Meditation & Cycling (Mental & Physical Health Covered?)

[Heltor Chasca]

I was interested in a point made by Malcolm Dancy in one of his Audax books. (I forget whether it was the one on LEL or PBP) I really enjoyed these books by the by.

Anyway he made reference to meditating using an app at one of his sleep stops. This got me interested in meditation as I sometimes have trouble being distracted by 'projects' and past life 'baggage'. Since then I have started doing a few sessions under the guidance of apps on my iPad and iPhone. As with all these things there are vagaries that make some of the meditations more suitable than others. One of the apps I'm using has a 'Sports' module with various sessions that I can apply to cycling. It also hosts various other modules to cover other areas or difficulties in life. My oldest daughter may try out some of the material for teenagers. And chatting tonight at the table, my 7 year old tells me they have been learning meditation in PE.

I would be interested in what you thought about mindfulness and meditation.

 

[MikeG]

With only a minute or two I'll just say this: cycling, or any regular and reasonably strenuous exercise, is a seriously positive thing for mental health. Yes, mental health. There is plenty of evidence out there to back this up. So, if you are planning on examining the notion that meditation improves your mental health, then ideally you would do it well away from another activity which is known for certain to do be beneficial, otherwise the danger is that the benefits of cycling might well be ascribed erroneously to meditation.

 

[Heltor Chasca]

I get that cyclng does me the world of good on a mental and physical level. The new ground I am covering is meditation for mental health benefits and the knock on effect in my physical performance. I haven't started the 'Sports' module yet, but I'm guessing it addresses event preparation, dealing with the highs and lows during the event and possibly the come down afterwards. Only a guess, but these are areas of stress I've experienced when competing at World and national level events (sailing)

Malcolm Dancy hinted he was using meditation to slow his mind after hours in the saddle and so he could sleep in a village hall full of other Audaxers.

I'm thinking that meditation could be used for a host of reasons that will improve our lives on many levels. Cycling included. Surely there's an overlap of improved mental/physical well-being? Isn't one of the UK's hill climbing champs linked to a Buddhist temple/sponsor?

 

[MikeG]

Well my point is that if you do the two together, you are never going to know which might be providing any perceived benefits. You might be entirely wasting your time meditating, but you'd never know.

Oh, and you don't need to meditate to be able to sleep in a village hall full of other Audaxers. That I can personally testify to!

 

[Drago]

And that would matter because ... ?

He never said it mattered, only that it might happen.

 

[MikeG]

Oooh, my stalker seems to be at it again. That must be such fun for everyone.

 

[midliferider]

It all depends on what you mean by meditation. There are several types of meditation. Meditation as advertised and promoted in the west is somewhat different to the meditation described in Buddhism. Of course meditation was in practiced in India well before Buddha was born.

The most popular form of meditation is mindfulness meditation. It is traditionally based on focusing your breathing. However it could be done on any form of repetitive activity. For example, you can practice mindfulness on walking. In the same way, you can practice mindfulness while cycling. I personally find it quite useful to climb hills. My only objective is to get to the top and not the speed at which I cycle. I do the same when I run.

 

[Tin Pot]

I've never found it useful but I accept other do. Once I had to do a moonlight flit from a Buddist Monastry because I couldnt stand anymore of it. We were expected to sit in silence for hours on an end on the floor in the freezing cold. F that for a game of cards.

Enough to make anyone want to gut punch a nun.

Too soon?

 

[slowmotion]

I dabbled with Transcendental Meditation when I was a late teenager but found it got in the way of sleeping and going to the pub. Today, cycling gives me a far greater sense of overall wellbeing.

 

[albion]

My thoughts are that, when cycling gave me back enough control of my breathing to survive my apnea nights, theres various changes going on. You have improved efficiency, controlled breathing, a focus etc etc etc.

Its interesting in that, years back, when I first got some control of my breathing, around the age of 30, I started breathing exercises.
You could really call that meditation, in that the whole focus was on the breathing. So the question is, if you focus on what you are doing, distraction free, can it be often be called meditation?