Moody? Me?

Exercise helps mood.  We all need help with mood sometimes, so here are five ways that exercise makes it better.

1.     It makes us breathe.  Cardio, by definition, targets our heart and lungs.  When we do it, we get more oxygen into our bodies and more carbon dioxide out.  It’s one version of body house-cleaning.

2.     It improves our sleep.  No, don’t sleep while exercising.  Except maybe that last five minutes of yoga during savasana, when there is an unwritten rule that someone in the class has to fall asleep.  We do sleep better at night if we move during the day.  Well-rested people are happier people.

3.     We get a sense of efficacy.  Maybe everything else in our lives is totally out of control.  Maybe our dog died and we’re not sure how to pay the bills and we ate a healthy dinner of Cheetos and beer last night, but we can show up for one workout.  We can’t possibly be totally hopeless if we can do this one thing.  And if we do it over and over, we even get stronger!  We might be able to tackle other things, too!

4.     We can do it with friends.  One of the biggest contributing factors to the general malaise many of us feel is our sense of isolation.  Walking with a friend or catching up after an aerobics class or spotting a workout buddy can renew our sense of connection.

5.     Our bodies feel better when they move.  That mind-body connection thing is real.  If we improve one, we improve the other.  Things that make the body feel good help our minds and healthy minds help us have healthy bodies.

Go play.

There is always strawberry...

One reason it is good to experiment with lots of different kinds of exercise is that we then have choices.  I might wake up in the morning feeling strong, so I can get my weights done that day.  If I’m a little sluggish or depressed, I can choose cardio to improve my energy level and lift my mood.  If I’m stiff, I can do some Pilates or yoga.  Really bad mood?  Time to go swimming.

We all have to adjust to the weather, time constraints, sleep patterns, injuries, illnesses, traffic, and whatever effect phases of the moon might have on our days (that last one is worse if we happen to be werewolves…).  Having lots of options means that we are less likely to have to suck up doing some kind of exercise we would really rather not do in the current circumstances.

Please note:  I am not advocating having so many options that we run into the jam problem (that thing where we are in the store, facing an entire wall of different kinds of jam, and we feel absolutely unable to make a selection because our brains shut down instead of being willing to compare fig with raspberry-blueberry with orange marmalade with sugar-free boysenberry).  We can narrow our options based on our mood to strength or cardio or flexibility and go from there.

We can enjoy abundance!

Good use of resources

Most of my clients see me regularly.  Sometimes people move away, or choose other fitness options for a while, or need to save some money, so I don’t see so much of them.  They are still my clients as long as they need me.

Maybe someone has been focused on training for a particular event, so their exercise hours are devoted to that specific skill set.  I might not see them until the race is done and they need to do a little Pilates to get back in touch with what flexibility feels like.  Some clients want a workout with me every month or so to ensure that they keep their form on track or to refresh their toolkits.

Different people, as I seem to say a lot, require different things.  Some folks want me to hold them accountable for their food logs.  Others use the posted workouts when they’re traveling.  I do my best to provide lots of resources.

Yes, individual workout or Pilates sessions with me cost money, but a lot of the things I offer don’t.  I want there to be as few barriers to fitness as possible for people.

We can do this.