TUNING UP THE BODY & MIND
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I'm single and I work at an ad agency in New York. Most of my days have been spent in front of a computer pounding out slogans and trying to figure out clever ways to convince consumers that they should be using our clients' products. When I finished at the office, my focus would be on having a good time.
When you reach your late thirties and that trim, youthful look begins to fade and those telltale signs of paunch start cropping up, you start thinking a little more about trying to stay in shape.
I'd thought about health clubs and some of my buddies had ambitiously joined. I'd always tease them, since - after paying their annual dues and buying expensive workout gear--few of them ever actually showed up at the gym. They never took the time to check out the weight room or those endless rows of treadmills and Bowflex machines. It was much easier lifting beers at a singles bar.
For me, jogging, aerobics and weight-lifting did not hold much attraction. Back in my hometown in Indiana, I had played a little baseball and, of course, basketball. I was a typical Hoosier. I'd even made the varsity in college, so I had some experience as a jock.
On my way home from work one day, I happened to stop in front of one of New York's countless sportswear stores. Sitting there amidst the bowling balls, skis, jogging suits, roller blades, and tennis rackets was a simple, unadorned brown sphere--a basketball. It seemed like a sign, so I went in and bought one.
The city game is little intimidating for a spindle-legged Hoosier with minimal lift and no gift for trash talking. No, I couldn't go between my legs with the ball and my no-look passes usually sailed out of bounds. With no show-stopping crossover move or air-defying, double-clutching dunks in my game, I was lost whenever I ventured onto the court at parks like West 4th Street in lower Manhattan.
But I had a sweet jump shot. I could tickle the nets from twenty-five feet with the best of them. The following week, I went out to the courts at the West 13th Street playground and started firing away. It took only a few months for me to realize that I'd found the perfect form of exercise.
I usually found an unoccupied court and worked solo on dribbling, stopping and hoisting up jumpers. The running, jumping, stooping and chasing errant shots had an immediate effect. Once I got over the aches and pains derived from using muscles that had been inactive since the Reagan administration, I felt great.
I was amazed at how regular exercise can both tighten up your body and produce an ease and flexibility of movement that I frankly hadn't experienced since college. I stood taller, walked more briskly, I even spoke with more confidence. It took a while, but I began to realize that my little exercise regime was not only strengthening my body but also uplifting my spirits.
If you're searching for an activity that revitalizes both your body and spirit, you might try looking back at your own past experiences--something at which you excelled or were at least proficient. It could be as simple as tossing horseshoes, pitching pennies or putting on a miniature golf course, or it could be more demanding or unusual: stick ball, bowling, tennis, running, horseback riding, and badminton.
The way I see it, the body is like an elephant, it never forgets. You can really enjoy yourself when you re-open the door to the past and rediscover one of those sweet spots in time where your mind and body, your entire being is totally synched and in rhythm.
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Fitness for Health
