Motivation

Win a FREE iPod Shuffle at Free Women’s Fitness!

Posted in Motivation

unpluged
Creative Commons License photo credit: jcestnik

Well, its our birthday! And to celebrate we are giving away a FREE iPod Shuffle to one of our lovely readers to keep you motivated and entertained during your workouts.

How to enter:
To enter the draw you only need to do one thing:

Enter your email address in the box below and sign up to receive all our updates right in your inbox. NOTE: Your privacy is protected. We will never sell or share your email address.

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The winner will be selected by random on the 24th of April. We will notify you by email and post the results here on the blog.

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7 Reasons Every Woman Should Meditate Every Day

Posted in Health, Motivation

Take a deep breath
Creative Commons License photo credit: Pinkabilly

Meditation is very important to me. I like to spend at least 15 minutes a day on my meditation cushion focusing on my mind and breath. In this article I want to show you seven reasons why every woman should meditate every day.

7 reasons every woman should meditate every day

Have a read through these reasons and see if any of them make sense to you. If they do then I highly encourage you to start meditating on a regular basis – ideally first thing in the morning.

1. It makes you happier
The most important reason to start meditate every day is because it makes you happier. Meditation helps you to get in touch with your thoughts and emotions and work through a lot of crap that you might otherwise just let float around. It also helps you become more focused and mindful which leads to happiness because your actions will start to match your intentions.

2. It is good for you
Science has shown that meditation is extremely good for your health. It relaxes your heartbeat and lowers your blood pressure – extremely important for all you corporate women out there who are busy focusing on deadlines and due dates. Meditation also strengthens your internal energies which will make you less susceptible to colds and flus.

3. It gives you quiet time
These days there is almost no room for quiet time. You are either looking after the kids or your husband or work is riding you to meet with some client – there is no time for silence. But silence is extremely important. It can relax your mind and body and allow you to “process” all the things that are going on. Ten minutes of silent meditation everyday will go a long way to making you more sane.

4. You will become stronger
Meditation masters are always strong people who can deal with any situation that gets thrown at them. The reason for this is because they have become so accustomed and familiar with their own mind that they are able to see through all the trash and just remain calm. After a few months of regular meditation you will find that you don’t get blown around by all the little ups and downs that life throws at you.

5. You will be able to train harder
Along the same lines as the previous point, meditating regularly will allow you to train a lot harder. The reason is simple. When you begin looking at mind you start to see that your thoughts have no real power. They arise and dissolve but they never really have any inherent power to influence you. After a while you will be able to take this realization off the cushion and out into the world with you. For example, when you are running on the treadmill and your mind is telling you “stop” you will be able to see through that game and push on. This is a very valuable skill to have.

6. It removes stress from your body and mind
One of the most fundamental benefits of meditation is relaxation. Meditation allows you to process all the stress in your mind and sort it out. And once it is out of your mind it will soon be out of your body. Your muscles will relax and your joints will loosen. Daily meditation will make you a much more relaxed and easy going person.

7. Your sleep will be peaceful
Another major benefit that I have noticed is that my sleep has become a lot more peaceful. I fall asleep much faster and I am able to wake up fresh. This is extremely important if you have a training session to get to or you need to start work early.

Conclusion

The wonderful thing about meditation is that the more you do it, the more benefits you will get. If you can sneak in five minutes of meditation after work and ten minutes before you go to bed then you will be well on your way to better health and a lot happier living.

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How to Find More Time in the Day for Workouts

Posted in Fitness, Motivation, Weight Loss

Joggers
Creative Commons License photo credit: Ed Yourdon

One of the most common reasons that women don’t workout is because they just can’t find enough time in the day. This is very sad state of affairs. It is horrible to think that in a 24 hour day there is not enough time to do something that is good for you. In this post I would like to show you a few ways to find more time to workout in your busy day.

How to find more time for workouts in your busy day

These suggestions come from my own experience so if anyone else has any other suggestions I would love to hear them. Please stop by our forum and let us know what works for you.

1. Make it your priority
At the moment a million other things are your priority. Making the beds, feeding the kids, going to work, cooking dinner, watching your favorite TV show, going to bed. Somewhere in there you need to make fitness and health your priority. Now I am not saying make working out a more important priority than your kids. But it should be a more important priority than watching Lost or Deal or No Deal. If you can do this you will find that you make time for your workouts instead of wondering why there is no time.

2. Wake up earlier
The sad fact is that most of us are pretty busy. In order to find time to workout you might have to wake up early. This might mean waking up 20 minutes early and doing some yoga or body-weight exercises in your lounge room or it might mean waking up an hour earlier and going for a run and a weight session. Either way, waking up early will give you more time that you can specifically allot to fitness.

3. Park the car away from work
There are some really simple little things that you can do if you want to find time to workout. To do this you need to remember that you don’t always have to put on tights and drive to the gym in order to have a workout. For example, parking your car 15 minutes away from your office will give you a 30 minute walking session every single day. That way you get a workout without even having to do anything different.

4. Go directly to the gym
One technique that I have found to be particularly useful is going straight to the gym before or after work. This direct approach gives you a lot less wriggling room. When you drive straight to the gym you have less time to convince yourself that you are too tired or too busy. You just go there and do it.

Twitter 365 Project - Day 62
Creative Commons License photo credit: lu_lu

5. Workout in your lunch break
If you go into the city during lunch time you will be amazed to see all the corporate boys and girls going for a jog together. It is a great idea. Most workplaces give you an hour lunch break which is often way more than you need. Why not try this instead:

  • 0-5 minutes: get changed
  • 5-35 minutes: go for a run
  • 35-45 minutes: shower and change
  • 45-60 minutes: eat lunch

This schedule is more than reasonable and by following it you will get a 30 minutes workout every single day, regardless of how busy you are. Why not make the most of the time that your work gives you instead of exercising on your own time?

6. Read, study or work at the gym
Something I have seen more and more people do lately is read while they are sitting on the exercise bike. I think it is a great idea. If you are find that you don’t have time to workout because you need to study or read over some case notes from work then why not take them to the gym and read them while you are pedaling away on the bike? You will kill two birds with one stone and you will feel a lot better about your “take home” work.

Conclusion

Your health is so important. You should never let your busy life get in the way of your workout routine or program. If you really want to be healthy and live a long life you need to find some time in your busy day to workout. Try some of these tips and see how they work for you.

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