Last Wednesday, I talked a little bit about mental well being and a positive mindset. It wasn’t my plan to say more about that, but sometimes plans change, so let me chat about that for just another few minutes today.
Actually, the thing that’s on my mind right now is the connection between physical and mental health. All the “experts” say it all the time, always going on about the endorphins, and how exercise can do as much for the state of your mind as your body. And, I’ve found that to be true in the past. When I was exercising regularly, I most always felt more positive about things, ready to take on the world. And, the reverse is true, too—don’t get any physical activity and things look a little more bleak.
But, like a lot of things that are known intellectually—even known from experience—I forget that sometimes. When I’m deep in slug mode, as I’ve been for what seems months now, it’s easy to just feel blah all the time, bordering on depressed. That’s especially true when dealing with physical limitations that have their own downsides, in addition to preventing exercise. But it can be turned around.
For the past two days, I’ve gone over to the gym at school and spent a bit of time on the treadmill. Nothing too crazy, just two or three miles of walking at a reasonable pace. And, even though it’s been kind of hard for my physically, mentally it has been great. I’ve been tired, and hurting, but my brain has felt in gear, and I haven’t been nearly as frustrated with some of the things at school that normally make me crazy. It’s like a little sweat in your day helps keep you balanced.
Image courtesy of John Kasawa at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Of course, I know that such a small level of activity won’t get me where I need to be in order to lose weight; I’ll have to get back to more strenuous work when I figure out whatever’s going on with my weirdo pain. But, I also know that even this mild activity will help me maintain my weight, and—just as important—it will just help me feel better all the way around. I’m going to try to get in a couple of miles tomorrow, too. Tuesday-Thursday are the easiest days for me to make it to the gym, so I’m hoping to start a habit of getting over there each week on those days. The other days, I’ll try to figure something else out. Maybe a slow walk around the neighborhood, or some low-key stepping with the Wii. I know I can’t get into anything too highly intensive right now, but maybe I can do something. I figure if maybe I can get in some sort of activity each of the weekdays, it’ll help with my school (sharper brain, remember), and then I can take it easy on the weekends to get rested up.
And, I’m going to try to find time to do some other things that make me happy. Lately, mostly what I do is go to school, do homework, sleep, and do it again. I’m missing out on my blog reading, I don’t play any silly Facebook games, except for this daily blog, I don’t do any writing, and even my joyous TV watching is almost always done in the background of homework. I’m going to try to change that. Even if it’s only 30 minutes or an hour a day, I need to find the time to decompress mentally a bit. The treadmill helps with that while I’m at the gym; I also need to find some time that’s just about fun.
I think making the small changes of adding just a tiny bit of physical activity, along with a tiny bit of mindless me time, will make a big, positive change, not only in the way I feel about daily life, but just the way I feel. I’m going to give it a try.
What about you? What do you do for your mental and physical well-being?
Image courtesy of africa at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
