I am not an advocate for exercise just for the sake of health & fitness (which is enough of a reason on its face), nor the guilt-imposed “because I have to do it” reason, and not even for any vain aesthetic reasons.
I exercise, push my limits and make things harder for the inspiration, therapy and connection I get from it.
I draw so much so of each of the three aspects above that I wish everyone saw exercise and fitness through the same perspective, instead of perhaps seeing them as drudgery, punishment or yet another task.
I admit I had to mature my way into this thinking. Now, to assist in your maturation process, read how I draw from each.
Inspiration: So many ideas, epiphanies and solutions not only have come, but continue to come, from just pushing my body in the form of exercise. In the middle of a run or during some weight-training, I will see how I can make it a little bit harder. The benefits of which wildly outweigh the temporary “pain & suffering.” Inspiration via epiphanies and eureka moments don’t happen all the time, but they sure happen enough that I can confidently say they wouldn’t come with as much clarity and frequency if exercise and training weren’t part of my lifestyle standard.
Therapy: Exercise is medicine. Exercise is therapy. I am not a doctor nor a psychologist. I’m not even a chi-seeking transcendentalist. To make such an outlandish claim that “exercise is medicine/therapy” is pretty presumptuous, I admit, without any kind of advanced degree to back it up. All I can do is draw from personal experiences and testimonies from other people. As a “practitioner” of exercise, it helps me assess, evaluate and align my perspectives and thought-patterns with whatever is pressing at the time. I don’t know about you, but there seems to always be something pressing, which means I always need “therapy.” If you have “issues,” adding an element of therapy aka exercise sure can’t hurt.
Connection: When I run or do any kind of weight-training, I seldom listen to music or even workout with anyone else. I like to devote this intentional (and daily) training time to connect with God in prayer, connect with my head and think of ways I can connect and relate with others. Additionally, I like to listen to my breathing patterns, focus on the cadence of my reps and get a good feel for my foot-strikes when I run. I also connect to the nutritional standards that I expect for myself related to my training and calorie-burning. The more I exercise and train, the more I want to connect to the food consumption that I want, or more importantly, don’t want to put inside my body.
This whole concept of Inspiration, Therapy and Connection thing works! Highly recommend.
I’m confident it’ll afford you to do two things, like it does for me:
1) treat your body like a temple, not a tent,
and
2) use your mind to cleanse out any contaminants.
What are you waiting for?