Working out is a new passion of mine, not only has it helped with my anxiety but being more active makes me happy and whenever I take breaks I can feel how they affect me. If I ever go without doing something for longer than a week I can feel it in my body, I ache and feel uncomfortable.
But this doesn't mean I always want to go all out, do a two hour routine that's going to leave me aching the next two days. They are amazing when you are in the right mood, when you are not, then it becomes a burden and your mind is going to complain.
Lately, with everything that has been going on, I haven't been on the best mindset to workout. It seems like too much for me, like I'm not strong enough to take it. The thing here is that I don't do something a day, I feel bad and my body is not comfortable enough or I can't sleep properly.
So, as for now, I'm taking a different approach. I started doing yoga two years ago when I was so tense I couldn't lift my arms over my shoulders because it hurt that bad. I did some mild stretching and in two days I was good to go.
This lead to many classes to work on my posture and strengthen my back that was in a bad state, I couldn't sit for longer than a few minutes without feeling an awful pain in the middle of my upper back. Within the next year I gained an incredible amount of back and upper body strength.
I trained hard that year, I was in the best shape of my life by the end of 2016 and with the new year everything went to waste, when the year started I was in such a slump that I let my progress go to pure waste, that year I trained on and off without commiting to a routine, I felt it and it showed.
This year rolled around and I knew I needed a change, so by February I was committed to a change and I did, I worked harder than before, I was recovering my strength and I was happy. However if you have ever gotten wisdom teeth out, you'll know that rest is mandatory. It snowballed and suddenly I wasn't in the mood to do it again.
Now with everything that has happened I haven't been in the best mindset to work, yet my body was screaming for me to do something so I looked to the one thing that brought that love to me to begin with. I started doing merely yoga again.
It's been refreshing, exhausting and so calming. I'm remembering why I loved doing it and why it did me so good. I'll add some cardio and body weight as weeks pass by, I won't settle but for now this is good enough for me and my body.
Listen to your mind and your body. Do what feels best for you and remember to not force yourself into anything, it isn't going to end well. When something doesn't feel right, just change the approach and you'll feel better.