Finding exercises that you love is not always easy. Sometimes it takes a long time to figure out. Sometimes you give up because you think you just don’t enjoy it but I believe that we all have some form of physical activity we can love and they all may be different. Most importantly, I believe you will only love it and crave it if the exercise truly connects to your soul. It has to have meaning. Only then will it provide enjoyment. Then you find you cannot go without it.
For many years I forced myself to go to the gym. I jumped on the machines and weights. I watched as the time counted down and I hoped it would be over soon. I finally got off the machine usually sooner than I would have liked after a mediocre work out and walked away semi-proud. I did not enjoy it, I did not crave it. In fact, I dreaded those gym days. I told everyone I liked it because I liked the way I felt when it was done, I enjoyed sweating but I hated every moment of exercise. I often tried to switch it up with runs outside and that was just as mentally painful.
I took almost a year off physical activity when I was taking care of Whitney as she went through chemotherapy. When she passed away, I didn’t really have anything to do so my girl friends picked me up every morning to go to the gym. It was the only thing that got me out of the house. I loved being with them. It took my mind off of my grief for just a second. The classes were okay. I loved kickboxing, I really enjoyed spinning, some of the weight lifting classes bored me but then I tried yoga. That is when I fell in LOVE with physical exercise. Yoga was therapeutic, challenging and exciting. It pushed my body and mind further than I thought possible while still forcing me to do a little meditation. Until then, I liked tennis, hiking and kickboxing in addition to a few other things but I didn’t NEED to do any of it the way I craved yoga. Connecting with yoga also helped me find other things I loved to do because I realized that they needed to be meaningful to me.
What do you connect to?
