Instead of Cussin’

I cannot deny that I occasionally use cusswords. There is something about a well-placed and well-timed expletive. Well, I like to think so anyway.

But, if you pay attention, you will find there is a word I very rarely use: exercise. Just writing it makes me cringe. I hate that word. This could be a problem since I am a wellness educator.

There was a time when I let the “E”-bomb fly. It was the eighties and I was in my twenties, and you could find me in the gym five or more days a week, legwarmers and all.  Yeah.  And then a terrible thing happened. I burned out. I was “making” myself exercise for the wrong reasons (or wrong person) and it became a sort of self-loathing punishment. A smarter person would have changed course sooner, but I ran my ship on the rocks and walked away. For a long time, while I re-learned how to love myself, I avoided the gym like a whipped puppy.

We know the benefits of exercise, so why is it so hard? A study by the CDC estimates that 80% of American adults don’t exercise. This is attributed to us being either too busy or too lazy. I think that is unkind. Modern Americans are bombarded by very real pressures, time-demands, and disempowering commercial messaging like no other time in the history of mankind! We just can’t handle—and don’t think we deserve—one more thing, even if it is “good for us.”

Let’s just make this simple and, even, fun. It doesn’t have to be a big deal. Today, just move your body. Make it happy. Think about something you used to do for fun—dancing, skating, summersaults in the yard—and do that. Don’t time it. Don’t log it. Don’t count calories.

Here are 50 FUN Ways to Get Active TODAY. Enjoy them!

Now, give yourself a treat. Hell, you deserve it.

For more information on natural ways to support a more active lifestyle, join our small gathering in Newport News on May 4. If you’re not in the area, email me and I will share notes.