What is the best form of physical activity? The one you will actually do. You see, everyone is different. How can there be any one form of physical activity that is best for everyone? And the good news is that it can be something different every day. You can walk one day, run another, go swimming another, play frisbee golf another, go golfing the next, rollerblade the next day, ride your bike another day, etc. You do not have to do the same thing every day. But you can if you want to.
How often and for how long is it best to do activity? Again, everyone is different so listen to your inner knowing and do what it says. Some hints on understanding what your inner knowing is telling you about physical activity: One day 30 minutes might be perfect for you, and the next day only 10 minutes is good. Other days an hour or two might be ideal. One day a slow relaxing pace might be ideal, the next a heavy vigorous workout might be called for. You might work out 5 days a week and 2 the next week. There are no rules about how and when you should or shouldn’t do physical activity. My only guideline would be: Do what you want to do, and listen to your inner knowing when doing it. The lawyers would want me to tell you here to consult a physician before starting any exercise program. My thought is that your inner knowing knows better than any doctor does about what is best for you. If you listen to your inner knowing and act on what it says, who cares about the doctor.
Walking outside is a great option. You can take deep full breaths of fresh air when you are walking and go within and focus on the presence within you. You will also get sunlight from being outside. Bottom line, just do some form of sustained physical activity.
One overlooked form of Activity that is so essential to your well being is mental activity. And I am not talking about worry. When I talk about mental activity, I am talking about creativity, using the mind creatively. It does not have to be “art,” either. Creativity comes in many shapes and forms.
You can be a lawyer and be solving cases, figuring out creative ways to win the case. You can be an architect and use your mind to create projects. You can read books and use your mind to create pictures and connections and the “movie in your head.” You can do problem solving activities, like crossword puzzles or some card and board games, anything where you are creating new thoughts, new patterns of thinking, and different ways of looking at things. This is mental activity.
Art is also a really good way to do mental activity. The process of creating abstract things also encourages new ways of thinking and patterns of thought. These new ways of thinking and being are stimulating your brain and nerves to grow and regenerate. Like the muscles in the body, if you don’t use them, you lose them. So creatively using the mind helps us to grow and flourish from within.
What is the best form of mental activity? Whatever it is you will actually do. And it can be different every day. Just as with physical activity, whatever you do is perfect. It can be the same thing every day, or you can do something different every day. It is really up to you and your inner knowing.
The key is doing mental activity, creating new things with your mind, thoughts, and ways of thinking, whether it is art or how to win a legal case.
Physical and Mental activity will help you flourish, be healthy and free.
