Happiness and Exercise
Have you ever noticed that some people seem happy when they are at the gym? Does it seem like these individuals are almost always in a good mood and eager to partake in physical activity? What’s their secret? Is there something you can learn from these individuals that can be applied to your own life?
Perhaps there is.
Excelling with our fitness goals requires more than mere dedication and will power. A focus on the mind, body and spirit – plus our attitude is also part of the dynamic.
What follows are 7 secrets of people who happily embrace regular exercise that you can use to help you reach your fitness goals. Start with one or two and then add more over the course of time.
1) Think of exercise as your “golden time”
When you go to the gym, head out for a run or take a long walk, you are claiming those precious moments as your own.
People who happily embrace regular exercise know the time they have put aside to focus on their bodies is sacred and not something that can be “moved” or rescheduled for the benefit of others. Adopting this mindset allows exercise to become enjoyable and not dreaded.
2) Find pleasure in the journey
Nothing worthwhile is ever easy and results don’t happen overnight. Folks who happily embrace regular exercise are able to find pleasure in the journey on the way to their fitness goals.
They realize that muscle gains, weight loss and toning require hard work that the process can’t be rushed. They also tend to “feel” their workouts using mindfulness.
3) Make the most of your time
In order to realize lasting gains from your exercise program, you need to do more than just “show up”. People who embrace exercise on a regular basis have figured out that time spent conducting a given physical activity requires focus and attention.
They don’t just “go through the motions” but instead, become one with the exercise. This means they feel their muscles doing hard work during exertion and gain pleasure from the process.
4) Build the mind body link
If you want to create a dynamic where you regularly look forward to your exercise time, it is important to build a link between your physical body and your mind.
People who happily embrace their time working out have been able to connect the positive things they are doing for their bodies to what’s going on inside of their head. This promotes healthy thinking and by extension – happiness.
5) Think of exercise as a spiritual activity
When you engage in regular physical activity, you are nurturing your spirit. This means the energy you are putting into respecting the physical manifestation of yourself pays into a kind of spiritual karma bank.
Folks who happily embrace exercise experience gratitude for simply having the ability to engage in physical activity, which in turn lifts their spirits and empowers personal satisfaction. This leads us to the next point.
6) Learn to love movement
People who have successfully linked happiness to exercise have learned to love movement. More important, they trained themselves to gain pleasure from making movement part of their daily ritual.
They do not moan or complain about physical activity but instead, recognize each time they partake in exercise, they are doing something positive for themselves.
7 Recognize exercise is the ultimate stress buster
Exercise is one of the healthiest ways to cope with stress and folks who regularly (and happily) engage in physical activity know this. When you lift those weights, run on that treadmill or crunch your abs, you are discharging much of the stress you experience from your body in a productive way.
Over the course of time, the feeling you get from letting that stress go becomes addictive and is ritualized into your daily life.
