Cardio and Meditation

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Both cardio and meditation are strongly associated with improving mental and physical wellbeing. Whether measuring the incidence and severity of diseases, indices of psychosocial wellbeing or inflammatory biomarkers, both cardio and meditation are disproportionately effective in cultivating wellbeing.

During my recent pilgrimage, I spent many hours
meditating while riding my bike.


Since many of us are short on time, I strongly encourage you to practice meditation while doing cardio. The scientific evidence is increasingly indicating that active meditation confers the same benefits as formal meditation, and combining cardio and meditation has the potential to allow double-dipping in the time that you allocate to physical fitness. If you haven’t already tried my MDFL CARDIO classes, I encourage you to check them out via my studio's on-demand library.


Interestingly, it appears as though cardio and meditation interact with different anti-inflammatory pathways. University of Wisconsin - Madison faculty member, Jacob Meyer, was the first author of a study that describes the distinct anti-inflammatory pathways that are involved with both cardio and meditation. If you get a chance, I encourage you to check out these findings. In brief, here’s the takeaway:


“This study suggests that (a) training in aerobic exercise can lower interferon-gamma-inducible protein-10, a chemokine associated with interferon activity and illness, and (b) training in mindfulness meditation may have a delayed effect on C-reactive protein, an important inflammatory biomarker.”


Best Wishes,


Scott


Meyer, J. D., Hayney, M. S., Coe, C. L., Ninos, C. L., & Barrett, B. P. (2019). Differential reduction of IP-10 and C-reactive protein via aerobic exercise or mindfulness-based stress-reduction training in a large randomized controlled trial. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 41(2), 96-106.

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