Exercise is the only thing I know to cure pain from the 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 myself.
Each workout has an intention or a purpose, and in the end, something important is learned. Very few workouts are exceptional, some are average, and most are rough, but all are transformational.
Here is the latest footstep into my fit to live journey…
Workout: An Extreme Workout to Change the Mind
How Did I Feel Before the Workout?
I felt excited about taking on this workout. Once in a while, I get the urge to take on an extreme workout, and today was that day. I slept well last night and had pent up energy ready to be released, so I walked… a lot.
What Was My Intention?
Lately, I’ve been allowing my logical brain to take over my emotional mind. As a content creator, I am relied on to use my emotional brain to write. Thus, I’ve been going through a bout of writer’s block. My intention of this workout is to give my logical mind it’s time to vent. So, this was simply a thinking workout… kinda.
What Workout Did I Do?
- Hike: I hiked a total of 42.2 kilometres, the equivalent of a full marathon, along the beautiful trails in our city.
How Did I Feel After the Workout?
Tired! Walking for six hours really took its toll on my body. My legs are OK, but my glutes and knees are a little cranky. All-in-all though, I am in pretty good shape for hiking so long. Mentally, this was just the time away that I needed. I feel fantastic between the ears!
What Did I Learn?
I learned that to engage the emotional mind and learn to feel, I need to remain fixated on hope. When I allow my logical mind to overrun my thoughts, anxiety win over, and hope gets lost. Maintaining a balance between the two is critical to happiness, creativity, and productivity.
The Story Behind This
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.
Do what you have to do until you can do what you want to do.
Oprah Winfrey
I spent many years trying to recover from the the fallout of 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 that I was able 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 such an under appreciated therapy.
Agreed.