The Right Kind Of Addiction

A couple of weeks ago I came across two things that really hit home and gave me one of those "aha" moments.  One was an article on a blog I follow and the other was someone's "testimonial" for her current fitness choice.  The common theme between the article and testimonial is that movement rocks!  So often we take for granted the ability to move without any limitations and do whatever we need or like to do.  It usually takes an injury or physical limitation to remind us how awesome it is to move or a change/increase in activity level to remind ourselves what we've been missing.  Either way, the conclusion from both of these scenarios is the same with regard to movement.  As the old milk commercials used to say, it does the body (and mind) good.  On top of that, I would add that it is addicting (in a good way).

In the article, entitled "The Privilege of Movement", the author, Neghar Fonooni, reminds us that movement is a choice.  In it she says "It's not an obligation or a begrudging requirement - it’s something to be eternally grateful for.  Movement is a privilege, and one which we should honor daily...[by] making fitness enrich your life, not detract from it."  Now fitness means a lot of different things to a lot of people as it should.  That's the beauty of it since there is no one size fits all definition.  At its core, however, I would argue that a major component of fitness means being able to move independently and satisfy your physical goals without any limitations rather than some number or image you are supposed to adhere to.  Whether you accomplish that by going to a gym, heading to your local yoga studio or hiking with your dog, in some ways it does not really matter as long as it is something you like to do.  The choices are endless.  As long as it remains a positive element in your life and continues to enhance it then at some level you are probably addicted to movement without even knowing it.  Now it's still important to mix things up and keep your body and mind engaged so that you don't get stuck in a rut and lose interest in making that choice to move altogether.  We all know the outcomes when you choose not to keep moving and they are not pretty.

The "testimonial" was a bit of a different flavor in that it perfectly exposed the importance of movement on the brain.  I am not the first person to make the connection of fitness/movement with changes in the brain and I will certainly not be the last either.  There are plenty of researchers who have beaten me to the punch but after reading the next two quotes, it is quite obvious and you won't have to bore yourself with dry scientific publications.  It began with, "I looked in the mirror and didn't know who that was. I was tired, weak, sad, embarrassed of my body and just felt plain old ugly."  After a recent change in her activity level and choosing to make movement and fitness a priority, this same person now says, "I feel strong! I have tons of energy! I feel positive about myself and what I can do, in and out of the gym. My kids think of their mom as strong! I am happy."  There has been a total transformation in her brain and mindset thanks to the power of movement and fitness.  It is quite clear from this example that physical fitness and mental health go hand in hand.  And those last three words are awesome!  Happiness is pretty easy to get addicted to!

I could keep adding more anecdotes, articles and research studies reiterating the same ideas but that would be very boring.  Why not be an experiment of one and make the choice to find the right kind of addiction to enrich your life?

You can also check out Ben Bruno for the article that inspired this post as well as find great information on training and programming for your movement, fitness (and brain) goals.

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