The Healing Nature of Exercise

The idea of exercise can conjure up images of sweat and strain...and rightly so.  But there are some other images that are clear in my mind when I am exercising--release and rest.

How is that possible?  Having just read YOUNGER NEXT YEAR, I was challenged as a sixty-four year old to 45 minutes of exercise six days a week along with two days of weight training if I wanted to derail the natural decline of my physical body.

That's an easy subject for me to address.  My father died when he was sixty-six and he was basically overweight and not given to exercise.  Diet was a concern as well, but he did not take good care of himself.  Several months away from the twenty-third anniversary of his premature death--and two years away from the dreaded "sixty-six", I am aware of the accelerate need of caring for myself.

And I love to exercise, except I am too busy...or, that's my excuse.  For the last month I have exercised every day--hiking, swimming, biking, running, walking, lifting weights, doing sit-ups and push-ups, etc.  It's cross-training because I do something a little different each day.

Here the whole point of all of this.  I am not an exercise guru and I still could lose another 5-10 pounds, but I (a) feel better (b) have more energy (c) look more fit and (d) have fewer bouts with depression, a common malady I face.

When I am hiking in the Sierra Nevada's (I was Monday) surrounded by valleys of wildflowers, framed by snow-capped mountains and azure blue skies, I feel release from the cares of my job and the stress of my day.  When I am exercising I am often smiling, and this provides a kind of rest that has been foreign to me, except for short spurts when I have recommitted to such discipline.

My work is taxing, people's problems are overwhelming and ministry is demanding.  Still, I am celebrating today the healing nature of exercise and planning what it will be for me tonight when I get home from ten hours in the office.

Tonight it is a two mile run around the high school track, 300 push-ups and 50 push-ups.

Followed by a  good night of rest!