exercise

Changing the Rules

by ultrapeg

 

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Photo Credit: Peg Ryan

It’s still January so the new year is still a work in progress.  Perhaps you’ve already seen some decline in your resolve.  No problem.  That’s not a signal that you’re a failure or that you should give up.  It may simply mean that you need to adjust your expectations.

When you start something new or return to something after an absence, you usually don’t know what to expect.  You observe and listen and work at mastering skills.  But once you’ve become a bit more experienced, you may find that you begin to establish rules.  Your mind tells you that things need to be done a certain way.  Perhaps you’ve read or heard other people suggest methods deemed as “correct” by some standard.  Or maybe you look around and see others performing in ways that seem beyond your capacity.  Instead of concluding that you’ll never be any good at whatever it is your pursuing, try changing the rules.  Adjust your expectations.  Do what works for you.  It may look different from someone else’s version but it will still be “right” and you will still benefit.  Best of all, you will stay on track and continue working toward your goals.

When it comes to diet and exercise, most rules are just guidelines.  Each of us is an experiment of one.  Regardless of what you may read or hear in popular media, there is no such thing as the perfect answer. What works for one person may not be appropriate for someone else.  Moreover what works one day may not work the next.  And vice versa.  Change is constant.  It is one of the only certainties in this life.  Even though we waste a lot of energy resisting change, it is always happening.  As difficult as it is sometimes, in the long run we are much better off if we can just go with the flow.

So if what you’re trying to do today just isn’t working the way you want it to, instead of beating yourself up because you’re not “doing it right”, try doing it differently.  March to your own drummer.  It may seem like it’s not the same as what you’ve been told or what you’ve observed, but so what?  That doesn’t make it “wrong”.  It just makes it different.

There is substantial evidence that exercise is an important way to keep your muscles working and your bones strong. But it is the exercise you actually do that matters.  The key is consistency.  Developing habits helps you to maintain that consistency, but adjusting to daily circumstances is equally important. If you stop doing something because you’re not living up to your concept of perfection, then you’re not getting any benefit at all.  Try allowing yourself to be who you are right now in this moment and move from there.  You may surprise yourself by eventually noticing that you still experience positive changes.

Unless you’re ill, it is far better to show up, go easy and just do what you can than it is to not show up at all.  Intention is more about process than outcomes.  Adjust your rules, let go of expectations, participate in the process and be grateful for what you can do.  You won’t be sorry.

Committing to Change

by ultrapeg

Some version of the following statistic has shown up in so many posts and articles over the past couple of weeks it has almost become a meme: of the 45% of Americans who make New Year’s resolutions, only 8% actually see them through to the end of the year.  The most recent attribution I found for this statistic is a University of Scranton study published in the Journal of Clinical Psychology.  If that sounds discouraging, take heart by noting that these researchers also found that those who bothered to make a resolution still fared twice as well as those who did not.

We’ve all seen the standard advice for sticking to your resolves – taking small steps, rewarding yourself, building your plan into your schedule, etc.  All those are good. But if you are still having trouble, a recent article in Yoga Journal titled Make This Your Year by Elizabeth Marglin suggests a novel approach. Instead of thinking of your resolutions as something specifically for yourself, try thinking of them as “bigger-than-self” goals.  Think of your goals as compassionate.  For example, if your intention is to physically move more think about how this will benefit the other important players in your life.  This will require you to be clear about your motivation. Why is this intention important to you?  The article poses a series of questions to help you clarify your intentions including “What do I want to experience more of in my life and what can I do to create that?”.

Once you’ve figured out what you want to do and why you want to do it, the next step is to commit. Create a new habit.  You’ve got plenty of experience creating habits, some good – some that make you unhappy. Take that experience and use it to your benefit. It may take a few weeks but the more you persevere, the more your brain will adapt. Research shows that we are capable of creating new neural pathways in our brains throughout our lives.  Build your intention into your life. When you struggle with following your plan, just let the habit take over and keep you on course. Remember that your plan is not just for your own benefit but has a larger purpose. Then don’t think “should I or shouldn’t I?”. Just do it. You will never regret following through even if it turns out in the end that the path you chose needs to be adjusted. No matter what happens you will learn alot.  Be open to that and enjoy the learning process.

The final step suggested in the article is to “Envision Success”.  What does that look like? If more movement is your intention maybe success means being able to hike with your grandchildren.  Or ride your horse comfortably and with confidence. Maybe there is a particular bicycle ride you’ve always wanted to try. Or a walk-a-thon that benefits a cause you support.  Perhaps you want to volunteer for an organization that means something to you. Keep that vision right up front. But be kind to yourself.  A compassionate intention requires self-compassion. Don’t let a day off derail your plans. Just take a breath and let it go. Don’t beat yourself up. Just put your schedule back together at the next opportunity.