“We’re constantly hearing about the physical and health benefits of exercise. Mary reminds us that there’s more to it. Exercise helps our mind and has many other life benefits. Trouble getting into that resolution? Read this post! – InPower Editors
It’s that time of year for resolutions. Many of us decide to exercise to lose that last 5-10 pounds and get in shape. However, there are many more reasons to leave the couch and get active beyond fitting into that slinky black dress.
After some reflection, I realized that I have always been active – from artistic roller-skating to weight training to being a part-time professional belly dancer to calisthenics and boot camp. Fitness has always had a place in my life. But I have noticed that when I was more active, I was more mentally focused to achieve my goals; when I was less active, I was “floating.”
I believe there are 4 reasons to exercise, in addition to fitness.
- Know your body and yourself
- Self-confidence from trust
- Self-discipline, willpower and focus
- Creativity
1. Know your body and yourself
When you attend a fitness class, you listen to your instructor. He tells you how to position your body to get results. In addition to listening to your instructor, you need to learn to listen to your body and it’s reaction to these positions. It’s a different type of listening.
The body tells the unvarnished truth about how we are doing and is our early warning system, signaling stress, illness, and breakdown before we are conscious of them.
–Jeffrey Rubin, Ph.D., Men and the Mind-Body Connection, Huffington Post
My body tells me if I’m thirsty, need rest, or in pain. I learn how to treat my body and myself by addressing those needs. Over time, I hear my body’s needs through my emotions (such as the need to change a situation that causes anxiety, the need to properly celebrate happiness). When you listen to yourself and your body’s needs, you trust that you can do what is right for you. You learn who you truly are.
2. Self-confidence from trust
What do you think about when you walk? You probably don’t think about how to walk and trust that if you see a hole in the sidewalk, you will avoid it. That’s what it means to have muscle memory.
When a movement is repeated over time, a long-term muscle memory is created for that task, eventually allowing it to be performed without conscious effort.
When you see an object on the road while driving, you don’t think: “Hmm. I think I’m going to swerve around it.” You just do. I experience this when I belly dance to live music. I don’t always think about what I’m going to do next – I just respond to the music I hear.
You learn that responding isn’t negative – in fact, it is empowering to just do what you need to do at the right moment. This empowerment contributes to confidence that, over time, is exhibited elsewhere – at work, in family decisions, in activities.
3. Self-discipline, willpower, and focus
This is probably the most important side effect of exercise.
Dutch researchers found that short bursts of activity seemed to improve self-control and inhibition in study participants ages 6 to 35 — possibly because of improved blood and oxygen flow to the pre-frontal areas of the brain, the site of these “executive” functions.
–Amanda MacMillan, New Study: Try THIS to Up Your Self-Control, Self Magazine
I started going to boot camp because my self-discipline was weak, at best. I got work done, but I wasn’t taking it seriously. No daily to-do list. Loosely set deadlines. I knew there was a problem when I blew-off dance practice just before a performance. I wasn’t focused and getting lazy.
After 1 month of boot camp, I noticed major life changes. I started making daily to-do lists again, prioritizing each day’s tasks. I started personal projects and lived a more structured life. I started dancing for longer periods of time, adding 10 more minutes here and there. And at boot camp classes, I started pushing myself more (with the help of the instructor, of course) – a deeper squat, or runing rather than walking. I started creating and achieving goals again.
4. Creativity
… researchers noted that regular exercise seems to be associated with improved divergent and convergent thinking, which are considered the two components of creative thinking; the former involves thinking of multiple solutions for one problem, while the latter involves thinking of one solution for a problem.
— Regular Exercise Could Boost Creativity, Huffington Post
When I dance or go to boot camp, my mind exits only in that moment. While my mind is there, I often get a moment of clarity to solve a lingering problem. Once, I got a product design solution; another day I got a new blog idea.
When I exercise, my brain is processing information in a passive way, rather than actively trying to fabricate logical solutions. Sure, active thought works, but passive thinking expands my creativity – I can subconsciously explore new approaches to problems and possibilities.
Sure, I exercise to be trim and try to get great abs, but at the same time, I also exercise for my mind. There are too many mental and emotional benefits not to hit the gym or do a favorite physical activity. The cost of sitting on the couch watching Netflix doing nothing is too high if you really want to get out of your own way and achieve your goals.
