Enjoying your Exercise

How do you stay fit? Do you look forward to your trip to the gym before or after work? Do you have a hobby that involves being active? Or have you just started running because your doctor told you needed some sort of cardio?

Somebody very close to me religiously spent over 20 years of his life jogging, riding an exercise bike, or doing something to keep his blood pressure down. It didn't prevent him from having a triple bypass or a pacemaker put in. Truth be told, I found out years later that he never actually took pleasure in his exercise.

I've known a lot of people who look to exercise with the same degree of enthusiasm they have towards taking a pill. As a biodynamic craniosacral therapist, one of the fundamental aspects I've learned for helping my clients and serving them effectively has been to help them identify resource in their lives.

Resource is a broad term. It can be the joy of playing with your children, that afternoon cup of coffee you look forward to, your favorite jam blasting on your headphone as you get ready for the day, or even a walk through the woods. In short, whatever brings a smile to your face and helps you replenish your emotional/physical/psychological battery.

Releasing endorphins generally doesn't happen easily without some form of pleasure. It's worth contemplating what brings your mind and body pleasure, not one without the other.

If dribbling a soccer ball brings you more joy than a treadmill, jumping around in a Zumba class keeps the blood flowing with a smile on your face, or if going to the rock gym is more fun than lifting barbells, maybe its time to rethink your exercise routine. And if it's not within your budget to buy equipment or join a class, there are plenty of options and plenty of people in the same boat, for example, on the craigslist "activities" page.

Life's short, do whatever you can to turn your "have to's" into "want to's" especially when it comes to your health.