Everyone knows that exercise is good for you, the same way we know we should eat our greens and get a little Vitamin D. We’ve heard that exercise releases endorphins that can make you feel better mentally as well as physically.
I have worked out regularly since I was a teen. And yet, I still didn’t 100 percent believe.
Since becoming a full-time caregiver, I have been fed a steady diet of platitudes, aphorisms and affirmations: “Don’t try to pour from an empty cup,” “Put your own oxygen mask on first.” But very few of the articles and books and advice spewed from random strangers provide anything truly practical. “Keep a gratitude journal.” “Ask for help.” “Make time for yourself.” “The happiness of your life depends on the quality of your thoughts.” This type of thing can be painful for caregivers who are doing so much already, who have no way to fill their cups, or who don’t even know where the oxygen mask is.
This fall, I decided to sign up at West Marin Fitness. I didn’t think it wouldn’t help me. I just didn’t realize how much it would. I started small. Some cardio. Some weights. I booked a session with the incredibly knowledgeable owner of the gym, Cathy Davis. Added more cardio. More weights.
The weight of caregiving hasn’t subsided. My days aren’t less long. My nights aren’t less lonely. But I have absolutely noticed a measurable, quantifiable change in my emotions. We are still mired in what is, and forever will be, a sad situation. I am still doing all the heavy lifting.
But now that I am also, well, heavy lifting, the weight seems easier to bear.