By Cinder Ernst
Can you imagine exercising consistently and without struggle? In the last few columns we’ve been looking at you being your own personal trainer. (That is the crux of my book, Easy Fitness for the Reluctant Exerciser.) So far, we’ve identified two keys to help you exercise with ease:
We’ve also looked at the Easy Fitness Success Formula, originated from Dr. Maria Nemeth’s work as author and financial/life coach), which is: Doing what I said I would do about exercise consistently and without struggle.
In the previous column, you discovered that the secret to doing what you said you would do about exercise is simply starting with a small step, smaller than you even think is small. Today you’ll learn an easy way to take that small exercise step, consistently and without struggle. Can you imagine exercising regularly with ease?
The secret to being easy with fitness is to re-boot your brain about exercise. Here’s why: Everything you already know about fitness comes pretty much from fear-based marketing. Even well-meaning health professionals are caught in the fear, and make their recommendations from there. Motivation is always required when you are taking a fear-based action; and, habits that you try to build from a place of worry or fear will never be easy to maintain. There is lots of struggle in the fear-based approach.
What to do instead? Try a completely different approach so you can re-boot your brain about exercise. In Easy Fitness for the Reluctant Exerciser (available on Amazon), I detail the AAA system that we use to implement that different approach. Here I will give you the basics. The three A’s stand for Alignment, Action then Appreciation.
Alignment is the first, and most important, aspect to making exercise easily doable. Alignment is a mental process. Alignment means getting in sync with your own well-being. You know you are aligned with your own well-being when you feel positive emotions, such as good, happy, serene, joyous, satisfied, eager, willing, exhilarated, optimistic and hopeful, to name a few. You find your positive emotion on purpose by thinking a thought that feels good.
Nature, pets and grandkids make great fodder for thoughts that feel good to think. My spiritual teacher Abraham-Hicks, found on YouTube, says, “You are only a baby or a puppy away from Alignment.” You can get more detail and coaching about this in my book. Finding Alignment is a practice. A great side effect is that you will find yourself feeling good more often!
When you are in your momentary good mood, take your small step. The small step is the second A: Action. The step must feel friendly and easy as you begin this Easy Fitness system. To find your small step, search for me, Cinder Ernst, on YouTube. Or, you can take a strengthening exercise, or stretch that you already like, and plug it into the AAA system. Start slowly. When you are aligned with your own well-being, there is no rush. Nothing is wrong; there is no hurry, worry or pressure. Relax, all is well.
The third A, Appreciation, is the icing on the cake. Appreciate yourself for trying this Easy Fitness system. Appreciate yourself for purposefully feeling good and aligning yourself with your well-being. Appreciate yourself for exercising, every little thing counts! Appreciating yourself makes this whole exercise thing feel good. If something feels good, it’s easily repeatable. No motivation or accountability is necessary. It’s just you feeling good!
Who needs a personal trainer when exercise is easy to do and feels good? AAA, relax and repeat!
Cinder Ernst, Medical Exercise Specialist and Life Coach Extraordinaire, helps reluctant exercisers get moving with safe, effective and fun programs. Find out more at http://cinderernst.com
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