A New View on Fitness
Early morning rises – sweaty gym sessions, high vibe playlists, and the good ol’ Just Do It mentally. Fitness.
It makes you feel good, raises self-confidence, and gives you legit energy for the day. There are all kinds of ways fitness adds goodness to our lives. Sometimes I feel fitness can be used as punishment – strapping yourself on the elliptical until you feel worthy enough, or feel you deserved the piece of cake you enjoyed the night before for a friend’s birthday.
I’m here to provide a new view on fitness – using fitness as part of your self-love practice. When we do things for outside reassurance and approval we’re setting goals for the wrong reasons. Working out to look like _____________ (fill in the latest hottie on the cover of Shape magazine) or wanting to lose 10 pounds for your upcoming vacation are all good to have in place for motivation to add some extra pizzazz to your goals, but when you’re truly doing something for long-term success the drive, it needs to come from within you.
I’ve gone through a number of fitness avenues where I have BIG goals of gaining muscle, losing fat, toning up, burning calories, working out everyday, staying super consistent with a workout routine when it comes down to it – I don’t stick to it for much longer than a month and I believe it’s because the fitness is coming from a place of shame.
“If I don’t workout, I suck.”
“If I skip my workout today, I’ve failed the day.”
“I don’t deserve to have fun unless I sweat my a** off this morning.”
Enough of this crap.
Instead of thinking of a workout as punishment, choose to look at fitness as part of your self-care routine. [click to tweet]
I workout because it relieves stress, therefore I’m able to show up greater in other parts of my life.
I choose to go to the gym because it enhances my mood, and helps me stay calm in areas of my life that may seem out of my control
Fitness allows me to prevent health issues in the future so I can continue to kick ass in life!
Working out provides me with a healthy mind and body relationship
Incorporating fitness into a loving practice is when you start to slam through fitness goals – whether that’s losing fat, toning up, gaining muscle, or generally to feel more energy. If things come from a place of love they are more inclined to stick around and have more meaning. On the flip side, we don’t need to compare ourselves to others, put ourselves down, and look for approval on a physical level.
Fitness isn’t only good for our outside appearance but for our internal self-love Divine being – there needs to be more of an emphasis on that – keep this in mind the next time your alarm clock goes off for the gym.
What are some ways you’ve connected with fitness? How is your relationship with the gym? Why do you go to the gym? Choose to love yourself sweaty.
photo via @brookecagle