Exercise Requires Boundaries

I know, that YOU know, that you *should* exercise.

And I know that many of us, possibly including YOU, find it challenging for alllllll the reasons:

• I don’t like it
• I don’t have time
• I’m too busy
• I'm too tired
• I don’t have an hour (because we think it always has to be an hour to *count*)
• I have to do these things first

I get it. And if you are someone who tends to not enjoy “exercise,” and/or have complicated body-related thoughts that exercise is how you “fix” your body, and not something that you enjoy, I get that too.

But I want to invite you to reframe your thoughts about exercise, physical activity, moving your body. Because this is a relatively easy entry point to better sleep, less anxiety, less tension, and even better relationships. And I KNOW that you want these things.

So here’s what I want to offer in 3 simple ideas

1. Physical Activity now will help you feel stronger, prouder and more confident, and rarely be something that you regret spending your time on (outside of doing too much and hurting yourself; we gotta go at the right pace for right now)
2. Taking the time to take care of your body (and brain) in this way will usually beget better self-care in other areas of life; you are practicing taking time for YOURSELF, even though there are millions of other things, tasks specifically, that are waiting to be accomplished
3. Moving your body is a great way to either have quiet time (ALONE!) or spend time with people you care about; whatever you need.

Here are some thoughts to borrow:

• Movement helps me think better
• Having strong muscles helps me feel confident
• My back doesn’t hurt when I move my body
• My sleep is so much better when I am getting my walks in regularly
• I’m so glad that I made it to Pilates today!

For a deeper dive, check out this week’s episode (#141 from September 17, 2024) of my podcast, Ending Physician Overwhelm: listen here

Move your body as a way to not only help your own health, but see it as a mini-boundaries practice that helps you to prioritize YOURSELF. I promise you won’t regret it (again, don’t hurt yourself, go slow if it’s been awhile).