exercise for the soul – Betsy Schow

Exercise for the Soul: Clean your room

I don’t know about you, but my family can usually tell how stressed I am by the condition of my room. That’s right, the cleanliness of my room is in direct proportion to the clutteredness of my mind. So today’s exercise is to clean it out.
Having a clean space to go home to and lay my head down is something I find helps me relax. If I’m anxious, being in a dirty and messy room just makes me feel that much more upset. So my whole rest of the house may be a disaster, but my little corner of the world will reflect the calm I want to feel.

Exercise for the Soul: Yoga

So one of the things currently topping my To Finish list is getting certified to be an instructor in Yoga.

Yoga is something I discovered on my path to fitness and I fell in love. Yes that’s right, I tolerate running, but for me, yoga is an exercise I actually look forward to doing. And it is exercise. I can get more sore doing some practices of yoga than running 5 miles.

The word yoga is the Sanskrit to English translation, meaning yoke. To unite or join. That’s the purpose of yoga, to bind your mind and body together- working together in harmony.

I enjoy the idea of an endless path. There is no true mastery of yoga, no ideal end result. Just the journey and enjoying wherever you happen to be on it. If you can’t touch your toes, its ok. Just grab onto whatever you have. Try to inch a little farther each week.

What a great metaphor for life. There is no ideal end result that says, Yes this was the perfect example of a life well lived. All we can ask for in life is to do our best, and hope that gets a little better each day.

In the coming weeks, I want to share the poses I am learning. I would invite you to try them and find a community yoga class near you. You won’t regret it.

Exercise for the Soul: Backpack Meditation

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I carry alot of crap around with me. I’m not talking about the stuff in handbag, I’m talking about the junk in my emotional backpack. The stuff I carry around everywhere that weighs down my spirit. So here’s a little visualization technique I made up to help lighten the load.

Go into you meditative stance. Lie down, sit.. whatever works for you. Just find a place you’re comfortable that you can zone out the world.

Now imagine yourself on the bank of the a river. You’re carrying a big backpack, stuffed with all the things you’re worried about. Set the backpack down in the tall meadowy grass. Open it up and start pulling out your burdens one by one. Examine each weight, analyze it. Is it something you really need to worry about? If not, put it in the river and let it float away. Once you’ve gone through and cataloged all you troubles, only put the ones absolutely necessary to function, back into your backpack. Chuck everything else into the river and watch it float away, leaving your sight and life.

Put your backpack on a gain. Feel how much lighter it is without the extra weights from worrying about dumb things, or things you can’t control.

Open your eyes and go about the rest of your day. Make sure you leave the discarded worries where they belong, away from you and your emotional backpack.

Exercise for the Soul: Meditation Primer

Meditation is not the practice of emptying the mind. It is the practice of focusing the mind. Over the next few weeks I am going to be providing some mediation exercises. But first, you have to prepare your body, just like you would any exercise.

Find a quiet spot and sit with a straight back. Make sure the kids are at grandma’s or asleep or in another room. If you need help quieting your mind, try some white noise or the sound of rolling waves. Try to clear your mind of the laundry list of things to do. Focus on your body.

Start with your toes. Connect your mind to them. Become aware of all the muscles in your foot. Flex and relax them. Continue up the rest of your body. Calves, hamstrings, glutes, back and core, hands, forearms, biceps, neck and facial muscles.

The goal is to be aware and in control of every muscle in your body. Making a connection that last long after the meditation is over. With practice you will be able to relax any muscle at will.

This is also a great bedtime exercise. Relax and drift off to sleep.

Exercise for the Soul: Box Breathing

Here’s an important part of exercise often overlooked…breathing. It’s automatic, so we tend not to think about it, but breathing can be the key to weight loss and fitness success. Proper breathing reduces stress levels, and helps facilitate fat loss. It also provides oxygen to the muscles, allowing them to work harder and get stronger. Some experts claim you can even lose a size just by breathing. I don’t know about that, but I know my mental and physical well being have improved dramatically, just by taking the time to breathe properly.

Here’s an exercise called boxed breathing:

Step 1: Sit up straight, making sure your lungs are not constricted by poor posture.

Step 2: Close your eyes and clear your mind

Step 3 Close your mouth (unless you have hayfever) and breahte in deeply through the nose for 4 counts.

Step 4 Hold breathe inside for 4 counts, allowing it to fill your body.

Step 5 Exhale for 4 counts.

Step 6 Complete the box by holding breath again for 4 counts.

Repeat at least 5 times for a calmer more focused you 🙂

Exercise for the Soul: Make the impossible possible

A year ago, the idea of me completing a marathon was laughable. It was an impossible goal. Through lots of little successes, training hard, and learning to finish, I made it through 26.2 grueling miles. Now I am training to do it again.

Find something in your life that you think you could never ever do. Something really hard. Don’t pick something that requires alot of luck or connections, like becoming a pop star. Pick something that is tough to achieve because it takes hard work. Speaking in front of a crowd of 200. Running 5 miles. Losing 25 pounds. Finishing school. Find something, then knuckle down and do it.

Funny thing about doing the impossible, it makes everything possible.