Daily Excerpt: Widow: How to Survive (and Thrive!) in Your 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Years (Romer) - Exercise

 



Today's book excerpt comes from Joanna Romer's Widow: How to Survive (and Thrive!) in Your 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Years

CHAPTER SIX

Exercise

Dare I bring up the obvious? There are few things as crucial to your state of mind as exercise. While it may have been easy to go the gym, run around the block, or swim at the neighborhood pool during your first year of widowhood, by Year Two it’s become a little harder. Why is that? Quite simply, when you’re in a state of extreme stress or depression, such as early widowhood, exercise acts as a tonic, giving an immediate boost. As your sense of wellbeing returns, the benefits of exercise aren’t so obvious.

They are still there, however, and exercise is still vitally important. Even though we begin to feel a new sense of calm and acceptance waking up in the morning, that doesn’t mean we should loll around the house all day in our pajamas. Yes, certainly, once a week it’s great to take a day off, but during the week try to incorporate a little bit of exercise into your daily routine.

This does not have to be extensive or even particularly exhausting. A 15-minute walk after dinner or early in the morning will enliven your senses and put you in touch with the world. Twenty minutes of “Body Electric,” available on YouTube, will stretch your muscles, get your thoughts off your problems and let you focus on how good your body feels. Try dancing around the house to some favorite music, feeling the beat and the motion of your hips. A weekly bowling date with the girls, a tennis lesson where you really try to improve, or a game of golf (even miniature golf) will keep your body flexible and your mind open.

That’s the real benefit of exercise: the effect on your mind. As a second-year widow, we need anything we can do to connect us with the outside world. We’ve spent a lot of time thinking, and while some of it—most of it—was necessary for our healing, it is now time to take a step out of our heads and into our bodies. It’s time to move.  

                                                         

GUIDELINES FOR CONTINUING TO EXERCISE

1.     If you developed an exercise routine during your first year of widowhood, continue it in Year Two, Three and Four.

2.     If you didn’t exercise in Year One, now is the time to start.

3.     Begin with something simple—a 15-minute walk around the block, or 20   minutes of “Body Electric” (found on Youtube).

4.     Take advantage of spare moments to dance around your house to music, moving your hips and torso.

5.     As you feel more comfortable exercising, take a tennis lesson, swim laps in the local pool, or try some bowling.


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For more posts about Joanna and her books, click HERE.

For more posts about bereavement, click HERE.

For more posts about widowhood, click HERE.

For more posts about exercise, click HERE.


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