Your Daily Brush: Get Creative About Movement and Exercise
No Gym? No Problem! Get creative and find ways to keep moving because movement of all kinds from walking to dancing to housework all promote emotional health.
Everyone knows that exercise is good for them. The problems lies not in the knowing but in the doing.
Life gets busy and even if you have a gym membership, getting in a workout can fall by the wayside especially during stressful times.
Enter the national Japanese Telemark ski team. In 2023, I had an opportunity to meet some of the members of the team when they were in Switzerland for the world championships.
Having had a long-standing fascination with Japan and Japanese culture ever since I was a child, I struck up a conversation with them on a train about my dream of visiting Japan and my attempts at learning the Taiko drum.
But there is only so much one can talk about on a short train ride. So I invited them for coffee and dessert at the end of one of their competition days, because I thought it might be fun to speak with them and learn more about their lives.
When we met, along with talking about Japan and hearing their recommendations for what to see, I asked them about their training regimen because I had never met any national champion athletes before — from any country. This was a first!
Over the years, like so many of you, I have done a mix of gym memberships, swimming laps and using exercise equipment at home. When I got to my mountain monastery, I had settled into an easy to do routine of walking, doing squats and kitchen counter pushups.
But somewhere, somehow, I had a nagging feeling that what I was doing was not good enough.
I was both relieved and excited to learn that these national champions don’t spend endless hours at the gym or in elaborate training facilities. They are all working people, holding down day jobs just like everyone else: one of the people I spoke with is a pharmacist and another is an administrator for the city of Kyoto.
They exercise in their homes during the week and among the things they do are also squats. Then on weekends, they go to the mountains to ski and practice together as a team.
That’s it! Yet here they are engaged in international competition.
In the workshops I teach on burnout prevention, I emphasize the importance of ongoing exercise and movement and people sometimes tell me they don’t have time to go to the gym. I totally understand that life gets hectic.
It all starts with just one small step - such as just one squat that you build on over time. Or maybe five minutes of dance to music from YouTube. You can do this in your living room and get your family members to join you as well. As always, you can get creative and is there is no limit to the ways you can incorporate movement and exercise into your daily life.
Easy does the job… and step by step you can add more as you grow your exercise routine. Each time you move, you are promoting your emotional health.
I don’t really know if what is good for the goose is good for the gander. But what I do know is that if national champions can manage to get in exercise without the benefit of a gym, maybe there is hope for the rest of us.
Rx: Remember, exercise does not have to be complicated and it’s a great “tool” to help you brush your mind and stay sane in an insane world. It promotes your emotional health and physical health.
Here’s to your health!