The Benefits of Exercise
In order to get the best out of your body, to keep it well toned and vibrant and to overcome the stagnating effects of a sedentary lifestyle, it is essential to exercise. A little bit of time spent exercising your body, preferably every day, is an invaluable way of getting loose, increasing your strength and stimulating your own vitality. Although we all tend to be busy and active, in fact we are not using our bodies thoroughly the way they are designed. With the increase in comfort that has arisen through technological development, we have lost the natural benefits that arise from exerting the body. The result is that many people are operating at only 50% efficiency and we are all, more or less, subject to loss of flexibility, chronic fatigue, increased susceptibility to disease, poor muscle tone, pain and stiffness. Exercise can be defined as exerting or extending the body (and the mind) beyond its normal day to day limits. This definition allows us to distinguish three categories of exercise. The first is exertion. When heavy weights are lifted, or when simple actions are repeated many times, the muscle tissue reacts by calling on more and more muscle fibres to assist in the work and gradually there is an increase in the size of the specific muscles as a response to the extra and regular exertion. The overall result is an increase in strength and endurance. The second category of exercise is extending or stretching. When the limbs or the torso are stretched to their full range of movement the joints remain mobile because the stretch tends to break down the adhesions which can build up between the layers of connective tissue. Also the stretch is a very effective way of relaxing tight muscles. The overall result is an increase in flexibility and suppleness. The third category of exercise is aerobics the exertion of the heart and lungs. The West has traditionally emphasized the importance of strengthening and aerobics, evident in weight training and athletics. The Eastern tradition, on the other hand, emphasizes stretching, the basic function of yoga. In order to maintain strength, flexibility and good tone in the body, it is, of course, necessary to practice all forms of exercise. And don't think that it is only your body that will benefit from getting fit. The psychological benefits are substantial. Among other things you can develop confidence, strength of will, concentration, clarity of memory and tranquillity of mind. As human beings we are conditioned, shaped, limited by a variety of influences, the main three being genetic inheritance, parental conditioning and social conditioning. Conditioning of structure and function is inevitable, it cannot be avoided. But once we reach adulthood we can start to make distinct choices about what is a useful pattern and what is not. We can cast aside old patterns that may have been important at one particular time but are no longer relevant. In their place we can introduce new shapes and new attitudes that are potentially more wholesome. By exercising we are literally breaking down the limitations that have shaped us and extending ourselves, extending our range of movement and our endurance, extending our vitality and mental limits. The process of meditation is exactly the same theory applied to the mind, by extending our concentration we can loosen our assumptions and our concepts and discover deeper levels of equanimity and calm. So while you are stretching your body, be aware of the reactions in your mind. And remember that what feels difficult today will feel easy next week. Just relax and persevere and gradually, week by week, month by month, year by year, you will be able to reshape yourself ... your body and your mind.
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