Reclaim your Life with Physical Activity
It is no secret that participating in physical activity of any sort can provide a shift in mindset and improve your wellbeing. Unfortunately, wording/terminology such as exercise, sport, and even physical activity can strike fear into the hearts of some. Particularly those who have had experiences that left a negative emotional footprint within their psyche over the course of their life. For many, this may have started early in school and consequently shaped their teens, twenties, thirties and so on. For others, it may have been a trauma or life setback that derailed their enthusiasm. Whatever the reason, regaining control and deciding to do something good for your physiology and psyche is incredibly empowering.
Is it your body or your mind holding you back?
Overcoming these emotional barriers delivers great rewards well beyond the physical. Sure, everyone knows that exercise is good for health, but it is within your mind where the battle really begins. Where the emotions reside and how they impact your choices. By understanding the multiple aspects of health, it is possible to softly approach and overcome barriers associated with physical activity.
Health in a broad context refers to a person’s mental and physical condition. It encompasses providing the optimal environment for your body to perform is functions such as digestion, metabolism, movement and rest. Positivity and happiness within your existence, and exploring a connectedness to something higher than and other than yourself.
If you can tick all of these areas off, you are a superhuman or superhero. The reality is that the human experience is vastly dynamic and these above explanations and unique experiences appear to come in ebbs and flows. At the foundation of these health components, there appears to be a commonality.
Setting out to build any of these ‘health’ components from a place of obligation as opposed to actively choosing, are two profoundly different origins and will equally deliver two totally different outcomes. For example:
Take a guess at which of the following will be most sustainable -
I have to walk because my Therapist and my Doctor said I have to. OR
I am taking up walking because it clears my head and helps keep my health in check.
A medical event leading to a directive can be seen as an opportunity rather than an order, thus being accepted on a deeper level within the psyche.
I am choosing to do this and I find enjoyment in doing so.
An action derived from personal choice and acted upon will almost always win out as being a sustainable habit. These principles we are touching upon are agency and volition.
Agency applies when we make voluntary actions we tend not to feel as though they simply happen to us, instead we feel as though we are in charge. The sense of agency refers to this feeling of being in the driving seat when it comes to our actions.
Volition applies when people are autonomously motivated, they act with a full sense of willingness and volition, wholly endorsing that which they are doing because they find it either interesting and enjoyable or consistent with their deeply held, integrated values.
If we chose to do something, this makes us feel as though we are in charge and have ownership of our actions, which also ties in with a willingness to continue, because we find it rewarding. This sets the foundations of transition and development/growth - the new you!
Essentially, this is the feedback loop that can keep us engaged in any activity.
In order to leverage this in a manner that will benefit your health, decide upon an activity that you would like to try or improve upon. Seek out information, on the net or talk to an instructor, facility staff, nutritionist, dietitian (whoever it may be), in order for you to feel comfortable so that you can go on developing your discovery journey and begin to implement the things that you learn.