Exercise wasn’t something we talked about a lot in my home growing up, although my parents took us on daily walks or bike rides. We weren’t a particularly athletic family, and I grew up believing that I was hopelessly uncoordinated and bad at sports. Moving into adulthood, I was terrified of group fitness classes, and I thought the gym was pretty boring, although I’ve paid for my share of memberships.
I remember learning somewhere along the way that vigorous exercise had a positive effect on mood, so once I became a counselor, I always recommended it to clients (after asking them to check with their medical doctors). But I didn’t really figure it out for my own life until well into my thirties. Before that, exercise was just a necessary evil to help manage my weight. Eventually there came a time when there was just too much to do and too much that I was responsible for to leave my mental health up to chance. I started discovering that on my “rest days” (days that I didn’t plan any exercise), I was edgy, moody, and irritable. Establishing an exercise routine for even those rest days became necessary for me to stay present as a mom, wife, and therapist.
I’ll let you find the research on your own that will show you the benefits of different kinds of exercise for your physical and mental health. That is not the point here. My point in writing this article is that your body was created for movement, and our current environments are for the most part not conducive to movement, especially for those of us who spend a lot of time sitting in front of a computer screen.
I actually don’t care how you move, I just want you to move. I want you to move your body in a way that feels good for you and that you are motivated to keep up. It may work for you to plan the same types of exercise daily, so that you don’t have to think about it. Or it might reduce your boredom to change it up daily. A typical week for me includes a few neighborhood walks, a few strength training sessions, and maybe a yoga or stretching session thrown in there. I try to incorporate activities that are high in fun and connection, like swimming, boogie boarding, or wrestling with my kids.
One of my therapy clients who struggled with depression told me, “Ann, I didn’t believe you when you said I should exercise, but I wanted the process to work, so I tried it.” A month into her new routine, she had better sleep, more even moods, and better self-talk, not to mention noticeable changes in her body.
If you are caught up in viewing exercise as something that you do to make your body look a certain way, you’re missing a tremendous opportunity to see God at work in your heart and mind. I’ve mentioned Revelation Wellness here before. One of the reminders I get often from this style of training (integrated faith and fitness) is that God created our hearts to be more open to hearing Him after we’ve moved our bodies. The toned body is a byproduct of the work that we do in searching for God through our movement. If you’ve never tried it, start with a walk in your neighborhood. Do it silently or listen to worship music and ask God to speak to you. Chances are, you’ll learn something about Him or about yourself that you might not have received otherwise.
Overall, it’s been my personal and professional experience that those who have a consistent routine including movement are more able to handle stress and the emotional challenges of modern life. Whether you have a diagnosis like depression or anxiety or you just want to feel less stressed and more like yourself, it’s worth committing to a plan for movement each week.
As we’ve been going along in this series, I’ve been bringing up important areas that require our attention if we are to develop a health routine for mental and spiritual health. Once we’ve covered these broad areas, I will include a post that will show you what that looks like in my life and for some of the healthiest people I know. Next up in the series: social connection.
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