I used to be one. Amongst the other gym rats I would sweat away indoors. First I aerobicized, then stepped, then kick boxed. I never made it to spinning. The name made me think I would end up puking all over my sneakers. I wasted countless dollars on days I skipped and eventually wasted more money never going at all. The closed, crowded space and smelly re-circulated air made me feel like I was on a really sweaty airplane - uck. I just wanted to get outside into the sunshine.
But I usually didn’t get outdoors. I went back to my grey cube at the office. I worked too much, stressed a lot and sweated the small stuff. Then I made a major life change. In 1999, my father’s heart problems drew me back to New England. My husband graciously found a way to move his job to Boston and we relocated our family from San Francisco to the Boston suburbs.
A life change
Soon after the move closer to my father, I developed some health problems of my own. I went to many medical professionals trying to find out what was making me feel so sick. I was falling asleep in my dinner every night. My brain was fuzzy. My hair was falling out. I lost all confidence in myself. I bounced from doctor to doctor searching for a reason. After a year of no success, my husband said strongly to a doctor that “this is not my wife, something is really wrong.” His advocacy worked and a new doctor quickly diagnosed hypothyroidism and anemia as my problems.
While I was feeling sick, I had to take time off from work. Meanwhile, my mum taught me the family tradition of perennial gardening. I found it took my mind off my problems. Gardening made me feel grounded and provided a form of spiritual meditation. I didn’t have terms for it at the time. I just knew it made me feel better. I had not joined a gym on the East Coast and found that I didn’t need to. Gardening and long walks suited me just fine. Now that my medical conditions are under control, I still find the mind and body benefits of gardening irreplaceable.
Get out of the gym and into garden and you will:
Get Fit – Body and Mind
Save Money
Make Great Gardens
Keep reading this blog for advice on gardening and keeping fit while you garden.
