Is it the same for you: some days I find it incredibly difficult to exercise. Then I roll out of bed and think I need a break. Sometimes I actually allow myself moments of rest without feeling guilty.
However, a ritual often helps me to overcome my inner bastard: I start by doing just ten minutes of sport, a few exercises that I feel like doing at the moment. This allows me to quickly feel my body and the gratitude for being healthy. Everyone knows that good feeling after training of being alive and having arrived on earth. It gives you a very special body awareness. I remind myself of this when I don't feel like working out. Sometimes I run and swim afterwards or I meditate, do breathing exercises or Qi Gong.
What is good for me? I ask myself that.
I listen to myself and ask myself: what do I want from myself? For me, this is the secret of discipline and motivation: taking yourself seriously. Asking yourself what is good for you. Many women put other people and obligations before themselves: the children, the husband or the job ... As a result, they give little space to their own desires.
Yet I am in control of my life, I am the captain of my ship! I know myself best and can demand something of myself. That's motivating!
It always starts with a decision: I want to do something different, get moving. The first sports day is followed by the second and soon the next week. And "It doesn't matter anyway" becomes: "I can build on that, I want to keep going!" Regularity is the only way to actually change your lifestyle. You become active. On your own responsibility.
The goal should always be broader than "the kilos have to come off" or "the pants have to fit again". Instead, it should be to make friends with your own body by feeling it. Accepting it with all its curves and uniqueness. This is the only way to create satisfaction. And this is the only way you can maintain motivation over a longer period of time.
And: by making an appointment with yourself. Of course, it can also help to arrange something with someone else. But if you meet up with just yourself on the yoga mat at eight o'clock in the morning, for example, that counts double. This way, exercise will soon become a wonderful gift for you.
Sincerely, Barbara Becker
