It was as a young adult that I found the joy of exercise. As a child I was slothenly. When I moved to the city after school I became a lot healthier and lost a lot of weight.
When I started to exercise I found the space my head desperately needed. At times my head just needed to be still. The meditative sound and focus of my breath in and out, listening to the sound of my heart pounding, my feet hitting the pavement and thinking of nothing but the next steps in front of me or the next set of exercises provided that wonderful opportunity to just ‘Be’.
At times I needed to think things through. I’d race out the door to get that moment where I could be alone with my thoughts with no distractions. As I focused on my breath, my heart, my feet, I had good hard debate, discussion, decision making and goal setting sessions.
Over the years I have had times where I got slack and stopped the exercise due to the changes in life circumstance. Those times became hard, as I battled my weight and felt unwell most of the time. I am cyclic as with life so I would soon return to my friend.
I love feeling my body get strong. I love watching the curves in my shape change. I feel attractive when I exercise. I feel like I can achieve anything because it reminds me of my strength and courage as I push ever harder to achieve higher goals.
In recent years I have learned to be kinder to my body. At one time I stopped listening to what my body was saying and this resulted in serious injuries. I have done this three times now.
I’m listening again.
Right now I am not exercising as I would like to be. With no care for the children, living in a place where the extremes in heat and humidity prevent an outdoor lifestyle I am trying to find my way. Now I have a puppy I have found an opportunity in the early hours of the morning before anyone is awake and late in the evening when no one is around. I run. He prefers to play fetch, but I make the rules.
I have written for Friday Reflections prompt ‘Reflect on how exercise has made an impact on your life’.
4 Comments
Good for you in getting back into running however you are right you need to listen to your body. Great post #FridayReflections.
Thanks Sue.
i love how you set the rules for puppy! We really do have to listen to our body don't we. Thanks for linking up with Friday Reflections. Would love you to link up with my mummy linky to if you find time. Congrats on your beautiful post last Friday xx
Thanks Mac, I will check out your mummy linkup. Time is tight at the moment but I will do my best to figure it all out, I'm always after new opportunities to write more. xx