What motivates you to get moving, and to stay active?
Health and wellness connect the moving and evolving elements of one’s physical, emotional and mental health.
Everyone is different, as are our motivations for examining and defining the terms health and wellness – and for staying active.
Your mission to stay active might involve activities that you accomplish as you succeed in your everyday living activities – perhaps partnered with community participation. Or you may have initiated an individualized, more structured and regular fitness routine.
Whatever works for you – it’s about staying active.
You may be living with a disability, or an existing condition, or you may have another health concern. This will inevitably affect or alter your approach to your health and active living goals. You can create and modify a routine that works for you.
By adapting, you can further empower and motivate yourself, along the pathway to your active living objectives.
Stay active and stay well – on your own terms.
Reflecting Upon My Own Health And Wellness Journey, And Staying Active
My perspective on staying active, on my own health and wellness journey, and concerning my overall well-being, has certainly evolved, particularly throughout the last few years.
Aging – partnered with my mission to maintain my whole health, and my independence – are key areas of concern for me.
I have a life-long, permanent disability, Cerebral Palsy. I use a manual wheelchair for my main mobility assist – for safety, and for covering distances. I’m able to walk for very short distances, using a walker.
I do not take my mobility, nor my independence, for granted.
I am now almost 52 years old. I want to continue to age well, with my disability.
At the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic, in 2020, and when we were in lockdown(s), I reflected on the ways I could stay active and positive, and well – amid the unknowns of the pandemic, and as it wore on.
I wanted to get moving, and to find ways to keep moving.
I began a regular, daily fitness routine.
My fitness routine connects time on my seated elliptical, with my daily “Island Tours”. My “Island Tour” refers to my short walk – a few minutes at a time, a few times throughout each day – when I walk with my walker, around our home’s kitchen island.
I also utilize five-pound weights for abdominal muscle strengthening, for a few minutes each day.
Meeting And Overcoming Challenges to Stay Active, And to Keep Moving
My pursuit of my optimal health and activity, and the road to my achievement of these goals, is not without challenges.
When I first began working out on my seated elliptical, I had a sore knee – almost immediately, and often – for the first few weeks. I was concerned that I might not be able to continue to use my elliptical then, and I was disheartened. But I kept at it – while still embracing the challenge. With intervals of rest, and trying (and trying again), I found a resistance and time set, that worked for me.
With sometimes painstaking slowness, I increased my time on the seated elliptical – from five or ten minutes to 20 minutes daily. These days, I’m able to cycle steadily and effectively, for up to an hour each day.
This regimen was one that I began just as the pandemic was coming down, and I have kept on with it.
One goal that I have set for myself – and it is one that I have achieved, is a four-hundred-metre walk.
I set a goal to walk around a local track in our community, utilizing my walker. I don’t walk outside on my walker, to protect my safety – except when I complete this walk. And I don’t walk on this track alone, again, concerning safety.
For me, walking takes a lot of mental energy and focus, alongside the physical energy I expend. It is not just about the literal placement and movement of my feet – one in front of the other – as this does not “automatically” happen for me, as it might for an able-bodied individual, for example.
I am exceptionally slow-going on my trek – walking a short distance at a time and resting frequently. I am incredibly, although happily, tired after completing a walk on the track – but I feel a tremendous sense of accomplishment at my finish line.
Motivation, And Staying Active
At times in our efforts to stay active, we need to encourage our motivation.
This happens to all of us.
There may be days when you might feel that your energy is not up to its optimal level.
When you’re not feeling your usual level of energy or motivation to complete your activities and routines, take a break, or time for reflection. Know that you can always modify your strategy – with an approach that works for you.
And you can keep moving.
Listening to, and moving with, music is always helpful for me, when I feel a bit of slide in my energy level and motivation.
Have you a stay-active playlist, or a treasured song?
You know the kinds of songs I’m describing. You might be keen on a tune (or perhaps, several) with those catchy, kept-in-your-head lyrics.
Or maybe your choice playlist celebrates a few of those generational ‘anthems’ that we all know, and love.
Your favourite music and lyrics can help you to stay active, while reminding you that you are strong, and capable – and resilient.
And that you can.
And this might just motivate you to start – and then, to begin again. On completing your next task or goal. Or on taking your next step, that will lead to the next. And you will actively move closer to your proverbial, or literal, finish line.
Staying Active, And Recognizing Self-Care
There are a multitude of influences that can affect one’s health and wellness, and active living objectives.
Self-care considers several key elements in caring for aspects of your health.
Self-care can include things like alone time or meditation, journalling or reading, and time with friends and family. Prioritizing rest is also a critical key to self-care.
Your self-care opportunity might include participation in community activities – perhaps pairing with someone, or joining a group that you connect with, in your efforts to stay active, while reaching your health and wellness goals.
It’s worth checking into wellness resources, and investigating ways to stay active and well, in your community.
Final Thoughts
We all have our important and very individual reasons for setting goals, towards achieving and maintaining our optimal health, and staying active.
And no matter what your experiences and interests, abilities, or level of mobility – there are options to peruse – to help you keep moving.
Sources
https://ala.ca/. Active Living Alliance for Canadians with a Disability. November 4, 2024
https://cmha.ca/news/self-care-simplified-why-its-essential-and-how-to-make-it-happen/. Canadian Mental Health Association. November 4, 2024
https://www.participaction.com/programs/. Participaction. November 4, 2024
https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/natural-standard/201306/music-therapy-health-and-wellness. Psychology Today. November 4, 2024.
https://www.regionofwaterloo.ca/en/health-and-wellness/physical-activity.aspx. Region of Waterloo, November 4, 2024.
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