Exercise
sports, oxygenation, strength, stamina, muscle tone
For a lot of people, physical activity seems more like work than their job does, while others just can’t wait to get out of the workplace to move their body. Clearly, attitude is everything when it comes to getting your heart rate up for the recommended 20-minute stretch every day or at the very least a few times a week.
There are those who love to feel the surge of oxygen going deeper into their lungs as they power walk around the block and those who give thanks to their muscles as they flex with every repetition on the Nautilus machine. And then there are those who get tired just watching those people.
If you are the former, then hooray for you. If you are the latter, then you need to rethink your appreciation for what your body does for you and learn what it needs to be healthy enough to carry you well into old age. Disease descends slowly into the cells if one is not careful to prevent it and exercise is one major preventative action for cellular atrophy.
Inspired bodily action
It can be hard to get motivated in the beginning if you don’t have a regular exercise routine and developing stronger will power may be difficult, but it is possible. Meditation can also help guide you to get started on the path of physical rejuvenation, as it puts you in touch with your body’s desire to move. The most important thing is to just start somewhere, because once you start you will notice how easy it is and how good it makes you feel. Then when procrastination tries to sabotage you, you can remember how great it was realize you really do want to do it again.
Low exertion activities
- Rocking is a very soothing activity common with the elderly, but the benefits would suggest it’s great for everyone. The rocking action improves balance and blood circulation, plus reduces muscle pain, anxiety and depression. At the very least, get a rocking chair.
- Chair yoga is perfect for newbies to the world of fitness, as well as those with limited movement capacity. Although it doesn’t get your heart rate up, it will keep your joints limber and muscles toned.
- Strolling is slow walking and doesn’t get your heart rate up, but it does get you out in the fresh air and sunshine. It’s best for conversations and a decorative walking stick is becoming a common accessory think Gandalf.
- Swimming is a playful activity where your body can stretch, twist, bend and float in the freedom of total buoyancy.
- Others are stretching, Pilates, yoga
Walking at a pace of 3-4 miles/hour is all around perfect for everyone and since we all have our own pace it’s best done alone or with others who can keep up. The use of walking poles will help give the upper body a workout plus keep compression off the spine if that is a problem.
Medium exertion activities
- Hiking
- Jogging
- Power walking
- Slow dancing
- Disk golf
- Golf
High exertion activities
- Scuba diving
- Ball sports
- Water/snow skiing
- Tennis
- Weight lifting/Nautilus
- Zoomba
- Fast dancing
- Aerobics
Recreation
spa, leisure, hobbies
How you spend your leisurely and me-time is vital to enjoying life in an expressive and self-pampering way. The difference between exercise and recreation is the sports aspect relates to the outward exertion and recreation relates to the inward solace.
Whether you like to paint on canvas or upcycle old furniture, play board games or video games, read books or binge watch Indiana Jones, a spa day or or day of beachcombing it’s going to be rewarding and for the sake of injecting yourself into fun. And big smiley fun is contagious!
The health benefits of pure joy simply put are the direct opposite of anything that resembles misery, pleasant over unpleasant feelings. In today’s world there are endless ways to entertain yourself and billions of hours of video training for things you haven’t imagined yet.
What’s on your fun list?
Meditating, painting, scrapbooking, fishing, boating, bird watching, beachcombing, collecting, video gaming, baking, gardening, cooking, sewing, pottery making, upcycling, getting a massage, manicure or pedicure, or other.
Site ideas for hobbies
- Inspiration sites like Pinterest are a good place to start opening your hobbyist mind to all crafts learnable and doable in a compact way such as Upcycling.
- Online learning sites like Thinkific are perfect for deeper level learning with instructions created by individuals who are very knowledgeable in their fields such as meditation and gardening.
- University course sites like Coursera and EDX offer thousands of courses by professors and world-class company professionals on a myriad of credit and non-credit topics such as Songwriting and Human Rights.
