Body By Design
What is Mindful Movement?
It’s no secret that a regular mindfulness practice can reduce stress, improve mood, improve sleep quality, increase focus and attention, boost immune function, lower blood pressure, and even enhance relationships.
By cultivating mindfulness, we can learn to manage our thoughts and emotions more effectively, which can lead to greater clarity, resilience, gratitude and joy.
Mindfulness-based practices offer a vast array of options that extend far beyond the traditional seated meditation making achieving the benefits versatile, accessible, even fun!
While there are many mindfulness-based practices that can be done while sitting or lying down, mindfulness can also be integrated into daily movements and activities.
Whether it’s walking, running, dancing, fitness classes, or even gardening, painting and washing dishes, bringing a sense of awareness and focus to your movement not only offer the benefits of mindfulness but the added gifts of improved movement quality, efficiency,
5 Tips For Making My Movement Mindful
- TUNE IN – Pay attention, on purpose to the movements you’re executing to bring your mind into present moment awareness.
- BREATHE – Use specific conscious breathing techniques (see Breath By Design below) to increase awareness, set the pace, support movement and increase the challenge.
- SENSE – Enhance your ability to communicate with your brain by consciously connecting to your body through sight, sound, touch and sensation.
- LISTEN – By paying attention to sensation, you pick up on the body’s subtle cues that show you how to adjust and adapt movement habits to make them more effective, efficient and effortless.
- RESPECT – Learn to move in ways that feel good, respecting your boundaries without judgement or criticism.
A few other benefits include:
- recognize and release unnecessary body tension, postural imbalances and restricted movement in the ribs, spine, hips, neck and shoulders giving you access to effortless, efficient breathing and living.
- improve the tone and elasticity of your number one breathing muscle, your diaphragm.
- improve vagal tone, athletic performance, balance, control and stamina using effective, science-based practices.
- experientially witness the effects of gentle, guided breathing practices partnered movement – slow, effortless and rhythmic whole-body motion.
- learn quick, simple strategies to influence and alter nervous system states to suit any situation.
- And much, much more!!
Online Classes
Access a variety of online classes from leaders in the mindful movement field through the following links:
- The Space Halifax – This On Demand library of classes features a variety of Pilates- based workouts taught by the knowledgeable instructors from The Space: Pilates and Mindful Movement. New workouts are added each month.
- Merrithew Connect – Mindful Movement on the Go. Digital Workouts and Training, Anytime, Anywhere!
- BreathWalk
- Breath By Design Movement Classes (below)
Studio Classes
Kim Kraushar has moved her in-person classes to The Space: Pilates and Mindful Movement
The Maritime Conservatory of Performing Arts
6199 Chebucto Road
Halifax, Nova Scotia
B3L1K7
Breath by Design Movement Classes
Embodied Breathing
This class will expose you to a number of breath training exercises while challenging you to embody them in motion. My goal is to coach you through simple, familiar movement patterns while encouraging you to breathe consciously, nutritiously. Once you experience this simple practice, you’ll naturally carry the quality of conscious breathing in motion into your day – instantly converting mundane, everyday movements into powerful breath-enhancing practices.
Breath Yourself Young
Breathe Yourself Young is unique breath-driven, whole-body movement experience that requires no equipment other then a mat- just you, gravity and of course, a commitment to conscious breathing.
The class is designed to improve balance, core strength and joint and spinal mobility BUT pushing your body to its physical limits isn’t the driving force of this session. It’s working within the parameters of maintaining quiet, calm, low volume breathing while in motion – getting friendly with the sensation of air hunger and building your tolerance to higher CO2 pressures in your body. Anytime you feel you want to abandon the slow quiet breathing and your breathing becomes audible, rapid and erratic – stop the movement and assume any one of the rest postures that will be demonstrated throughout the class until a calm, nutritious breathing rhythm returns and you can then resume the movement.
The title and the class is inspired by the 5 Actions for Restoring Youth and Vitality created over 2,500 years ago and still practiced today by Tibetan Monks.