Willing the Mind to Exercise everyday
This blog is not about expounding on the virtues of
exercising every day, but more about how to get yourselves to do it !!! These ofcourse are my personal thoughts that
kind of worked for me. At the cost of me
being a plagiarist, you might get a feeling: Oh yes, I read about these tips in some
book…..but probably never ever put them to practice. Here goes:
1.
The Positive Imaging technique: Those who have gone on a morning walk or to
the gym for a few days would for sure have felt good through the day. An experience of a spring in your step or a smile on your face or the feel of
feeling good would have followed suit.
Albeit the pain for the first few days, your legs would have gotten used
and would have worked like a well oiled machine in the following days. Positive imaging is all about imagining
yourself for the rest of the day and how good you felt the previous day post
exercising. This imagination more often
than not helps to shrug of the early morning inertia and prevent one from
hitting the snooze button…
2.
It is all in the mind – Trick it: Perhaps the toughest part of the
regimen or before the daily regimen is getting out of bed from your happy happy
snuggle snuggle position. It is probably
those few seconds when you trick your mind into submission of not getting back
into bed and the think of positive imaging…Keep your alarm clock not by your
bedside but a distance away..which will force you to get up drag your feet to
the clock. By this time you would have
lost part of your sleep, by this time you would have tricked your mind into
positive imaging, by this time you probably thought ..”ah well, now that I have gotten up,
I would not be able to get a proper sleep and will toss around which will be of
no use…the best that I could possibly do is to go breath in some fresh air and
might as well feel good for the rest of the day !!!”
3.
Applying Positive Pressure: Talk to your
friends, talk to your spouse, talk to your colleagues…tell them that you have
started to exercise, tell them that you have started walking or practicing yoga
or going to a gym, tell them that you have started walking for a 1km to start
with and that you will gradually increase to 3 km in 10 days time. Your friends, colleagues may ask you on your
progress. This kind of puts you under a
self-initiated pressure to do well. You
might start talking about what good the exercising is doing for you and might
possibly motivate others to join as well.
You kind of get into a position of no return since you have spoken about
the “Goodness” that you will keep your word, today and tomorrow and the day
after and ….
4.
Gyan from the CEO of TCS: Perhaps,
the best that has happened to me was an evening party Tete-e-tete with N.
Chandra who is an avid Marathonist. I
popped a question, “Sir, How do you find time, given the position you are in to
peacefully exercise and that too daily”.
The reply was simple and profound.
He placed his hands on my shoulder and said “My dear Sir, What do you do
as soon as you get up”. I blurted “Well,
brush”. He asked “And then”… I replied
“make myself coffee or tea”. He “And
then”. I said “Reach out to the
newspaper”. He “And then”…I was kind of
flustered by then and was wondering where this was going…And the question and answer
kept happening for the next 3 minutes or so.
And then he asked “Do you ever forget to brush your teeth or drink your
coffee or bathe or ….” He was kind of checklisting my every morning’s routine
and then popped “What if you enter a 20 min exercise routine into this
checklist? Can you do that? Probably, hit bed 30 mins earlier every night
so that you do not miss out on your 7 hour sleep, perhaps, hit the “OFF” button
on your TV 30 mins early? Can you do
that?” And he continued “Can you make
this a habit just as naturally as you brush your teeth? Can you sketch this part into your daily
routine? Trust me, if you do this for a
month, it will become a habit that you will never ever miss. And ofcourse, if you do this exactly at the
same time of the day, this will become a habit all the more easily”. I pondered thereafter for the rest of the
evening “If, the CEO of a $ 10 Bn enterprise is saying this and is practicing what
he is preaching ever so lucidly and in such simple manner, can I not do it ???”.
5. Choose the
Company and the Place: Having
like minded people as company when you exercise helps. More often than not, you kind of ease off the
daily drill after a few days, if you go it alone. Exercising with a group is always fun, each motivating the other. See what interests you the best and start off
with that whether Yoga (there maybe a group under a coach in your friendly
neighborhood) or walking or swimming or the gym…You choose…
The bottom line to
start off is “Willing your mind to do it”. This is the key. Will it and you shall be a happy healthy
you….
Caution: You should
check with your Doctor before you get into the exercise routine. This is an absolute must.
Trust this blog though lengthy is of use to you and you will
“WILL YOUR MIND TO EXERCISE EVERY DAY.”
Prasanna
Meher Nori
15th June 2013
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