Making a Move

We do it for a lot of reasons. Health. Weight loss. Routine. Exercise can be a chore or something we look forward to, but we all need some.

As I age, I notice how my metabolism slows. How after a longer hike my legs seem to take longer to recover. How my knees crack and my flexibility needs to be used or I lose it.

Winter rolls in and most of us don’t want to spend extra time outside. Stockton layers up and rides for miles. Eventually, my body starts telling me to do something, too, like my terriers who don’t sit still if they need walkies.

My friend Kathy in Ohio deals with long, cold months filled with ice and snow. The other day she mentioned trying to stay active inside. “It elevates my mood,” she said, “During the exercise I don’t feel great, but afterwards it helps a lot, so I have to continue.” Hearing her motivated me to unroll my mat.

Yoga solves the “it’s too cold outside to do anything” problem. I unroll my mat, shoo Ulysses from settling on the green squishy surface and queue up something from YouTube. I’ve tried podcasts. I’ve tried apps. Recently I listen to videos from Yoga with Adriene. She offers so many routines it’s like a trip through a buffet line of movement as you decide what to try.

Exercise can be fun. It can be done alone or with others. The trick is to keep doing it.

How do you exercise? In winter, do you change your activities? What motivates you to exercise? Tell me about it.

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