Part 4: EXERCISE – The “Telling Month” of October
Welcome to the final part of my 4-part series, The “Telling Month” of October.
Over the past few weeks, I’ve been sharing one important (and totally doable) suggestion per week, around each health habit you’ll want to stay on top of this month (Sleep, Food, Mood, and Exercise).
The intention is to incorporate these strategies into your life now, so that you can carry them into the holidays.
Like the old saying goes, “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.”
Remember, you can’t “wing” a healthy and happy holiday season; the preparation must start now, in October.
Along with good Sleep, Food, and Mood habits, Exercise is one of those critical components that will determine how you look and feel for the rest of the year.
With that in mind, consider this strategy.
But first, it’s important to understand that if there’s anything that’s up there in importance of the things that I “preach” it’s that your Sleep, Food, Mood, and Exercise habits are ALL connected.
When you improve one, it helps improve the others as well.
For example, when you get a good night’s sleep, it’s likely you’ll make healthier food choices the next day, be in a better mood, and “want” to be physically active.
That’s why over the past few articles I’ve shared one idea of how to improve each one.
Again, these habits are connected, so exercise will also help you get a good night’s sleep, make healthier food choices, and put you in a better mood.
The exercise strategy I suggest making a regular practice this fall is yoga – more specifically, signing up for yoga classes.
Sure you can do yoga at home. In fact, I have a few clients who especially like Yoga with Adrienne on YouTube.
If you can make at-home yoga a regular practice like some of my clients have, great!
But especially this fall and winter, I highly recommend actually going to a class.
Here’s why.
Going to a class kills several birds with one stone, so to speak:
- Physical, of course – yoga is GREAT for improving balance, flexibility, and strength
- Hands-on instruction – if you’re a beginner, it’s helpful to have a teacher there to help you do the poses correctly
- Mental – a good yoga practice will help you begin to develop a mindfulness practice (which helps when tempting holiday treats start popping up)
- Social – As I shared in my last post, getting together with other like-minded (because they’re there too), healthy, positive people is good for your mood
Whether it’s once or more times a week, going to a yoga class is going to provide all of the above including accountability (you’re more likely to show up if you’ve already paid) and structure (doing it with others and an experienced instructor) are going to go a long way in helping you stick with the program.
In turn, you can expect to get fit and feel more grounded, which you can carry into the holiday season when life gets hectic and unpredictable.
What’s more, if the uppity yoga studio on the corner where you see model-esque girls in their 20s entering and exiting on your way home from work isn’t your thing, consider checking out your local community center, YMCA, or fitness center.
It’s likely that if the space is more inviting and you feel more comfortable, you’re more likely to go.
Finally, don’t make it a big production.
You don’t need $80 Lululemon pants to get your yoga on – what you already wear to workout is just fine.
Also, if you’re new to yoga and a little hesitant, consider trying it just once and take the beginner class.
Not too keen on the instructor? Try another class or another studio.
The point is, don’t think too far ahead; just go once with no expectations and see what happens.
I hope you enjoyed my 4-part series “The Telling Month of October.”
If you found it helpful, please forward it to a friend who might like to try some of these strategies with you.
Here are Parts 1-3 again: Sleep, Food, and Mood.
It’s your turn to take care of you,
Don’t “fall” back into old habits this season…
I’m here to help.
