Why is Exercise Always the Answer!? Yet, we don't do it?

We all know that exercise is "Good for You", but why do we all avoid it? The exercise and fitness industry is a multi-billion industry profiting on the idea that we will invest in it, yet fail to be consistent, and always NEED it. How many gym memberships have you let lapse and never cancel because they make you write a letter and bring it in person to actually get out of the membership agreement. Then you look back in your bank account and you were paying $79 a month for almost a year and hadn't set foot inside the gym since New Year's Day when you wrote out your annual resolution to "Get back in Shape!" We have the ANSWER, yet we don't stick to any daily exercise regiment. We know that exercise boosts our mood and calms anxiety. We know that exercise increases our serotonin and endorphins but we never show up for that cardio class. We know that exercise lightens depressive feelings and supplies us with more energy, but we push snooze and skip the morning run. What is the psychology behind this? It's like freezing in the snow and your jacket, beanie, and gloves are sitting right in front of you- yet you won't put them on! You just let the teeth chatter and your bones shiver and shake, while looking at that wool coat and double layered beanie and gloves with hand warmers inside and just kick them further away from you, just out of reach. Why? Do you NOT want to feel better? Do you NOT want to cure your own woes and then have NOTHING to complain about? Are you too invested in your STORY of being out of shape and depressed that you don't know who you would even be if you were toned, energetic, and feeling ecstatic every day? Are you really too busy? Are you afraid of the burning sensations in your muscle and being out of breath? Yes, exercise is UNCOMFORTABLE at first, but so is being really overweight with no muscle tone and trying to walk one flight of stairs without feeling faint. Both are hard. They say CHOOSE YOUR HARD. Is it the lack of SELF LOVE that keeps us from treating our own bodies as sacred temples? Is it our friends and family that also have the same sedentary lifestyle so it's easy to fit in with them if we stay inactive? Maybe it's lack of self discipline and motivation to stay consistent so you just go on FITNESS SPURTS until something throws you off schedule and you backtrack to the level you were before. There are so many possibilities of why we choose EASY over HARD. I thought about that for my whole life and tried to figure out my own reasons.

HERE IS THE KEY TO CHANGE

I finally decided that thinking was getting in my way. Overanalyzing for hours on end, rather than using those hours to actually take a hike or go for a bike ride. I think it's true that we should "JUST DO IT" and stop planning or thinking about it. I would strategize a workout plan and a daily routine then type it up in a spreadsheet and pin it on my wall. I felt so good just fantasizing about this future ME who was going to implement this new exercise routine, but then wouldn't actually follow the spreadsheet schedule! I finally realized that I needed to tune in, turn off my mind, and only stay in the present moment. Each present moment, each second of every minute, every inhale and exhale, were moments where I could literally DROP TO THE GROUND into a 60 second PLANK. I could be standing in line at the grocery store and decide to do calf exercise by lifting my heels in calf raises until it was my turn. I could lean against the wall in a seated position to workout my hamstrings and quads while brushing my teeth. I could walk my dogs and focus on taking longer strides and lifting my knees intentionally to pick up the pace and my heart rate! When with family or friends, I could choose to go on a hike, bike ride, rollerblade, play basketball, or paddle board INSTEAD of watching Netflix or getting drinks at the bar. Instead of living in the past or future or making any plans about exercise, I would JUST DO SOMETHING- ANYTHING- even if only for 60 seconds.

JUST MOVE

If my body shape, fitness level, or muscle flab ever came to the forefront of my mind and started making me think about my body at all, I would just drop and do sit ups INSTEAD of letting my mind criticize, judge, or start telling myself that "I NEED TO START WORKING OUT AGAIN". I stopped my brain and just got into action. Once I would start just "ONE MINUTE OF JUMPING JACKS" by the end of the minute, I'd feel good and energized so I would end up doing just one more, or one more minute of push ups. Then it would escalate and lengthen into a yoga pose or a yoga flow routine. I realized that once I just get into my body and heart, my brain would stop thinking, strategizing, planning, and judging- I would just move my body and feel good. I built on this principle of doing body work daily, throughout the day, all day, with no plan or routine or schedule to follow. I made sure that each and every possible pastime or hobby that I had, was PHYSICAL. I knew I needed to get OUTSIDE every day. I knew I needed to move my body EVERY DAY. Even in winter, when I just felt like being cozy and bingewatching TV due to rain, I would get my kettlebell and do arm toning workout while I watched episodes! I believe our thinking minds sabotage so much of our inner self work. I think our Hearts and Bodies know best. Breathe, move your body, sit in meditation where you turn your mind off and you turn your heart on. Move when you can. Lift heavy things when you can. Take the stairs when you can. Stay in the moment and be mindful of your negative self-talk. If at any moment your inner critic starts chatting in your head, drop and do 10 squats and that voice shuts up pretty quickly. Never allow your inner critic to have any time, shut it up with connecting to your body and breath with some good ole fashioned Burpees! You are in control of every choice you make out of the 1,440 minutes per day. You should be sleeping for 480 of those minutes, so how will you choose to spend the other 960 minutes? Can you just take 1 minute to get physical? One minute may feel so damn good that you do a second, or maybe even 20! You can choose to feel sluggish, self deprecating, and listen to your inner voice berate you for not having an exercise routine for 20 minutes straight while you sit on the couch and feel lazy and mad at yourself. Or just get up immediately when that inner voice begins and spend 20 minutes doing literally ANYTHING that makes your limbs move. Anything. Even sitting on a chair, then standing up, then sitting back down, then standing up again, over and over for like 5 minutes, will get your heart rate up and awaken your largest muscle groups in your legs. Simple and doesn't take a gym membership or a yoga guru! And guess what, by the end of that 5 minute sit-n-stand, you will have such a clear quiet head and realize that your inner critic was silent. The more you do this, the more your inner critic will start being less critical and more in awe of your progress and performance. Your inner critic will start to see your positive changes and feel really good about you. Your inner critic will start cheering you on and transform into your very own inner cheerleader; your inner positive voice! You will feel so good when you are connected to your body and heart that it transforms your mind into a happy and optimistic peaceful place and then you can finally connect your MIND to your BODY AND HEART. You will be aligned and in balance. Your life will feel optimistic, hopeful, and healthy. Start. Right. Now. This could be the beginning of your new active, intentional, mindful and present self who chooses movement as a way to live better and longer. Drop into a plank and hold it for 60 seconds. Bend over and pick up that jacket! Stop freezing. Get warm. Take care of your sacred temple! Be in harmony Body, Mind, and Heart.