Consider this scenario - while walking on an uneven road, you twisted your right leg all of a sudden and ended up with a ligament tear. For the next few days, you found it difficult to walk as you underwent treatments and took medications. You slowly recover and get back to walking comfortably. It feels so good to keep both your feet firmly on the ground. You feel happy and grateful that you can walk fine without any issues.
Strangely, we don't feel the same gratitude when our body functions well and stays healthy. We take it for granted and abuse it in all possible ways - overeating, eating at the wrong time, lack of movement, compromising sleep and binge-watching TV series late in the night, etc.
Many of us feel that exercise (in any form) is something we HAVE to do. It is a chore to complete, an item on the to-do list to check first thing in the morning.
What is needed is a shift in perspective -
being grateful that our body is flexible and has stamina and strength,
thanking our body when we can
- do 6 rounds of Suryanamaskar
- climb 5 flights of stairs
- run 2 km
- bend forward into Padahastasana pose
- sit down on the floor and get up comfortably
- stand for an hour without any lower back ache
If we consider such abilities as privileges we have been bestowed with, we will treat our bodies with a lot more love and care.