As an exercise and movement specialist, exercise has always been an important part of life.

As an exercise and movement specialist, exercise has always been an important part of life. Exercise has the ability to shape the way we perceive and experience life. Any physical transformation, whether its weight loss, gaining muscle or even physical therapy to remove pain, requires mental, emotional, and spiritual involvement. Each of these will always be involved, but the degree of its involvement is dependent. The cliche’ saying, ‘All is connected’ would then be true. Many have said we made up of mind, body and soul. So by inference, because all is connected, by focusing on one thing, we can inevitably touch the other aspects of life. Thich Nhat Hanh said, ” to touching one thing deeply is to touch all things”. The body could be the medium in which we explore the mind and soul. By mindfully becoming immersed in exercise, can we dive deeper in our minds and souls.

So what is exercise? It is essentially movement. Nothing fancy. Now certain exercises are preferred  but movement in and of itself is neither good or bad. It all depends on what state we in. The movement we perform exposes and exaggerates the state our body. Running is a great form of exercise, but not if we have joint issues. If we decide to run with joint problems, those problems will only amplify and become more noticeable. The body is earnestly trying to bring to your awareness that something needs to change within the body. When pain arises, the body is screaming for us to pay attention. An acronym for pain which shows exactly this is Pay Attention Inward Now. Unfortunately, the moment we have pain, we take medication to mask it, and not dealing with the root cause. Now, medication itself has brought great benefits and relief but was never designed to be taken for long periods of time.

Exercise as a journey is personal and intimate and will at times leave us vulnerable to our thoughts and beliefs. Facing these limiting thoughts and beliefs through our body has the ability to transform the person inside-out. Exercise offers us the opportunity to connect with our body deeply and in doing so, will we connect with our mind and soul.