The brain-changing benefits of exercise
Wendy Suzuki discusses the science of how working out boosts your mood and memory and protects your brain against neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s. Exercise is a great way to practice self-care and self-compassion.
As Wendy says, “The rule of thumb is you want to get three to four times a week exercise, minimum 30 minutes an exercise session, and you want to get aerobic exercise in. That is, get your heart rate up. And the good news is, you don’t have to go to the gym to get a very expensive gym membership. Add an extra walk around the block in your power walk. You see stairs — take stairs. And power-vacuuming can be as good as the aerobics class that you were going to take at the gym.”
You’re invited to revisit the material in the block below, that comes from our Topic 4 explorations of motivation and goals, if you wish to create a self-compassionate exercise routine goal.
Also know that aerobic exercise is not for everyone 
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Reflection Questions
If you don’t have an exercise routine at present, are you able to contemplate adding exercise into your routine in a way that feels supportive and self-compassionate?
How might you offer yourself compassion when you aren’t able to or don’t want to exercise?
Ritual and Wellbeing
Sarah Shuster’s article offers some great suggestions for small rituals we might create for ourselves that support our self-compassion practice.
Reflection Questions
Is there a small lifestyle change from Sarah’s list that you’d like to make?
How might you support yourself in making this change?
Sleep is Your Number 1 Self-Compassion Practice
In this article I explore ways we can support ourselves to sleep when we need to.
Reflection Questions
Might making one small change suggested in this article support you in your self-care and self-compassion practice?
How might you support yourself in making this change?
Meditation Ritual
This article might help you to set up a meditation space that invites you to formal practice (if that’s part of your self-compassion practice plan).
Reflection Question
If you’re interested in supporting yourself in a formal practice, is there one change you might make to make your practice more easeful?
Articles
You might like to check out the HeartWorks article collections on Ritual here and Self-Care here.
Somatic Self-Compassion Community on Facebook
You can see articles to support your study and practice on our Somatic Self-Compassion Community page on Facebook on self-care here and ritual here.