How many times have you felt worse after exercise than what you felt before exercising? I bet the answer is, never!
It may take some effort to get you started but you gradually feel better and better as you go through the session. The reason behind that process is the number of chemicals that are produced in your body as a result of movement. These chemicals are called endorphins. Endorphins trigger a positive feeling in the body similar to morphine and also act as analgesics, reducing the perception of pain. The great thing about it is that they don’t cause addiction, unlike other drugs you can take to achieve the same results.
I experienced this at a greater level when I first went surfing at fourteen years old. At that time in my life, I was going through some challenges and struggling with depression. Surfing brought a great combo into my life. Exercise, adrenaline, nature’s energy and a great community to be around. As much as endorphins don’t have the same addiction effects as drugs, I still got “addicted” to how good I felt after every session. Sometimes my levels of happiness were such that I remember thinking to myself “ If I die today, I will die happy”. And that level of happiness and satisfaction then transferred into my day to day life. I didn’t worry as much as I used to; I was able to be present in the moment, and I could see things as they were instead of making them bigger than what they were.
Often times if we don’t feel good emotionally, our levels of energy will reflect that and it can be hard to get moving. But especially in those times, it is important to remember that the effects of exercise will be worth it and can have a massive impact on how we will feel afterwards. That will influence your focus, productivity and the relationships you have with other people and yourself.
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