Mindfulness

22 Sep 2023

How to Benefit from Mindful Running & Mindful Exercise

1 Mar 2020 by Elaine Mead, BSc.

Scientifically reviewed by Jo Nash, Ph.D.

mindful running If you’ve ever laced up your running shoes and covered a few miles in the great outdoors, you’ll likely understand the simple joys a good run can bring: the feeling of fresh air in the lungs, appreciating the beauty of nature, perhaps even finding that elusive flow state.

But in an age of high-tech tracking devices, noise-canceling headphones, and overcrowded gyms, can we take some lessons from the world of mindfulness to elevate our running practice and deepen the benefits?

This article explores mindful running and mindful exercise in more detail, as well as what we can gain from combining mindfulness with our fitness journey.

Before you read on, we thought you might like to download our three Mindfulness Exercises for free. These science-based, comprehensive exercises will not only help you cultivate a sense of inner peace throughout your daily life, but also give you the tools to enhance the mindfulness of your clients, students, or employees.

This Article Contains:

What Is Mindful Running?
How Does Mindful Running Work?
8 Tips for a Mindful Run
A Look at Mindful Walking
What Does a Mindful Workout Involve?
5 Tips to Help Use Mindfulness With Exercise
What Research Says About Mindfulness in Sports
How Mindfulness Can Help You Quit Smoking
A Take-Home Message
References

What Is Mindful Running?

With mindfulness being about bringing our attention back into the here and now, mindful running applies the same concept to our run.

Being mindful involves paying attention to our breath and physical sensations, as well as how our emotions and thought processes are responding. For runners, this means concentrating on the physical sensations that they are in control of. This includes their breath, but also their posture, gait, where they look or focus while running, and their overall form.

When we run, it can be easy to become overwhelmed with your pace, how far you’ve run, and how far you still have to go. Mindfulness helps runners keep the focus on the exact moment they’re in and brings their attention to the moment at hand.

How Does Mindful Running Work?

With the number of proven health benefits that mindfulness can bring to our daily lives, it makes sense that combining mindfulness with other healthy pursuits can really help elevate our sense of wellbeing.

Research is beginning to emerge that supports this. Alderman, Olson, Brush, and Shors (2016) found that directed meditation combined with running or walking helped to reduce symptoms of depression for depressed participants by almost 40%.

ASICS launched a world-first ‘blackout track’ alongside ongoing research devised by Professor Samuele Marcorra, Director of Research at the University of Kent’s School of Sport and Exercise, and Dr. Jo Corbett, part of the Health Research Group at the University of Portsmouth.

Early results from the experiment have found that psychological factors, such as sight and sound, have a significant impact on performance.

The blackout track reduces sensory engagement, encouraging athletes to reflect inwardly and focus on their body, with great results.

So, how does mindful running work?

Chevy Rough, a performance and mindfulness coach with the ASICS Sound Mind Sound Body team, notes that it really is about being present. As with everything in mindfulness, it’s about being connected with your mind and body, your movement, and turning from external distractions to an internal focus.

Rough also mentions that distractions can intensify as there are often other pressures associated with running, including how fast you’re running, how far you’re running, and beating your personal best.

Rough and Charles Oxley, another coach with ASICS Sound Mind Sound Body, offer the following advice for a mindful run:

Release yourself from external distractions and daily pressures.
Really listen to your body: your breathing, your posture, and your senses.
Use your breath to aid you. Mouth breathing is related to stress responses, so try to focus on breathing through your nose.
Connect with memories associated with your body, past injuries or experiences relating to running. This can help you create deeper internal connections.
Keep the internal conversation between you and your body, not societal expectations.
Don’t worry about anchor points, timings, or tracking devices – just listen to your body.

Most importantly though, advise Rough and Oxley, is to bring your body to a state of calm before you even begin your run. For many people, working out is done between other activities in an already hectic day, meaning before you even get started on your mindful run, you’re already in a state of stress.

Before your warm-up, spend some time bringing yourself into a neutral state by practicing some deep breathing mindfulness exercises. However long this takes – whether it’s 5 minutes or 10 – take the time to prepare your mind before you prepare your body.

8 Tips for a Mindful Run

Whether you’re already a runner or wanting to get into the habit, adding mindfulness is easy to incorporate into your running journey.

Here are eight tips to help you:

1. Take your run outside and off the treadmill.

Running outside can help you build a more mindful running practice, as you’ll have more things to focus on, making it harder to get lost in your own thoughts. Trail running is a great hobby to get into. It’ll challenge you to keep your focus precisely in the moment and on the task at hand, as well as provide you with some beautiful scenery.

2. Engage all your senses and leave the headphones at home.

Although listening to music while running can be a great motivator, it becomes a distraction when trying to build the habit of mindful running. Leave the headphones at home and use the time to focus on your breathing, the sounds of your body while you run, and your surroundings.

3. Try some pre-run mindful breathing.

Rather than waiting until you begin your run to start getting into a mindful state, use your pre-run warm-up to calm your mind and focus on your breathing. Try taking some extra deep breaths during this practice to help you relax and bring your full attention to the run at hand.

4. Start slow and build from there.

Mindful running is about engaging all of your senses and physical sensations and keeping your focus on how they are responding to the environment and the exercise. By starting slowly, you can pay attention to how your body responds as you slowly increase your pace and movement.

Notice how your breathing quickens. Does it become more shallow or deeper as you take up a new pace? Can you feel your heart in your chest? How does it sound? Is your body beginning to warm up? Where does that heat start from and how does it spread?

Notice if any parts of your body become tense and how your muscles feel as they get warmed up. With a mindful run, the idea is to become aware of all these subtle changes without thinking too much about them.

5. Pay attention to your thoughts.

After focusing on your physical responses, you can turn to your thoughts and feelings. What are you thinking as you settle into your run? Are you criticizing yourself? Are you replaying scenarios or conversations in your head? Are you finding gratitude for being able to physically run and finding the time to take this moment to yourself?

Acknowledge your thoughts and feelings, but don’t dwell on them. If you find yourself ruminating or becoming critical, gently bring your attention back to your breath instead of these thoughts.

6. Check where your feet land.

If you do find that you’re struggling to steer clear of negative thoughts, turn your focus to the physical sensation of your feet.

How does the physical sensation feel on your toes, your whole foot, and your ankle? How does the sensation move up your leg? How does your core react? Focus on your form, and correct anything that doesn’t feel quite right. Try to keep your movements light. You can try the mantra ‘Light on my feet’ and keep this as your focus.

7. Acknowledge discomfort.

As you get further into your run, pay attention to how your body is continuing to respond. Are you starting to feel any discomfort or pain? Are you getting a stitch in your side? How is your breathing? What is this discomfort telling you? Do you need to slow down, stop, or take a short break? Have you met your limit for the day, or can you challenge yourself a little more?

If you’re an experienced runner, you’ll know discomfort can be a sign of pushing your endurance, but if you’re newer, it could signify that it’s time for a break as you build up your fitness over time.

8. Take time to reflect at the finish line.

As you come to the end of your run, continue to engage in a mindful practice. As you move through some cool-down exercises, reflect on how you’re feeling. Focus on your breathing as it becomes fuller and deeper as you recover. Listen as your heart begins to slow. Feel your body begin to cool.

When working through your stretches, feel each muscle and what it’s telling you. Reflect on your feelings and thoughts. Are you feeling elated, happy, or disappointed? Why might that be? Attempt to bring your thoughts back to a place of neutrality, and try to finish this exercise with a small gratitude practice.

Once you’re all done, you might want to make some notes reflecting on your run. Over time, you can review your notes and observe how your physical and emotional responses change over time.

A Look at Mindful Walking

If mindful running doesn’t quite sound like your thing, you can try out the same principles with mindful walking instead.

A mindful walk out in nature can have equally promising health benefits, with research showing that a break in nature can have a rejuvenating effect on the brain (Bratman, Hamilton, Hahn, Daily, & Gross, 2015).

Meditation combined with walking has also been shown to improve states of anxiety in young people (Edwards, Rosenbaum, & Loprinzi, 2017).

Incorporating a mindful walk as a daily habit can help bring a greater sense of self-awareness and reduce stress. A few tips to help you approach a mindful walk:

Bring your attention to your physical presence. Start at the top of your head and work your way down to your toes. Focus on each of your facial features, limbs, back, and abdomen. Notice the full connectedness of your body as you walk and how every muscle is involved.
Notice how your arms and legs move as you walk and the feeling of the ground as you lay each foot down and move forward.
Bring your mind to your breath. Feel it as you inhale, and draw each breath deep into your lungs, feeling your ribs expand. Slowly exhale.
Engage all of your senses as you walk. What can you see, smell, hear, and taste? How does the air feel against your skin?
Take in each sensation with curiosity and openness.

It’s normal if your mind becomes distracted. As with other mindfulness practices, don’t try to push the thoughts away. Allow them to enter your mind and gently let them go, bringing your mind calmly back to the present moment.

What Does a Mindful Workout Involve?

There is something comforting about allowing ourselves to zone out during a workout. It’s easy to go through the motions of activity – like running or walking – and let our minds wander while our body does its thing.

The difference in a mindful workout is that instead of zoning out, we draw our mind back to the physical activity and focus on connecting the two back together. A mindful workout involves paying attention to the flow that happens in our body when we’re exercising and the unity that exists between mind, body, and breath.

5 Tips to Help Use Mindfulness With Exercise

The idea of mindfulness with exercise often sounds easier than reality. Here are five tips to help you create a more grounded practice of mindfulness when exercising:

1. Prepare your mind before your body.

As mentioned earlier, we often approach exercise within an already busy schedule. Make sure you take the time to bring your mind to a neutral state before beginning your exercise regime. A few minutes of deep, considered breathing should help to clear your mind for your warm-up.

2. Create a purpose every time you exercise.

Exercise is often linked to one purpose: weight loss. While this purpose may be fine in the long term, creating another purpose around this end goal can help you maintain focus. This could be anything from working out for a set amount of time or focusing on a specific muscle group, to increasing your energy for the day or reducing stress.

3. Take it slow.

Don’t approach exercise as another to-do item on your list to be rushed through and checked off. Give yourself permission to take your time, engage with your full body, and acknowledge and appreciate how exercise is benefiting your mind and body.

4. Bring attention to your breathing.

When your mind starts to wander, bring your attention back to your breathing. Focus on the inhalation, through your nose, and exhalation. Feel your breath move through your body and out again.

5. Remember to reflect.

Take a moment after your workout to reflect on how you’re feeling. During your cool down, pay attention to your heart rate as it slows, the stretch of your muscles, and your breathing. Allow yourself to feel satisfied with the work you’ve put into your health.

What Research Says About Mindfulness in Sports

While a lot of research has been dedicated to the general health benefits of mindfulness, fewer studies have focused on the benefits of mindfulness during exercise.

Ulmer, Stetson, and Salmon (2010) looked at the use of mindfulness in exercise to promote exercise initiation and maintenance.

They found that individuals who maintained a program of exercise for longer tended to score higher on measures for mindfulness and acceptance.

Roberts and Danoff-Burg (2015) studied university students and the relationship between mindfulness, health activities, and stress. They found that students who deliberately immerse themselves in physical activity were more likely to want to exercise again. They also found that mindfulness contributed to decreased stress levels, which resulted in increased positive perceptions about overall health and participation in health behaviors.

The above research has been criticized for focusing on participating in exercise rather than the satisfaction derived from the exercise itself. This is an important distinction to make, as those who find exercise satisfying are more likely to exercise, whether they participate in mindfulness or not.

Another study by researchers at Utrecht University in the Netherlands focused more on how mindfulness impacted participants’ perception of how satisfying exercise was, rather than their ongoing interest in exercise.

They found that participants who reported being the most satisfied with their exercise habits were also the ones who exercised the most. But they also found that participants who reported practicing mindfulness during exercise generally felt more satisfied with their exercise regime (Tsafou, De Ridder, van Ee, & Lacroix, 2016).

Overall, the research does support the idea that mindfulness in exercise and sports has a positive contribution, whether it’s your perception of your feelings of general health or the satisfaction you take from exercise.

How Mindfulness Can Help You Quit Smoking

Mindfulness is also showing promising results in addiction recovery. When used alongside other psychologically proven addiction recovery methods, mindfulness has been shown to thicken the mid-prefrontal cortex and mid-insular region of the brain, promoting a greater sense of wellbeing and aiding in overcoming cravings (Lazar et al., 2005).

Addictive habits are often adopted in order to avoid difficult feelings or situations. Mindfulness helps to counter this by promoting a deliberate focus on the same difficult feelings in order to confront and overcome them safely. Where addiction can be seen as avoidant behavior, mindfulness promotes a greater sense of taking responsibility for how we feel and respond to different situations.

Research by Brewer et al. (2012) specifically looked at the use of mindfulness with participants who were attempting to quit smoking. Participants in the study were assigned to training with either mindfulness or a standard program for quitting smoking.

At the end of the study, the mindfulness group had a greater reduction in smoking. The results had a lasting impact too, with 31% of the mindfulness group remaining smoke-free four months after treatment finished, compared to only 6% of the standard program group.

When using mindfulness to quit smoking, Brewer et al. (2012) recommend following the RAIN acronym:

Recognize – Recognize when a strong emotion or craving is present, and instead of turning to smoking to avoid it, openly acknowledge what you’re feeling without judgment.
Accept – Accept that this is how you’re feeling, without assigning it a positive or negative label. It is what it is.
Investigate – Investigate why the craving has arisen. What is happening in your surroundings? How is your body responding? How are your emotions responding? Take the time to be present in everything you’re experiencing.
Non-identification – Acknowledge that the craving is a physical reaction. It is not you, and you do not need to act on it. You can feel the physical sensations until they subside without giving into them.

A Take-Home Message

Whether you’re a veteran runner or a beginner, I hope this article has shed a little light on how adding a little mindfulness could help elevate your practice.

I have found that the practice of mindfulness during my daily walks has really helped me to feel more connected to myself and my environment, helping me to feel more grounded in the day. If you’re a coach working with clients, this could be a great additional resource to help support them.

Have you tried mindfulness with your exercise regime? How has it worked or not worked for you? Do you have any other tips that you’d like to share? Please leave your comments below. I’d love to hear about them.

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don’t forget to download our three Mindfulness Exercises for free.

References

Alderman, B. L., Olson, R. L., Brush, C. J., & Shors, T. J. (2016). MAP training: Combining meditation and aerobic exercise reduces depression and rumination while enhancing synchronized brain activity. Translational Psychiatry, 6, 1–9.
Bratman, G. N., Hamilton, J. P., Hahn, K. S., Daily, G. C., & Gross, J. J., (2015). Nature experience reduces rumination and subgenual prefrontal cortex activation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 112(28), 8567–8572.
Brewer, J. A., Mallik, S., Babuscio, T. A., Nich, C., Johnson. H. E., Deleone, C. M., … Rounsaville, B. J. (2011). Mindfulness training for smoking cessation: Results from a randomized controlled trial. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 119(1–2), 72–80.
Edwards, M. K., Rosenbaum, S., & Loprinzi, P. D. (2017). Differential experimental effects of a short bout of walking, meditation, or combination of walking and meditation on state anxiety among young adults. American Journal of Health Promotion, 32(4), 949–958.
Lazar, S. W., Kerr, C. E., Wasserman, R. H., Gray, J. R., Greve, D. N., Treadway, M. T., … Fischl, B. (2005). Meditation experience is associated with increased cortical thickness. NeuroReport, 16, 1893–1897.
Roberts, K. C., & Danoff-Burg, S. (2015). Mindfulness and health behaviors: Is paying attention good for you? Journal of American College Health, 59(3), 165–173.
Tsafou, K. E., De Ridder, D. T. D., van Ee, R., & Lacroix, J. P. W. (2016). Mindfulness and satisfaction in physical activity: A cross-sectional study in the Dutch population. Journal of Health Psychology, 21(9), 1817–1921.
Ulmer, C. S., Stetson, B. A., & Salmon, P. G. (2010). Mindfulness and acceptance are associated with exercise maintenance in YMCA exercisers. Research Behavior and Therapy, 48(8), 805–809.

About the author

Elaine Mead, BSc. Dual Honours, is a counselor, passionate educator, writer, and learner. Since completing her degree in psychology, she has been fascinated by the different ways we learn - both socially and academically - and the ways in which we utilize our experiences to become more authentic versions of our selves. She is currently completing her diploma in Cognitive Behavioural Coaching & Mentoring.

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