Why Mindfulness is an Essential Part of Your Wellness and Fitness: Part 1

Fitness + Wellness

Jun 21

Why in the world would a mindfulness practice help you lose those pesky ten pounds, gain confidence in your relationships and your career, and help you feel better about yourself? Read on and learn why it is not only my corporate clients’ top choice for workshops I teach (Click here to book a Corporate Wellness workshop), it is also a vital component of my concierge wellness program and can be the difference between women who make progress and C-R-U-S-H it and those who do not.

So really, what is mindfulness?

Being mindful is to be fully aware of the present moment, capturing the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and feelings of a moment in time. Being mindful is being what I call, “full screen mode.”It is being “fully present” and in a moment-to-moment state of awareness, even when your emotions get the best of you.It means you are taking in the “here and now” and being focused on what you’re thinking, feeling, and noticing about yourself, others, and your surroundings, and not about the past or the future.Literally mindfulness is defined as “a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations, used as a therapeutic technique.” Importantly, though, mindfulness means noticing things without judging your experience. Now, we all know that is tough.When I meet with my corporate wellness and concierge clients, they learn that a robust mindfulness practice leads to the ultimate wellness.

“Mindfulness is the ability to know what’s happening in your head at any given moment without getting carried away by it.” — Dan Harris, 10% Happier

Do you allow your emotions to get the “best of you?” Do you get “swept up in the highs and lows?” Would you want to stay calm and “at ease” instead of allowing your emotions take over? Do you perhaps over-identify with an emotion like “busyness" or “overwhelm?”Does a person (i.e. your boss), a voice (i.e. your mother), a place (i.e. your office), a circumstance (i.e. driving to your kids to school) lead you to a certain emotion?Did you know that emotions can be a habit?Ha, and did you know happiness is a “skill” that can be sharpened?Developing a mindfulness practice can help you be mindful in all of these and so many more circumstances. It helps you realize you are in charge and not the emotion you’ve likely become accustomed to feeling. If the answer is no, consider that this could be one of the things holding you back from achieving the health and wellness you’ve always strived for. Take a moment to reflect on whether or not you are being mindful in your daily life. Now that you know what mindfulness is, stay tuned for part two where we will dive deeper into what mindfulness is not.If you’re interested in my concierge program and how you can develop your own mindfulness practice, click here for a free 30-minute consult. If you’d like to book a Mindfulness Corporate Wellness workshop for your staff, click here.

Alexandria Wellness

Adrien Cotton

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ADRIEN COTTON believes the greatest gift you can give to yourself is the gift of wellness.

After serving in high-leverage professional roles, including being one of the youngest Communications Directors in the US House of Representatives, Adrien pivoted her career focus to helping clients capture their strength in all areas of life. An accomplished speaker, entrepreneur, corporate wellness educator, menopause expert, and wellness coach, Adrien has proven success in designing and implementing innovative wellness programs.

With a Master’s in Public Policy from Georgetown University, Adrien sharpened her professional skills by working with individuals from all walks of life. This unique background allows her to tailor her services for each and every client, with optimization and long-lasting success as the goal. Her effectiveness is rooted in a solid foundation of growth-oriented principles, a proven history of helping clients transform their lives, and a deep level of relatability gained from her personal wellness journey.

Since founding her wellness enterprise, Adrien leverages her fitness and wellness background to guide people from a state of giving up to a place of proactive self-care. Her work extends beyond nutrition and exercise, emphasizing lifestyle and high-impact areas of focus visually represented in her Wellness Wheel. Incorporating strategies in stress resilience, sleep, calendar management, mindfulness, and menopause, she’s helped transform hundreds of lives.

Adrien is living her mission to support clients in shifting their mindsets and helping them leverage small habits that yield lasting results.