I believe that fitness exists outside the gym. The most exciting prospect is in finding what activity is uniquely YOU. You know the one. Where your heart races, your breath catches, and you feel like there is absolutely nothing you'd rather be doing. Even if that sounds foreign to you now, it might just become an every day occurrence!
One of my passions is running. I have dear friends who I run with. We call it our boyfriend. Because when you find where your passion is it's just like falling in love. This takes exercise out of the forced and dreaded gym mentality and brings to life. It's now something you'll dream about doing through your day. Yes I have days where I just do not feel like schlepping it out there. The reason I do is for many reasons. Let me try to explain.
Have you ever heard an awesome song and you just want to dance with pop-star skill? Well, I have a good day, a bad day and my heart is either full or empty from it. Because of the continual work put in, my body allows me to head outside and unload all those frustrations or joys with the ultimate wild abandon. I have pounded my frustrations into the ground, practically naming each step. Or thrown my hands up mid-run and attempted some funky move just to express a happiness from the day.
Another love of mine is hiking. I really don't know anyone who couldn't fall in love with the clean air of an Adirondack trail. I day dream about the way the trees pull at my heart and the wind flows right through my veins now. Or laugh about this porcupine who ran up a tree to get away from us then decided to make the best of it and take a nap.
Each of my activities is so close to my heart I hate to leave any out! So I'll talk about one more. YOGA!!! Nothing takes me out of myself and the world the way yoga does. It trains the body and mind to reject extraneous occurrences and focus on finding a you without what that you is going through. The first time I went in I told the instructor I was clueless. Amazingly my body got it. I pushed till I had sweat rolling off! I was so focused on getting the moves right, there was no room in me for worrying about .... In fact without any warning at the end when we were all laying flat taking the moment to rest after putting our bodies through that I had tears rolling down my face! I cried for a full five minutes in a darkened room in complete silence. My body released something that my mind had a hard time letting go of. People pay a lot more than I did for that yoga class to sit on a couch with a person taking notes and nodding. It bypassed my head and went straight to my heart.
So I hope you get a feel for what you're going to look for as your new love. That it has nothing to do with a waist line. Ok I'm lying. I want a trim, cut body, lol. But more than that it is now a part of who I am. And that's not a passing fad or screaming trainer. It's in here. Heart and head. Working together for the completeness we all need.
Yay! So that was my first blog. Please excuse my rotten editing skills. You get the point :) GET OUT THERE AND FIND YOU!
