Daily Dose of Exercise

Every weekday I get up and walk with two of my friends.  We walk three or four miles into town and back from 6:15 to 7 a.m. Then I come back and do about half an hour of yoga.

I have to brag about this because bragging rights and feeling virtuos are two of the immediate benefits to exercising but I can't really get all "more in shape than thou," because this daily routine is new to me.

I have tried going to the gym and taking classes and I have tried doing exercise tapes at home. I have tried many things.  But all the gym did was take my $60 every month. I estimate I paid about $60 per class or on a very good month, $15 a class.  I mostly wasted hundreds of dollars because there were always better things to do but I couldn't quit because I always told myself I would go again next month.

I had been getting into yoga though and when a friend trained as a yoga teacher and started talking about a daily routine, it finally hit me: I didn't have to go to class to do yoga, I could do yoga at home. I started taking classes with my friend once a week and doing my own routine every day.

Then I decided something aerobic that would fit into my routine and not cost hundreds of dollars so I started walking with some friends last summer.  This is a little bit harder for me because I am not a morning person and I hate waking up when it's dark.  But again, knowing that my friend is waiting for me outside at 6:15 every day makes me wake up. True, I pray for rain, snow or an act of God that will allow me to sleep in.  But when I walk, I'm more awake all day even if I do get just six hours sleep.

I started doing all this mostly because I had a number of small ailments that were stress related. I have gastrointestinal problems and insomnia and I decided that it would be easier to start dealing with my stress through exercise and yoga than through weekly appointments with doctors.  And it has helped my stress and decreased my stomach problems. I still have trouble sleeping but that's gotten a little better as well.

Best of all, my husband has taken over the first and most dreaded part of the morning routine - he wakes up the kids and gets them started getting dressed and started with breakfast and lunch, while I do yoga with the all important relaxation exercises and meditation.  This leaves me much calmer when I come out to choruses of, "I can't find my socks," and "Where's the peanut butter?"  It's made our whole morning routine better and calmer.

There are all sorts of  benefits to regular exercise.  One recent study, for example, found that people who participate in regular sports at least once a week reduced the risk of blood clots by 39 percent in women and  22 percent in men.   Another study found a link between exercise and mental health and that just walking (yeah!) can reduce anxiety, stress and depression.  It did not, however, reduce hot flashes. I guess you can't have everything.  More on this study is at http://www.temple.edu/newsroom/2007-2008/02/stories/menopause.htm,