Fitness means much more than toned muscles, physical strength and endurance. Building an intimate connection between your mind and body is the true definition of fitness. Life can be tough on you sometimes, and it is only made tougher if that connection is missing.
Don’t forget: Healthy looks different on every body.
I spent many years trying to recover from childhood sexual trauma. My mind was continually trying to disconnect from a body that didn’t feel my own. It wasn’t until I discovered exercise where I could rebuild that connection and become someone whole and worth living for. Every workout is just another chance to get a little closer to who I really am.
Exercise is the only thing I know to cure the pain of my past. The rest of this blog post is a summary of my latest workout. I’m sharing this to help motivate you and to understand me.o how we feel.
Each workout has an intention or a purpose, and in the end, something is always learned. Few workouts will be exceptional, some will be average, and most will be rough.
Here is the latest footstep into my fit to live journey…
Workout: Fighting Anxiety with Cardio
How Did I Feel Before the Workout?
My body felt great. I’m a week and a half outside of completing my first marathon, and there are no leftover aches or pains from that feat. While my body is feeling great, my mind is feeling anxious. Financial pressure has me in worry, and while there is nothing dire on the horizon, I feel as though I’ve lost my gratitude of what I have.
What Was My Intention?
After 3 1/2 years in my old gym, this is only day two of my new gym. I’m nervous starting this new journey, so my intention today was to simply get into a new routine. Do what I do best and settle down.
Physically, I wanted to increase the resistance in my cardio training.
What Workout Did I Do?
- Treadmill Running: 40 minutes on various inclines.
- Stair Climbing Machine: 5 minutes, climbing 30 flights of stairs.
How Did I Feel After the Workout?
While not the most strenuous workout that I’ve ever done, it was comforting. I’m enjoying having a body that can run for such a long time without breaks. It was not always like that. My very first run lasted 500 meters before I turned back home and lit up a cigarette.
Like many times before, the heart-pounding cardio took the edge off my anxieties and grounded me enough to understand that I have enough and that maybe, just maybe, I am enough.
What Did I Learn?
I’ve learned that I can adapt to new changes, In a new gym, I was able to take what I’ve learned in the past and the training that I’ve done, and feel more comfortable in a new situation. The anxieties of my finances are merely the fear of not being prepared for the negative change that most likely will never happen. But I am ready, I’m me! I’m just not willing to accept that.