We all know that moving our body is an important aspect to overall healthy living. When dealing with some sort of physical limitation (pregnancy, sickness, fatigue, travel, etc) or injury though, that can feel like a hard and frustrating thought. Today, I’m going to talk about how to deal with physical challenges and offer my thoughts on how to “exercise” self-kindness when your body requires it.

Regardless of why you may need to modify physical exercise, I believe there is one important starting point common to every situation, and that is getting your head straight first.

In my opinion, keeping our thoughts inline to fight off discouragement when we’re faced with an injury is both the hardest and most important form of discipline. When you’re faced with the choice to push your body beyond what’s healthy or not, it takes great inner strength to choose self-care. If you’re anything like me, it’s tempting to cheer yourself on with the old mantra, “no pain, no gain.” Hogwash! Our bodies are designed to provide us with physical warning signals to tell us that it needs rest and self-kindness. Recently, I’ve drastically altered my workout plans in direct response to those very warning signals. It hasn’t been easy. It’s been accompanied by moments of anxiety and doubt. However, every time I begin to feel that way, I’m reminded that exercise is intended to bless my body, not harm it. I renew my thoughts, take a deep breath, pray, and recommit to treating my body with care and kindness. In my own life, this has meant backing WAY off of intense exercise. And, you know what? The more I settle into this place in my fitness journey, the more peace I feel. If your body is telling you that you need to re-examine how you move it, trust that and remember, your goal for exercise is to lead your body to optimum health and blessing. Our ultimate goal should focus on being able-bodied for God’s purposes in our lives. So, with that in mind, let’s talk about a few ways to healthfully deal with injury and physical limitations.

Walking!

With few exceptions, walking is almost always a safe, effective, comfortable way to exercise your body. Long, brisk walks have so many benefits both mentally and physically. Your body is made to walk. Long, brisk walks effectively raise your heartrate, have low impact on joints, burn calories, tone and strengthen muscles, and provide mental clarity. In my personal opinion (again, with a few exceptions) walking truly is the perfect form of exercise. Keep walking interesting by varying your environment, try exploring new walking paths and trails. Build intensity and endurance by adding hills to your walking route. Challenge yourself by adding distance and speed as your body allows. And, upbeat music is always a fun and helpful way to keep walking enjoyable.

Embrace low/no-impact movement!

In most cases, incorporating more low or no-impact activity can drastically improve physical discomfort and even injury.Low impact exercise is still incredibly effective at achieving all the physical benefits most people desire without the pain. Walking, stretching, protected ab exercises, swimming, water aerobics, recumbent bike, yoga and Pilates are all excellent low or no-impact options.

Use the rest of your body!

If you’re dealing with a specific injury, there’s a good chance you can still enjoy exercise using unaffected parts of your body. For instance, maybe you’re recovering from a wrist or shoulder injury. Walking, stair-climbing, stationary (hands-free) cycling, and the elliptical trainer may all be great possibilities and provide an excellent workout. In addition, you may be able to do lower body weight circuits that include things like leg presses, lunges, extensions, even sit-ups.

Consider nutrition!

Remember that exercise is just one contributing factor to your overall healthy lifestyle. Nutrition plays a huge role and can be maintained in almost all recovery scenarios (pregnancy and sickness may affect how you’re able to eat, if that’s your situation, give yourself grace!). Remember to include lots of water, and enjoy a healthy balance of nourishing carbohydrates, lean protein and healthy sources of fat to keep you strong and satisfied!

Rest!

Finally, when your body requires you to rest – rest! For many of us, this is by far the hardest step. If your body requires time off of exercise, I would just encourage you to trust God with that. Sometimes surrendering our workouts to Him and trusting that our bodies will continue to thrive is a huge step and often results in unexpected freedom and blessing. Taking time to care for your body, allowing it to recover and regain stamina and strength, is a brave thing to do. It’s worthy of celebration though because it truly is an indication that you recognize your value and worth. Caring well for something means you love it and when we take the steps necessary to allow for physical recovery, it’s an amazing act of self-kindness and love. During rest time, try to be intentional about noticing the best parts of your body and celebrating them. Take time to do other activities you enjoy to help keep your spirits up. Don’t follow fitness blogs or read about workouts during your time-off, it will most likely affect your thoughts in a negative way. Use your recovery time to really focus on healthy eating and a building up your healthy spirit. Above all, remind yourself that this is probably just a season and it will pass. Chances are, you’ll be back to enjoying exercise in no time, so take a deep breath and trust the process!