Place a hand on your chest. What do you feel? Hopefully, and I mean that, you feel your heart beating. Thumping along as it pushes oxygenated blood from your lungs to your brain, and taking the blood back to your lungs. It doesn’t just go to your brain, either. Muscles and other divinely-designed tools for locomotion such as tendons and nerves rely on this beautiful synchronicity of air & water to help you move. Every time you walk, run, or reach into the almost-empty bag of chips on your lap they must function in this synchronous manner, which is why they need to be kept as healthy as possible. Exercising and a proper diet is the best way to keep this system functioning properly. A few obvious forms of exercise come to mind, but what about outdoor exercise this season? Outdoor exercise is a year-round treat in the southern states of America, but up here in the north it’s a different story. I sit in central Pennsylvania, drinking coffee in my comfy chair and watching the snowflakes fly by the window. Like many other people in this part of the world, I have no desire to step out into the frigid expanses of the commonwealth nor am I thinking about how to go about my next round of exercise. Motivation to go out and get in shape outdoors is in extremely short supply throughout the northeast in winter. That’s why I will cover a few fun ways to keep the blood flowing this season.
Yoga
Not very limber? No problem! Yoga is not as difficult as it may seem, and it is a very tried and true way to open up your muscles. Yoga’s origins lay in India during the 5th Century. Based on spirituality and meditative practices, it has grown into a very disciplined and organized method of exercise. Did I mention that it is quite exhilarating when done outside? Yes, even in cold weather, although you may not want to remain outside for as long as you would in the spring or summer. There are many proven ways in which yoga has shown to improve the body’s function while suffering from many physical detriments and dispositions. Mental issues, cardiac problems, and certain types of cancers all have their own healing poses to accommodate the white-coat medicine used to treat them. Give it a shot!
Cardio
You definitely don’t have to remain indoors, prancing around like a pony or better yet like Richard Simmons to get your winter cardio. There are a few ways to do this. Find someone with a wood stove and offer to chop and split their wood for them. You might even make a little money! Go easy on this one if you have underlying cardiac issues. Chop away otherwise! Chopping wood with an axe or hatchet is one of the most fat-burning, vein-cleansing ways to stay healthy. The same goes for any strenuous or hard labor, but this one is likely the most effective if done frequently.
Snow Shoveling
A truly northern form of beating cabin fever, people in the southern part of the country just do not get to experience this. Don’t you just love heaving piles of frozen particulates out of your way? When your parents used to hand you that very ubiquitous-looking snow shovel and told you to get your ass outside, that it’s good for you, they weren’t joking. Much like chopping wood, this exercise is done solely out of necessity for daily function. Most northerners don’t get to opt out of dealing with snow in one way or another. Might as well get fit, dress warm!
Break Unhealthy Habits
Winter, especially the farther north you go, can be a lonely and vice-ridden season. Alcoholics tend to drink more, smokers tend to smoke more, and any other addictions have room to blossom while we seek shelter from the cold. Don’t grapple with vices to make the cold season pass by quicker; it won’t. This is an unhealthy decision. Throw a coat on, get outside, and be active! Mother Earth’s beauty doesn’t cease after it is no longer hospitable to be outside, go check the world out! Get your ass out there and enjoy life! After all, life is the best drug to be high on!
At the end of the day, I encourage all of our readers to love and cherish the friendships that have been built after a wonderful year! Each of us is all we have, and sometimes a few of us, as sad as it may be, will no longer be on Earth after this season. I say this to motivate all of you beautiful people to stay healthy and choose a healthy path, as cliché as that sounds! I love you. Share that love with your fellow brother or sister, and be kind. Take the time this season to rebuild burnt bridges and be good to everyone around you. Life is far too short to harbor hatred. We are all in this together.
Go outside!
Love & light conquers darkness,
Clay
