Fitness Journal - Taking a Break From All Your Worries

by Heather Long | More from this Blogger

20 Jul 2007 03:55 PM

I've talked about the need for a mental health day before. Days to de-stress and take a break are very important. They are important for your workout routine to have a down day to let your body recover properly. Remember, when you don't give your muscles a chance to recover then you run the risk of overtraining and over doing it - this leads to injury, illness and fatigue.

Your mind is a lot like your body, if you don't give it some quality downtime, you're going to be cranky, irritable and tired. My daughter went to spend the day with her grandmother. It's a great treat for the two of them and a treat for me. Because now the portion of my mind that is always on alert for what she is doing, where she is doing it and how she is doing can take a breather. I know she is under the supervision of someone I trust and therefore I can relax.

I spend some time getting work done and then I head outside to tool around in the garden. No, there will be no power mowing today and no time on the treadmill. I have no conscious desire to exercise - per se. But I do have weeds to pull and there is something about weeding that is downright therapeutic. You just get started doing it and you pull weed after weed after weed. Some of the weeds are tough and you have to dig them out. Other weeds come right up by the roots.

Then there's the vine grass that makes me crazy. You pull it up next to you and the root is two feet away and you have to unwind it from your bushes and your flowers so you don't rip them out as you pull it up. You can spend an hour or two just clearing the garden of all the incidental weeds and you're hot and sweaty when you're done, but you feel such a sense of accomplishment. The methodical weed pulling is a workout on your back, arms and hands so be sure to watch your posture or you'll end up hurting yourself.

It's also a great way to relax the mind, because the methodical action is very mind-numbing. After all was said and done, I got myself an ice-cold glass of ice tea and sat down in front of a fan. Later, I went out to look at my weed free garden and I felt really good about that. Everyone needs a down day.

Learn more about Heather Long

Heather Long is 35 years old and currently lives in Wylie, Texas. She has been a freelance writer for six years. Her husband and she met while working together at America Online over ten years ago.

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