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Finding a positive motivation for moving – feel empowered to feel good.

It can be so hard during these darker days to want to exercise or just get moving. With the change in season I just want to curl up in a cosy room, dim the lights and go into hibernation mode. It turns out that even though I can be grizzly and roar at times (the hubby can verify this!) I’m not actually a bear and I can’t hibernate for the winter.

Against my body’s wishes, I apparently must get up on these dark mornings and go to work, and the girls need to go to school. Ideally, I would love a seasonal siesta from it all – one can dream, right? Between the ages of 2 - 22 years old I lived in IAustralia and although I have been back here on the other side of the globe for the last 18 years, I’m still not used to these dark evenings! When I come home, I just want to crawl into bed. Heading out to do anything, let alone exercise, can be an effort.  

So how do we get up and moving when we really don’t feel like it? This is where our motivation comes into it. It is so important to find a positive motivation for exercising, especially in these dark wintery days. Do you think about exercise from a ‘should’ perspective, or do you think about how ‘good’ it will make you ‘feel’?

For me, I find that everything else seems to fall into place when I exercise regularly. I eat better, I sleep better, I have more energy, I am generally a better version of myself. The link between body & mind is so strong.

Physical movement helps us feel better physically, mentally and emotionally. I love the release of endorphins that comes with a good high intensity workout. I feel as though any pent-up stress or emotion that may have gathered during the day is literally ‘worked-out’ of my system.

It is hard to get started though, or to start back after a break away from it. If you are in this boat (I was recently), it is important to start at the end! … That sounds strange doesn’t it? What I mean is, rather than beating ourselves with the ‘should-stick’ why not think about how good we will feel afterwards?

I find that lasting motivation comes when I think of what I want from something and how it will help me to ‘feel good’. FEEL EMPOWERED TO FEEL GOOD.

For me I know I will feel good by exercising because it will give me more energy. I want that, especially at this time of the year. I also want to sleep better, I want to get out of the house and socialise which I can get through exercising, I want to have the structure and routine in place that I have when I exercise regularly, I want to feel stronger in my body again, I want to get an hour out and away from the house, I want some time in my own head where I am not thinking about work or day to day things (Even high intensity workouts are a form of mindfulness as you have to focus on what you are doing in that moment).

Anything that we want in life, we want because we believe that we will feel good in the having of it. What is it that you want? How do you want to feel? How can moving or exercising help to bring about this feeling?

For me my chosen exercise is CrossFit. What is yours – is it running, walking, yoga, Pilates, team sport, spin class, the gym, or perhaps you CrossFit too? There are so many ways that we can get up and get moving and we each have our own personal preferences – and that’s okay. Sometimes it is about trying different things and finding what ‘feels’ best. (I trialled a lot of things before I found CrossFit – I didn’t discover it until my 2nd child was about 2 years old – I really wish I found it sooner). 

 So even if you have tried something in the past and decided it wasn’t for you, keep an open mind. Think of the positive good feelings you want (and deserve to have) and keep trying until you find a type of movement or exercise that works for you. We all deserve to feel good and exercising is a great way to tap into this feeling. It has lasting results, and they are more than physical.

If you fancy it, please comment below with your favourite type of exercise and how it make you ‘feel good’.

xx
Aishleen

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