5 Spiritual 💫 Reasons to Exercise 💪🏽
When we exercise, we’re gifting ourselves a strong and agile body that can move with less pain and more ease as we age. However, beyond the physical benefits of working out, it’s been finding the deeper meaning in movement that keeps me consistent with training. Whatever your current reasons are for cultivating an active lifestyle, I'd love to share with you five transpersonal reasons to move your body that help me stay the course.
1.) Working out can grant you immediate access to the present moment. Both weight lifting and martial arts pulls me back into my body when I’m too much in my head or feeling ungrounded. Lifting heavy objects or dodging a punch has a way of forcing you to be exactly where you are and address what’s right in front of you.
2.) A strong, healthy body can make you a better conduit for spiritual insight or an awakening. Everyone is connected to the Universe (Source, God, Divine... or whatever you choose to call it) no matter your physical condition. But it’s harder to discern messages from your intuition or higher self (your internal guidance system that's connected to the Universe) when you're sick with the flu, in chronic pain, or even feeling sluggish after a heavy meal. A strong, healthy body can handle more energy in general. It can also offer a bit of a buffer during a kundalini awakening; kundalini, also known as creative life force energy, will bring up everything within our bodies and psyche that needs to be transformed.
3.) Movement can be a gateway to altered states of consciousness. Indigenous communities throughout millennia have utilized movement (alongside music and ritual) to access altered states. Along similar lines, athletes access the “zone” and martial artists tap into “mushin.” It’s a flow state of intuitively knowing the next best move or performing at your peak potential.
4.) Exercise can raise your vibration. Positive affirmations can only take us so far, but paired with exercise, this combination can doubly improve our mental and emotional health. Exercise releases endorphins that can shift mood and perception in such a powerful way that it can be a natural antidote to depression.
5.) You honor your ancestors by taking care of your body. Our ancestors survived against odds that we might never fully understand or face ourselves. But their resourcefulness, resiliency, and ability to adapt is the legacy you’ve inherited to face the challenges of today. By cultivating a strong body, you send gratitude to your lineage, declare that you will rise up to meet your own life’s purpose, and set an example for future generations.
When we integrate the spiritual with the physical, we heal a cultural wound that split these realms a long time ago. I hope this post inspires you to remain curious about how your mundane daily workouts could mean something more to you than what they do already. Because maybe one day while you’re running, or sparring at the dojo, or lifting that dumbbell at the gym, you might get a little taste of transcendence.