Repost: Exercise Matters.



Sometimes I don’t want to work out for a day. Which isn’t unreasonable; a rest day here and there is good for you. Plus, a bed can be really tempting on a Saturday morning, especially if you have been out late or whatever. Also, sometimes I just have lazy spells. I can lack the discipline for weeks, just like everybody else (until at one point I’m so miserable I drag myself to the yoga studio to get out of my funk and that’s kind of the point of this whole article).

But I know that I function best when I exercise. A lot. Preferably every day, but practicality (and let’s be honest, laziness) often end up making it four-five days a week; A busy schedule, lots of (incompatible) appointments and my own mindfuckery can get in the way.

But I know I always come back to it. To lots of yoga, sweaty towels in the washing machine and deliciously sore muscles; just enough to feel it, but in a good way. To me, this makes it okay to take a break here and there: it helps me be more appreciative of my body and my work-outs when I jump back in. It’s comforting to know I automatically will gravitate towards my natural exercise regime.

When I started practicing yoga every day in April 2011, I was already pretty happy — Things were good. And still, with every work-out I started to feel better. Significantly so. Even when I thought I had reached my ceiling of happiness for that day, the work-out made me break right through it. Exercising still made a world of difference.

No matter who you are, no matter how great your life already is, exercising will still make you feel better. Even if you think you can’t possibly feel any happier, healthier or right in your own skin? You’re wrong. If you’re not already working out, exercise will still make you feel more amazing. More than you can even imagine now. I’m sure of it.

Some will fare best with a more strenuous or more relaxed routine, with more or less, but I do believe that exercising, whatever way and however often, is part of how you create a better life and a better self.

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9 comments

  1. Helemaal mee eens. Alleen vind ik het heel moeilijk om mezelf moed in te spreken om er aan te beginnen, zeker als jer geen “sport buddy” hebt. Ik ga je 30-dagen plan voor sporten eens uit proberen. Maandag wil ik beginnen, hopelijk houd ik het vol.

  2. Helemaal mee eens. Ik vind het alleen heel moeilijk om jezelf moed in te spreken om er aan te beginnen, zeker als je geen echte “sport-buddy” hebt. Ik ga je 30-dagen plan eens uitproberen en zien wat het geeft om elke dag alleen te sporten. Maandag wil ik beginnen, hopelijk lukt het.