25. A Healthy Approach to Exercise

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June 7, 2021 • 23 mins

A healthy approach to exercise is flexible, adaptable, pleasurable, and compatible with your daily life. It supports the healthy functioning of your body and is done from a place of positive motivations and beliefs.

Exercising our bodies is extremely important, not just for our physical health but for our mental health and cognition as well. Many people approach exercise with an unhealthy focus on weight loss, disordered eating, and dysfunctional exercise practices that stem from self-criticism, self-loathing, and frustration over perceived flaws of the body. This attitude toward exercise may lead to some short-term physical results but often leads to worsening mental health and greater physical challenges in the future. A healthier approach to exercise begins from a place of self-love, acceptance, and compassion where a person works to support their body rather than loathe it.

A framework for remembering how to approach exercise in a healthy manner is provided. The framework can be remembered by the acronym EASY.

E - Enjoyable

A - Adaptable to your current life and abilities

S - Supportive of the healthy functioning of your body

Y - Yields true physical, spiritual, and mental well-being