We know that movement is important in our lives to stay healthy and to simply feel good about ourselves. Lack of movement can lead to many health problems. But how do we psyche ourselves up to keep moving our bodies daily? We so often compare exercise to “work.” But when we think of exercise differently – as movement, it can be fun. We can choose to do things we enjoy. How we think about something has a profound effect on whether we choose to do it and continue to do it. So let’s set our brains straight about movement and fitness.
Movement is an integral part of being healthy. Movement increases our energy levels, improves our sleeping patterns, helps us maintain a comfortable overall body weight, and improves our attitudes. Not to mention that movement helps decrease the risk of serious health conditions such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes and high blood pressure. If we know all of that, why wouldn’t we want to move our bodies on a daily basis?
Delete Negative Thoughts And Self-Imposed Rules
No one said that we have to be confined to the walls of a gym to get physically fit. No one said we have to conform to anyone else’s standards of fitness. We do not have to spend an hour a day on a treadmill if that is not what we enjoy. Where do our ideas and thoughts about fitness come from? We can delete all of the negative self- talk we have concerning movement. No matter how we feel about fitness, there are ways to break past our negative thoughts.
Excuses Go First
We must stop making excuses for why we do not want to move our bodies before we can get anything done. No excuse is good enough for us not to take care of our bodies. Take a firm stand against excuses. We can find excuses until the end of time – or we can just do it and feel much better about ourselves and our bodies.
We create our own roadblocks by saying things like, “I hate exercise.” We limit ourselves with all of our excuses. Embrace yourself and your thoughts now. Consciously choose to enjoy the uniqueness that only you possess. What works for you is individual. Do not try to conform to anyone else’s ideas of what movement is. You will see things start to change.
Get Out Of Your Brain And Try It
When we find something that excites us and we do not use any of our excuses – suddenly a ray of hope comes into our lives. Movement becomes enjoyable – especially when we start to see and feel results. We live in an age of technology and many creative people are sharing information. Research online what others are doing if you cannot think of any kind of movement that excites you. Keep trying different things. If it does not feel good, try something else. But the main point is to get started – or restarted. Do not wait.
Do Not Strain Your Brain
Fitness and movement do not have to be difficult or boring at all. It can actually be fun. Once we have found a point to start at and think about how to integrate keeping fit with our daily activities, we can find that it is not as difficult as we first thought. In fact, we may already be doing some activities that count as being active and help keep us fit, such as:
Walking, cycling, swimming, housework (yes, that is right – doing housework can count as movement), or doing the Hokey Pokey. Okay, so we may not already be doing the Hokey Pokey every day, but it is a fun way to get some movement in our lives. Why not give it a try? You do not even need any equipment for it.
Many of our daily activities, such as grocery shopping (walking, lifting grocery bags) require us to use our major muscle groups and can be counted as healthy movement when we are doing them consciously and for at least 20 minutes a day. Sing and dance while you clean or do yardwork for your movement activity for the day. Simple and effective.
We can also add more challenging movement activities to our usual routine movement activities to break up any boredom. Adding cardio exercise is great for burning calories and for heart health. Activities like: Pilates, Zumba, yoga, aerobic dance can help us lose extra weight. We can go to fitness centers and participate with others, or we can use DVDs to ignite some spark into our stagnant movement routines. In class or on DVD, the instructors work to motivate and encourage us to move our bodies.
Give Your Brain Happy Thoughts
Be grateful for the ability to add healthy movement into your life. Consciously acknowledge your movement toward being healthy and fit. Tell yourself what a great job you are doing, even when you think you mess up. It is important to embrace all of us, not only our moments of perfection – but the moments when we are human too. If we start to think negative things about movement, we can stop and replace those thoughts with positive ones. Be happy to be healthy.
Find and repeat statements such as: I am grateful and happy that I am giving myself health and fitness. I enjoy my daily movement and give myself many new opportunities to care for myself and enjoy fitness. I have fun and get fit at the same time.
Written by Dyan Diamond
Dyan Diamond is an inspirationalist, author and life coach. Dyan has a wealth of experience and education in psychology, advocacy, and in the helping field. Dyan is an intensely creative spirit. Her focus is on empowering others to accept themselves, love themselves, and to live their dreams.
You can find Dyan’s books and blogs at: http://dyandiamond.net
