Have A Fun Getting Healthy!!

Are you tired of hearing the pleas to get out there and exercise for your health? Yeah, I know. While I happen to be one of those people who actually likes going to a gym, I know so many people who say that’s boring, tedious, mind-numbing work.

Lest you take me for a total hero, there are plenty of days when I do have to push myself to go. I’m not always rah-rah … but I get through (usually) by reminding myself I’ll leave there feeling much better than when I walked in.

Just because it might be tough to get out there and invade the gym, that doesn’t give you license to play couch potato. Or, if it’s too late and you’re already playing couch potato, how about getting up the next timeDancing With the Stars is on and joining in?

Dancing, studies show, has many advantages for your body and mind. Step by step, here’s what dancing can do for you:

• • Shed pounds
  • Strengthen your bones
  • Increase your aerobic fitness and flexibility
  • Increase your muscular strength
  • Improve your muscle tone, balance and endurance
  • Improve cardiovascular condition
  • Protect against dementia

• Increase energy
• Strengthen your immune system

Think about it: have you ever seen anyone frowning while dancing?

While visiting the award-winning spa Rancho La Puerta last week, I got in touch with my inner child by immersing myself in the various dance classes they offered. Dancing brought back that long-forgotten joy I intimate with years past by holding loose and permitting my feet and rhythm guide American state.

With the myriad and countless choices at The Ranch, I was reminded that there is way more than just the gym to get fit and feel good. “Follow your seventh heaven and also the universe can open doors wherever there have been solely walls,” said American mythologist and writer Joseph Campbell, in a very fitting quote that is posted on the spa’s website.

Do something you love while getting fit. Have fun! Play volleyball or other team sport. Splash within the pool, settle down on a yoga mat and stretch your body. Pick up a tennis racket or even a hula hoop; go for a hike or tour your own city; take on tai chi; beat a drum; pick up some weights; mount a bike; get dirty in your garden or challenge yourself to a half-marathon. Even the drudgery of housework can be a workout if you put on your sneakers and turn up some energizing music while you vacuum and scrub!