Are you ready to transform your well-being through the power of movement? In this episode celebrating World Wellbeing Week, we uncover the profound impact that regular physical activity can have on both your body and mind. Discover the multifaceted benefits of exercise, from enhancing cardiovascular health to lifting your spirits with the natural high of endorphins. I'll share personal stories about my journey with fitness, offering insights and motivation to help you find activities that bring joy and meaning to your life. Whether it's a brief stroll or a refreshing swim, it's not about the duration but the delight in movement.
As part of our 7 day World Wellbeing Week Program, we'll discuss practical tips for incorporating movement into your daily routine, starting with simple, manageable steps. Emphasizing the importance of picking activities you love, we explore how this not only makes exercise a sustainable habit but also enriches your life with a sense of accomplishment and vitality. Remember the wisdom of Robin Sharma: investing time in exercise now can save you from dealing with illness later. Tune in for an inspiring reminder to embrace movement with grace, love, and self-acceptance, and watch the positive transformations unfold.
Are you ready to transform your well-being through the power of movement? In this episode celebrating World Wellbeing Week, we uncover the profound impact that regular physical activity can have on both your body and mind. Discover the multifaceted benefits of exercise, from enhancing cardiovascular health to lifting your spirits with the natural high of endorphins. I'll share personal stories about my journey with fitness, offering insights and motivation to help you find activities that bring joy and meaning to your life. Whether it's a brief stroll or a refreshing swim, it's not about the duration but the delight in movement.
As part of our 7 day World Wellbeing Week Program, we'll discuss practical tips for incorporating movement into your daily routine, starting with simple, manageable steps. Emphasizing the importance of picking activities you love, we explore how this not only makes exercise a sustainable habit but also enriches your life with a sense of accomplishment and vitality. Remember the wisdom of Robin Sharma: investing time in exercise now can save you from dealing with illness later. Tune in for an inspiring reminder to embrace movement with grace, love, and self-acceptance, and watch the positive transformations unfold.
Welcome to Reverse, reset Restore, the show dedicated to empowering transformation. I'm your host, sally, and we explore the art of reversing limiting beliefs, resetting our thought patterns and ultimately restoring our health, both physically and mentally. Join me as we uncover the tools, stories and strategies that will guide you on your path to a healthier, more vibrant you. Change comes from within. Welcome back to day three of World Wellbeing Week. We are looking at moving your way to wellness the power of physical activity In our quest for overall well-being. One of the most effective and accessible tools we have is physical activity, whether it's a brisk walk in the park, a yoga session at home, a dance class or a jog along the beach. Integrating regular exercise into our daily routine can significantly enhance our physical and our mental health. Now, physical activity isn't just about burning calories or moving our body. It's about nurturing ourselves, our bodies, our minds, our souls. I encourage you to find an activity you enjoy and make it fun. Make it a fun and energizing part of your day. Maybe you want to challenge yourself and push harder in a sport or exercise you currently do. Maybe you want to try something new. Finally, take that hot yoga class or go to the Samba meetup group. Maybe it's been years since you've even really bothered to move your body for exercise at all and you don't even know where to start. Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to get out today and move that beautiful, amazing, incredible body of yours, doing it in a way that is supportive and loving. You'll feel so good when you achieve exercise, when you come from a place of grace and love and self-acceptance. I'm wanting us to work from a place of love and acceptance for who we are and what our bodies can do, right here, right now. Honest, if exercise feels like a chore or a must-do or a compulsion, because your self-worth is tied to how you look, just maybe take a moment and reflect. How can you make your exercise routines become more meaningful, more genuine and feeling good about what you are doing for your body?
Speaker 1:
Engaging in physical activity is crucial for maintaining good health and well-being. We know this. A lot of the time, we focus on the physical benefits or the pain we think we need to feel in order to get something out of the time we set aside for working out. Moving our bodies is so much more than that. Exercise allows us to do for our body and also connect to it. Beyond just physicality, regular exercise offers numerous physical, mental and emotional benefits. I know the difference I feel when I've given myself some time to be present with my body.
Speaker 1:
Through exercise, our physical well-being benefits in multiple ways, including strengthening the cardiovascular system, lowering blood pressure and improving cholesterol levels. It enhances your muscle and bone health, reducing the risk of osteoporosis and fractures. It can improve your digestion, reduce the risk of chronic diseases such as diabetes. Regular exercise can help you maintain a healthy weight or reduce the risk of obesity. It improves your overall energy and strength. It's not only our physical bodies that benefit from moving them. The benefits also extend to our mental health. Exercise releases endorphins, which are natural mood lifters, reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety. It enhances our cognitive functions, our memory and our overall brain health.
Speaker 1:
As someone who was always very active, as a child and as a teenager, I was in running clubs and I did a lot of physical activity. I swam Honestly, I probably swam more than most fish tend to do, because I love being in the water. Physical activity was something that I just did, without thinking about it, without worrying about it, without it being a big deal, and that's the way it should be. What happens, though? As we grow up, we get older and we're not participating in the physical activities the same as when we're in school, and so I made some unfortunate eating choices and wasn't moving my body enough. What eventuated for me personally was ending up unwell. I had a long-term neck injury, which is also complicated things for sure, but the power that occurs not just in your physicality, not just in your body, but actually in your mind and in the way that you're able to move through the world with some resilience. Again, I'm not just talking physicality here. I'm talking about just that general feeling.
Speaker 1:
When you are participating in a regular physical activity, whatever it may be, whatever that looks like to you, you are not just doing something really good for your heart and your other organs and your physical form. You're actually doing something good for your brain and for your mental well-being and for your emotions. So don't discount that. If all you can do is a five-minute walk, that's amazing. Do it. Find the power that comes alongside moving your body with love and grace. If you are forcing yourself to go to the gym, stop. Think about it. What is the physical activity that most resonates with you, that you enjoy? Don't do a sport or go to the gym or try running, if those aren't your things, if they don't make your heart sing and I'm not saying that they're going to make your heart sing all the time, because sometimes we're not in the mood to move but if you're trying to fit yourself into this concept of what it means to be physically active but it really doesn't move, you don't do that.
Speaker 1:
Find something that works for you. Find something that you will stick with, that motivates you. For me personally, that is swimming, it is going for nice gentle walks and it's dancing. Those are the three things that I really enjoy to do. Yes, I get out and I'll go for a hike or I will get on my bike. I'm not trying to make things rhyme like I'm Dr Seuss, but I'll pretty much give any sport a go, although the older I get, the quicker my body is allowing me to learn that perhaps these activities are no longer for me. My point is do something that inspires you, motivates you and gets you excited about getting out and moving your body. Whether you are a fitness enthusiast or a beginner, there is an exercise routine out there that can cater to your preferences and your needs.
Speaker 1:
I've got a long-term neck injury, so I can't do a lot of activities that are going to cause me to be in greater pain. I have to be mindful of that. That's why swimming is a really powerful thing for me, because it's in water. It takes all the pressure off of all of my joints. Here are some benefits of regular physical activity and I want to cover them. I know that you probably know them, but let's just go through them. Refresh our minds, because it's always good to be like, oh yeah, that's right, but let's just go through them. Refresh our minds, because it's always good to be like, oh yeah, that's right, that's true. So, number one improved cardiovascular health. Engaging in activities like brisk walking, jogging, cycling these things strengthens your heart and improves your circulation, reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease. Number two stronger bones and muscles disease. Number two stronger bones and muscles. Weight-bearing exercises like weightlifting or hiking help build muscle strength and maintain bone density, reducing the risk, especially for women, of osteoporosis.
Speaker 1:
Number three mood enhancement. Now, if this is the only thing that you take away from this, physical activity stimulates the production of endorphins, which is often referred to as our feel-good hormones, which can alleviate feelings of stress, anxiety and depression. Why would we not want to move if we can get ourselves a little high, doing so because it's giving us that good body feeling. Number four stress and anxiety reduction. Exercise serves as a natural stress reliever by reducing levels of the body's stress hormones like cortisol and promoting a sense of relaxation and wellbeing. It's also known to be an important part of breaking the stress cycle, which we've talked about in our Foundation Friday episode Burnout, where we looked at the book from the Nagoski sisters and they talk about the stress cycle and completing the stress cycle to really get rid of that excess cortisol and to allow us to move through with more resilience and with better coping mechanisms in place for our bodies. Complete that stress cycle through exercise, through moving your body, getting it out of your system.
Speaker 1:
Number five enhanced sleep quality. Regular physical activity can improve sleep patterns, helping you fall asleep faster and stay asleep and enjoy deeper, more restorative sleep. And number six increased energy levels. Contrary to common belief, physical activity boosts our energy levels rather than depleting them. It enhances our stamina and our endurance, making daily tasks feel less taxing. It also means that if we end up in a zombie apocalypse, you've got a better chance about running them. Just a little bit of motivation there for some.
Speaker 1:
In today's sedentary lifestyle, where many of us spend long hours sitting at a desk or in front of screens, prioritizing physical activity is really crucial. It not only helps maintain a healthy weight, but also supports overall physical fitness and our mental clarity. Making physical activity a regular part of your routine doesn't have to be daunting. Just start with small, manageable goals, such as committing to 30 minutes of exercise most days of the week, or even 10. You know your limitations and if you don't, your body will quickly tell you. Choose activities that you enjoy and look forward to.
Speaker 1:
Whether it is a solo workout or a group fitness class, physical activity is a powerful form of self-care that can significantly improve your quality of life. By incorporating regular exercise into your daily routine, you invest in your physical and your mental well-being, you are promoting longevity, you are promoting vitality and you have the added benefit of having a greater sense of self-confidence and achievement. So what physical activity will you choose to incorporate into your day today? Whether it's a morning jog, a lunchtime yoga session or an evening dance class? Remember that every move you make counts towards a healthier, happier you. I'm going to close out this episode with a little bit of a dubious warning from leadership expert Robin Sharma, and take it from me as someone with lived experience make the time before the time makes you, he says. If you don't make time for exercise, you'll probably have to make time for illness.