Giving Yourself the Gift of a Happier, Healthier Body

Gaining health is a gradual, lifelong process. It involves making a series of positive, life-enhancing choices every day. Once you have chosen to take care of yourself and give yourself the gift of good health, you can support that commitment time and again throughout each day. One way to choose to gain health is to carefully add more challenging exercise to your daily routine. You can do this with no special equipment and just a few minutes of your day.

Lots of proponents of one exercise program or another are invested in leading you to believe that you must increase your heart rate for half an hour three times a week, and you must challenge yourself harshly, and you must endure the pain of working out. Well, you know, that's good advice if you are training for an Olympic event or in some other kind of competition. But the truth is, the average person will gain a lot of benefit from participating in some simple, pleasurable movement for at least 15 minutes a day. No, you will not get abs and buns of steel by doing this, but you can tone and shape and increase your stamina with some simple workouts that need no special equipment, space or set time.

How much do you walk in a day? Probably not a mile, or if you do walk a mile, you probably do it at a leisurely pace that doesn't provide much in the way of health benefits! It takes 15 minutes to walk a mile at a brisk pace. This is an excellent thing to do on your mid-morning break at work or after dinner - or both! Keep some comfortable shoes at your desk at work so that you can take advantage of this free workout during your work day.

If you are in very poor physical condition, you may find it quite difficult to walk a mile. If this is the case, just do what you can. Set yourself a goal of walking a block at a comfortable pace. When this becomes easy, pick up the pace a bit, then add some distance. You can work on gaining strength by adding 5 minute increments of walking in place periodically throughout your day. Always build on your success, and don't ever let anyone tell you that your small efforts are a waste of time. They are not. Something is always 100% more than nothing, and you will benefit from any movement you give your body.

There are a number of very good 15 minute exercise routines that you can do. One is the set of yoga postures known as the Sun Salutation. Here is a link to an excellent free demonstration:

http://www.abc-of-yoga.com/yogapractice/sunsalutation.asp

This is a wonderful series of movements to do first thing in the morning when you get out of bed and last thing before going to sleep. This set of movements is designed to give every muscle in your body a gentle stretch, relax and align your body and prepare you to face the day or the night in a completely balanced frame of mind.

When you do yoga, don't worry if you are not able to achieve all the stretches completely. Don't stress or strain. Don't hurt yourself. Just relax into the poses and do as much as you can. Your best try is as beneficial to you as a master's best try. The more you practice, the better you will get. Even if you are never able to fully achieve some of the poses, you will be reaping the benefits of the practice.

Be sure to dance a bit every day. Put on a CD of your favorite upbeat music while you prepare for your day and put a little movement into your preparations. Dancing through your housework is also a great way to sneak in a bit of toning and shaping into your daily routine. If you are in very poor shape, you might want to sit an move to music. This is a fun thing to do if you have toddlers and children to join you. You can wave scarves and ribbons, clap your hands in time to the music. Take turns creating different movements and playing follow the leader, all from a seated position. You will be surprised how much fun and what a good workout this can be. Remember to sing along! This strengthens your lungs and increases your stamina.

Bicycling is a wonderful way to get exercise, and most adults seem to forget about it. We seem to think that, as an adult, you have to be involved in some serious competition, spend a lot of money on equipment, and so on to be involved in bicycling. This is simply not true. I bicycle two miles with my dogs every day on a bike that I got for $95 four or five years ago. It is a simple, basic, old fashioned bike with coaster brakes and a big wide seat. We cruise around town and have a grand time. It is relaxing, enjoyable, and excellent exercise, and it only takes 15 or 20 minutes out of my day. Of course, this is a bit of "special equipment", but bikes are easy to find, and you can surely get a perfectly usable one for even less than mine by checking your local paper, CraigsList, flea markets, thrift stores, garage sales, and so on.

Again, if you are in very poor shape, the notion of getting on a bicycle - even a stationary one - may seem impossible. Work up to it with a pedalcizer. This is a set of cycling pedals you can set on the floor in front of your chair. They are cheap and easy to come by online or through any of the sources listed above. A pedalcizer is very effective in building up your stamina and helping you gain muscle tone. Just use your pedalcizer while you are watching a half hour TV show. Then go for your little one-block walk. Before you know it, you will be walking further and faster and longing for a real bike of your own!

Be sure to take every opportunity to add exercise to your daily life. Exercise your ability to make healthy choices. If you are faced with the choice of using an elevator or taking the stairs, take the stairs. If your physical condition is so poor that you are not able to walk up stairs safely but you could walk down, be proactive. Make that choice. As your condition improves, you will know when you are ready to start going up the stairs. If you work in a multi-level building, you can always choose to walk up one flight of stairs and take the elevator the rest of the way. Then add to that as you become stronger. Think outside the box, and give yourself every chance you can to become strong.

The great thing about gaining health by improving your muscle tone is that muscle burns more calories than fat. Even small increases in muscle tone will help make your metabolism more efficient. With regular, daily, light exercise, you will soon find your clothing fitting a bit looser. You will notice an improvement in your skin tone, in the sparkle in your eyes, and in the way you feel. When you are faced with a physical challenge, you will feel more up to it. By choosing to give yourself the gift of good health, you are taking control of your life.