Lately I have been feeling grateful for how effortless my exercise habits have become. They are purposefully modest ones. My focus has been on making exercise pleasurable and doable. Now it is usually a matter of when, rather than if, I’m going to exercise. I’m especially happy that when I get stressed out my reaction is to want to get outside and go for a walk. I still dream of consistently attending dance classes or doing one of my longer DVD’s, but most days I manage to do the AM workout from 7 Minutes of Magic in addition to my walk.

Although I’m usually looking forward to my walks, I still have days that I struggle with resistance. Yesterday was one of those days. I just did not want to go and an internal conversation ensued. “I don’t want to go.” “Walking is good for you.” “Missing one day is no big deal.” “You know you’ll feel better once you get out there.” “It’s cold.” “Dress warm, besides walking will warm you up.” “I don’t know.” “Just go!” In the end I went because over time, I had developed faith in my walking practice. That I would feel better after I got out there.

I knew I just had to get over the hurdle of walking out the door. I didn’t need to commit to any length of time or other goal. Just out the door. Down the block. And sure enough my mood lifted and my body celebrated an opportunity to move. Having segmented walking routes helps me take longer walks. I only need to plan to do the smaller segment and then usually end up adding additional segments after I realize how good it feels to be out walking. Last night I went out with the freedom to do a short walk but along the way made choices that resulted in a respectable 30-minute walk.

Freedom. Pleasure. Choice. A far cry from the tortured treadmill walking I used to do at a gym. My instinct to stay away from “discipline” focused exercise has been the right thing for me. Instead of thinking of exercise as something I need to force myself to do, I look forward to it. Then on the days that my mood gets in the way of remembering how good it feels, I can have faith that the practice will remind me.

One of my favorite spiritual practices is walking a labyrinth. I was introduced to it years ago at a New Year’s Eve candlelight labyrinth walk. I’ve been hooked ever since and would do it more often if we had an accessible one nearby. On Sunday we put out our fabric one (similar to the picture) for the Sunday morning service. I’m the Chair of our Spiritual Practices Council which planned the service. I was the main speaker and my sermon was titled: “Finding Your Center in the Midst of Chaos.” After the service one of our congregation members, psychology professor Dr. Robert Thayer, came up to me and we talked about walking the labyrinth in relation to his research. He was familiar with labyrinths but it was his first time actually walking one.

Since I’m drowning in reading for my studies right now, I was glad to find this article in Spirituality & Health magazine by Stephen Kiesling that summarizes Dr. Thayer’s work (also here with pictures).

“The best and most reliable way to improve your mood is to take a brisk, ten-minute walk. No kidding. If you are in a bad mood (and perhaps semiconsciously craving a sugar snack, a call to a friend, a trip to the mall, a cigarette, a cup of coffee, a shot of tequila, or whatever) the most reliable way to immediately start to feel better is to take a brisk walk. Taking a walk may not come to mind as the best choice, but the research says that it is best.”

Through my own experience I discovered the importance of walking in terms of health and stress-relief. Dr. Thayer gives us specific language which describes states of energy and tension that work together for optimum happiness and effectiveness. Not surprisingly, high energy and low tension is the best combination. In the next article, Kiesling makes a more direction connection to spiritual practices such as walking a labyrinth.

“The beauty of Robert Thayer’s mood research is that it is so firmly grounded by the documented experience of thousands of people. He can say with authority that the best ways to improve mood are to take a walk or talk to a friend or meditate or pray. Meanwhile, other researchers, such as James Rippe, M.D., at the University of Massachusetts, have expanded on that work to test combinations: Are walking meditation, prayer-walking, and mindful exercises such as Tai Chi more effective at boosting energy and reducing tension than walking alone? The answer, not surprisingly, is yes. Combining prayer or mindfulness with walking turns out be a “double dip” of happiness.”

So it’s Nov 15 and I’m half way through the month of blogging. Acckkk! I’m not sure I’m going to make it but maybe this weekend I’ll catch my breath. At the moment it feels like I’m just down to desperate fluff posts. I am so exhausted because my day was super long ending with picking up my husband at the airport after an evening meeting. I’ve done it a million times but I managed to take a wrong turn. I got stuck in traffic because of construction and then took a few more wrong turns until I finally got back to the point where it all started. Just what you want when you are just trying to keep going. Too top it off, I thought I had to take my music midterm today, because whenever you log-in to the website it said that the mid-term is Thursday and you only have 24 hours to take it. So I dashed home between work stuff, but when I got to the midterm page it said that I had until Sunday night. Of course, I would rather take it on Saturday when I actually had time! Oh well, enough complaining. I guess this is the opposite of a gratitude post

When I looked out the window this morning, there seemed to be a little sun but when I left for work all I could see was that gray gloom that’s been sapping my motivation. It was dark by the time I got out for a walk. I did manage to get a 30 minute walk in though, which lifted my spirits. By doing so I defied my little negative voice that was sure I was going to let my good walking streak die a wintry death. (I have to giggle every time I use that word here in SoCal. Winter. ::giggle::) I’m still trying to convince myself that morning walks are a good idea. So far I’m not convinced. It’s hard to get going in the morning when you are a night owl. Even more so when you have a Fibro brain that’s prone to fogginess and an achy body that needs to warm up in the morning before you get going. Late afternoon walks worked so much better for me. Oh well, I’ll figure out the right strategy to get morning walks to become a reality.

My fascination with the Gratefulness.org site continues. Today I explored the Labyrinth and enjoyed the option to be guided through the meditation instead of at my own pace. What a wonderful place to visit and available where ever you have access to the Internet. However, I think the only way I will remember to visit the site at work will be to make it my homepage!

Funny thing is… I’ve been to this website before, but this time it had more of an impact. I liked it enough to bookmark it, but then forgot about it. I guess I’m seeing it with new eyes.