Enjoying Being Active
With mindfulness, we focus on improving our ability to be still; however, it's important to acknowledge the benefits of moving our body. Some of us have naturally active days, but many people have a schedule structured around immobility. Between working on the computer, sitting on transportation, getting lunch with friends, or relaxing on our comfy couch at the end of the day, we spend huge portions of our day in a nonactive state. It’s important to pursue activity so that our bodies can strengthen, refresh, and ultimately relax more deeply.
A lot of people dread exercise. It's easy to come up with an amazing amount of excuses as to why lounging in bed is more enjoyable than waking up early to go run, or why an extra hour of work on the computer is more productive than getting sweaty at the end of the day. It’s critical that we avoid trapping ourselves in a negative mindset when it comes to being active, because we’ll unintentionally end up with lazy, unhealthy habits. One way to break out of exercise-avoidance is to completely change our perspective about it. Instead of forcing ourselves to do an activity we don’t enjoy, we can make a commitment to move our body more often, with joy and satisfaction.
Think back to a time when you were younger, to a time when playing and moving your body was the best part of the day. Envision your younger self running around, riding your bike, or playing tag with friends. Maybe you had a favorite activity, like playing a sport, jumping on a trampoline, or dancing. If you tried an activity right now that you used to love as a child, the action alone would likely fill you with a rush of nostalgia and youthful energy. So if you find yourself frustrated or unsatisfied with your current physical activity level, let go of your expectations of the “right” way to be fit and active, and inspire your day with something more playful, more spontaneous, and more liberating than your typical gym routine.
A lot of people dread exercise. It's easy to come up with an amazing amount of excuses as to why lounging in bed is more enjoyable than waking up early to go run, or why an extra hour of work on the computer is more productive than getting sweaty at the end of the day. It’s critical that we avoid trapping ourselves in a negative mindset when it comes to being active, because we’ll unintentionally end up with lazy, unhealthy habits. One way to break out of exercise-avoidance is to completely change our perspective about it. Instead of forcing ourselves to do an activity we don’t enjoy, we can make a commitment to move our body more often, with joy and satisfaction.
Think back to a time when you were younger, to a time when playing and moving your body was the best part of the day. Envision your younger self running around, riding your bike, or playing tag with friends. Maybe you had a favorite activity, like playing a sport, jumping on a trampoline, or dancing. If you tried an activity right now that you used to love as a child, the action alone would likely fill you with a rush of nostalgia and youthful energy. So if you find yourself frustrated or unsatisfied with your current physical activity level, let go of your expectations of the “right” way to be fit and active, and inspire your day with something more playful, more spontaneous, and more liberating than your typical gym routine.
Choose exercises and activities that bring you pleasure and joy.
Whatever you love doing is the perfect thing to do to care for your body, regardless of if it’s what would be the right activity for someone else.
Whatever you love doing is the perfect thing to do to care for your body, regardless of if it’s what would be the right activity for someone else.
Body Awareness
Having strong body-awareness is a great practice. We gain valuable insights from listening to our body. Our body can communicate feelings, thoughts, stress, energy levels, and our overall state of health. Our body usually gives us gentle warning signals to heed and attend to, such as little tensions and knots that indicate a need to relax, balance our stress, our nourish our system so we may feel our best as often as possible.
We can spend a few minutes each day scanning our attention through our body from the top of our head to the tips of our toes to explore the many sensations of our physical form. Breathing mindfully, we can energize our system with oxygen and offer ourselves love and care as we intentionally release any tension we discover. Dropping our shoulders, unclenching our jaw, relaxing our hands - we can cultivate ease by deeply inhaling fresh, new energy and slowly exhaling any stress and discomfort.
We can spend a few minutes each day scanning our attention through our body from the top of our head to the tips of our toes to explore the many sensations of our physical form. Breathing mindfully, we can energize our system with oxygen and offer ourselves love and care as we intentionally release any tension we discover. Dropping our shoulders, unclenching our jaw, relaxing our hands - we can cultivate ease by deeply inhaling fresh, new energy and slowly exhaling any stress and discomfort.
Great Ways To Get Active
 Use Your Feet
Walk, Run, Hike, Explore a New Area, Take the Stairs (bring a friend, talk on the phone, listen to music, or enjoy listening to the sounds of nature) |
 Dance
Move Around to Music, Take a Dance Class, Learn Some New Moves on YouTube |
 Play a Sport
Basketball, Frisbee, Throw a Football, Run Drills, Kick a Soccer Ball, Go Batting, Play Golf, etc |
 Tidy Up
Deep Clean, Organize a Space, Rearrange a Room, Do a House Project, Wash the Car, Garden |
 Engage in Elemental Activities
Swimming, Surfing, Kite Surfing, Skiing, Snowboarding, Ice Skating, Sweat in a Sauna, Fly a Kite |
 Connect to Your Inner Child
Bike Riding, Rock Climbing, Trampoline Parks, Swimming, Hula Hooping, Roller Skating, Skateboarding, |
Reducing Anxiety with Exercise
Anxiety can make our heart rate increase, which can feel frightening or uncomfortable. When we start moving our body and our heart rate picks up, our brain is comforted by having an obvious reason for our elevated heart rate. Exercise forces our breathing to become even, which will actually calm our nervous system down. Often during exercise, we count our time or the number of reps we’re doing, and the simple act of concentrating on counting and breathing steadily can dissolve overwhelming or despondent feelings. Studies show that aerobic exercise can be as effective as anti-depressants in treating mild to moderate depression, and many countries around the world recommend exercise as a first-line treatment of depressive feelings.
Get Outside for Good Health!
Check Out the Benefits of Sunshine
We can boost our emotional and physical wellbeing just by getting in the sun.
Even opening our windows and letting some light into our inside spaces can lift our spirits and boost our energy! Here are five great benefits of sunshine:
Even opening our windows and letting some light into our inside spaces can lift our spirits and boost our energy! Here are five great benefits of sunshine:
 Sunlight can improve mood. When sunlight enters our eye, it stimulates neurons in our hypothalamus, the part of the brain that influences mood.
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 Sunshine can help us eat more mindfully. When it’s darker, we become sleepier and can be triggered to eat more. Studies show people can lose some of their inhibitions around eating in dim environment.
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 Sunlight is good for our skin. 80% of psoriasis patients saw an improvement in their symptoms when exposed to sunlight for thirty minutes a day.
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 Sunlight helps our eyes stay in good health. Our eyes need adequate light to maintain their efficiency, but not all light is created equal! The harsh light from our devices can be harmful to our eyes, so try looking outside before looking at your phone in the morning.
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 Sunshine helps stimulate our vitamin D production. Vitamin D is essential for growth and prevents muscle weakness, but it isn’t produced by our bodies, so we have to absorb it through our skin. Fifteen minutes of sun, three days per week is the recommended amount for proper vitamin D absorption.
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Minimizing Stress
Stress plays a significant role in both our mental and physical wellbeing. Learning to recognize, shift, restructure, and manage our stress in a healthy way is critical for us to perform our best. Exercise is a great way to improve mood, enhance memory, improve optimal functioning, and sharpen our intellect, but if we have an emotional block preventing us from breaking a sweat, we may need to tend to those feelings so we can enjoy an active, healthy life.
Don't Forget to Relax + Recharge
While more energetic activities can keep us healthy, help us manage our stress, and invigorate our mood, sometimes we need to balance our busy life with restful, calm activities to allow our body and mind to refresh. It's important to remember to incorporate relaxation into our time so we may recover, deeply destress, and find ease.
Here are some great pages on this website to inspire you in finding enjoyable ways to recharge + refresh your energy:
