For most people, hitting the gym or heading to a yoga class is mostly about the physical benefits. But 17-year fitness instructor Rupa Mehta has created a whole workout that helps makeover your mind as well as your body. Related: Are gyms the next destination hot spot? “There’s a mind-body connection,” she says. “We carry emotional weight as well as physical weight.” Mehta explains that it’s easy to get obsessed with physical weight, but people often ignore the words and thoughts they digest that can weigh on your mind. It’s why she wrote “7 Workouts For 7 Moods.” We get the low-down from her here. Mind Related: Mark Wahlberg’s fitness secret Each workout, outlined in her book, has a different mantra to keep in mind throughout the duration. For the “doubt workout,” for example, the mantra is, “No one can take away your happiness.” For the “anger workout,” the mantra is, “The solution is born before the problem.” “It forces people to see that they are their own teacher and they can motivate themselves,” Mehta says. Body Related: Brooke Burke-Charvet’s tips for keeping the whole family healthy The “anger workout” is designed to get your adrenaline going and channel your energy, and get rid of all that heavy emotional weight, something Mehta says can be even more effective than getting your frustration out through something like boxing. “Boxing is awesome, but while you might get the adrenaline out, you aren’t focused on finding solutions and [emotionally] connecting,” she says. “Going deeper in the mind-body connection is really owning the mood and by owning it, you become emotionally lighter.”
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“I can’t tell you how many times I hear people say, ‘I’m too pissed to work out,’” she says. “Your mood really affects your workout.” Mehta created seven different workouts for seven different moods to help people channel their emotions during their workout to give the body and mind something beneficial. You can literally work through your problems and find solutions while you work out.
The workouts themselves are a mix of yoga, Pilates, strength-training and barre moves, timed to be 25-minutes and structured to be something you can do anywhere, without any extra equipment. It’s essentially a mood-reflecting flow. “The ‘happiness workout’ is bouncy and also gives you the meditative space to say ‘thank you,’” Mehta explains.
How your mood affects your workout — and what to do about it
Kaitlin Dale
