isn’t going to make you feel good (independently of anyone else’s opinion), then you may want to reframe your intention. Instead of having a goal to change your body, how about setting it to be ‘be able to run 5K, non-stop’?

Working up to a non-stop 5K (which you can do for free every Saturday at 9am at your local Parkrun, FYI), is super-achievable if you break it down into small chunks. You can start off by walking 5K, and slowly add in a few minutes of running each week until you’re running half and walking half. Keep on and you’ll soon build up to running the whole thing - and once you’ve run one 5K once, it’s very unlikely you’ll stop there, and whether you look different at the end of that process or not, you’ll have improved your cardiovascular fitness.

How will you feel when you come over the finish line after you run your first 5K? You’ll have to give it a go to find out - but I guarantee it’ll be longer-lasting than finally fitting into any outfit you’ve been eyeing up.

It doesn’t have to be running and it definitely doesn’t have to involve your dress size. You could commit to one dance class a week, walking to work, practicing yoga at home as a way of reducing stress, increasing your confidence, or making new friends.

Mindful fitness is all about understanding why you’re working out and enjoying the journey as much as the destination. You’ll reach your goal eventually but if you concentrate on how you’re getting there, you’ll get more out of it that you thought possible.

“Why mindful fitness is more than a marketing fad”