Physical Activity as a Remedy for Stress Reduction
Let’s talk about how exercising our physical body can reduce our daily stress and improve our life considerably. We are energetic beings in nature and we have physical, mental, emotional and spiritual energies within ourselves. We need to harmonize all these energies, if we want to be more balanced and focused and to live a happier life. The best and quickest way for this is to start doing some physical exercises throughout the day. Being active on the physical level is the easiest way to transform all negative emotions, thoughts and reactions into positive ones.
A year ago I read the book “Body for Life” 12 Weeks to Mental and Physical Strength by Bill Phillips and it had a very powerful effect on me to introduce improvements in my behavioral patterns, practice and lifestyle. It was my turning point to a new vision about the weight lift trainings and women’s nature. I have worked for many years as an aerobic and callanetic instructor and have helped many women to create their desired healthy bodies, but the trainings were very hard and long, moreover, they should be done in an aerobic hall with the suitable equipment.
Like almost every woman I thought that weight lift should be done in small weights and only as a part of the workout, preferably in the warm up at the beginning. The abovementioned book shocked me because according to it all cardio workouts were done separately from the basic muscle training. I started to apply this for myself and at first I could not finish at the recommended time, because I did it unconsciously and twice faster. But the only thing I was worrying about was my muscle gain and the question “Shall I become bulky”? was ringing in my head.
As an aerobic instructor with many years of practice, I especially like the cardio workout and the high impacts of it. At the second place comes the use of a cross trainer or stationary bike. I have my own cross trainer at home and I use it from time to time, but I did most of the cardio exercises in the aerobic hall when coaching my women. I was very careful with the weight lift and prefered to do callanetic exercises with my trainees. So, when I started working with the book, I was consciously aware of what was happening to my body. Because of my full time job I did the exercise in the late afternoon and wrote down in my journal my diet for the day, the transcript of the workout and the repetition set day by day, planning it a day before. I did not eat every 2 hours as recommended by the author, but I planned carefully what to put in my mouth and started to drink structured water (instead of iced water recommended in the book). And I was surprised how I felt after completing the course. I did not lose weight but looked thinner than before and so I understood that if carefully planned and consciously done the weight lift is a good decision for almost every woman. The other useful thing that I found out was the training could be shorter: I did not need to train both my heart and muscles.
Now, how can you apply all these things in your daily routine to have better health and happier life?
- I suggest you to read the book.
- Set a time every day to do the recommended workout.
- Keep a diary and write down every food you eat planning your daily meals in advance.
Complete the entire workout circle and observe what impact it will have on your physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health. It is the time for you to act now, if you want to improve your health and live a peaceful and joyful life. Write down on a piece of paper the workout schedule day by day and date by date and look at it every night before going to bed. Then do it on the next day. Complete the training and write down the specific results. And I will be very glad if you share your results with me!
Category: Stress Management
