A few weeks ago, I was asked to write an article for the Times Colonist's Healthy Living Magazine...exciting...and the only parameter was that the magazine was centred on outdoor living. With all the sunshine we'd been having, and the fact that I'm stuck in a gym for workouts around 8 times a week, I thought I'd explore the subject of being active in nature. You don't have to be a ninja-in-training to do it, you don't need specialised shoes or clothing, and you don't even need any money, all you need is a sense of adventure and a fabulous cityscape to get the job done. Here are my thoughts on getting out more.
Exercise
in the morning before your brain figures out what your body is doing
- that has pretty much been my mantra for the last couple of years.
As much as I love Crystal Pool & Fitness Centring, there's
something to be said for playing outdoors. It keeps things
interesting, it's great for mind and body, it's free, it's fun, and
it's nearly impossible to find an excuse as to why you can't fit a
little bit of nature into your day. So, when's the last time you
tried swinging on the monkey bars in Central Park or wandered through
the rose garden at Beacon Hill? When did you last take the scenic
route in something other than a car?
Walking
or running around town gives you an entirely new perspective on where
you live. Go on, really listen to the music being pumped through the
Gates of Harmonious Interest, search out the sculpted bronze Hands of
Time - first a filigree fan, then the last spike, binoculars - can
you find all 12? Take advantage of pedestrian-only pathways, sneak
by Fisherman's Wharf on your way to taste the sea salty air as it
whips around you on the breakwater, wave at cruise ship tourists then
visit Emily Carr and other residents of Ross Bay Cemetery. Who says
exercise has to be a chore - hours of gym time logged under
fluorescent lights? I say, get out, and increase feelings of
well-being, activate your brain, stimulate your senses, raise your
serotonin levels, fill you lungs with oxygen, and get some vitamin D.
Hop
on a bike and take a spin around the Inner Harbour, Dallas Road,
really see where you live, follow the coastline, climb up that hill
by the old observatory, catch your breath and then lose it again at
the viewpoint as you look out over the Strait of Juan de Fuca towards
the Olympic Mountains. Pedal your way through Victoria Golf Course,
keep going until Oak Bay Marina, buy some bait, feed a seal, don't
stop until you've immersed your feet in the frigid waters off of
white, sandy Willows Beach, then take a different route back,
explore. Healthy living is loving what you do in life, don't you
dare get bored.
All
this spring weather and unbelievable sunrises have got me thinking
that I should venture outside with my yoga mat to salute the sun as
it illuminates this amazing city. It may be that I need to lay off
Googling fitspiration pictures of fancy asanas in fabulous places or
it may be that I need a bit more fitness freedom. Time to think
outside the gym, get active, and smell the roses simultaneously.
There are no rules, you don't have to get up super early or even come
home when the street lights turn on, just take your time, enjoy, and
play in gratitude. There's no place like OM.The article came out this past Saturday in the Times Colonist's Healthy Living Magazine's supplement.
