Mindfulness and Martial Arts

Have you heard about mindfulness? It’s all about being aware and in the moment, rather than letting your mind wander to the past or into the future. Many people say it helps reduce stress and worry, and it has been recommended as a therapeutic way of focusing your thoughts and feeling more settled in your mind.

You might wonder what the connection is with martial arts. In truth, the two can go together rather well. Martial arts force you to focus on the movements you are making in order to fully embrace the specific art you have chosen. This involves immersing your mind and your focus on each moment, which is very much in tune with how mindfulness works.

So if you’re struggling to embrace mindfulness but you really want to make it part of your life, choosing martial arts can actually help you with mindfulness as well. They dovetail together quite nicely.

Of course you may never have heard of mindfulness before reading this. That’s fine, but you might find you start reaping the benefits of it when you start taking regular martial arts classes anyway. You have to be focused on the classes you are taking and what you are learning in each one. By doing this, by making sure you have the ability to follow through on the teachings, you will strengthen your ability to remain in the moment whenever you need to.

While you may at first do this only within your martial arts classes, you’ll eventually find this ability is very hard to switch on and off. This is when you’ll notice you are far more mindful in your daily life than you were before. Just imagine the effects this could have, and how much more settled and at ease you’ll feel. Just one more reason why taking martial arts classes is a great idea.