Many moons ago, I was not a person who liked exercising. My favorite tee shirt declared my motto: GO AWAY. I’M READING.

As a young person, I attended a Footloose style church that loved banning things. At the top of the banned list was music. As a result, I was in my early twenties before I really fell in love with music. This was soon followed by the discovery of a passion for dancing. I was struck by how quickly and effectively this combination could change my state of mind.

I'm not sure it's possible to overstate the importance of the mind-body connection. Because of its importance, and the growing body of research surrounding it, we're starting to see that phrase everywhere. So much so that I suspect it is losing its impact.

Without the mind-body connection, I have very little faith that I could have ever found a way to maintain the long term motivation required to take care of myself. There’s a feedback loop that, if I pay attention to it, allows the things I want to do and the things that are “healthy” for me to become one and the same. At least most of the time. Enough of the time.

We can make small changes in our mental health that prompt changes in our physical health. We can make small changes in our physical routines that can spark change in our mental wellness. I like to think of it as working from the outside, in or from the inside, out. They both work — why not do both? Doesn’t it stand to reason that would be the most effective route to either mental or physical health?

If this isn't something that comes naturally to you, you're not alone. Seek out support to help get you closer to your goals. The kind of support that fits your ideology and is respectful of you as a person, mentally and physically. A “fitness professional” that uses shame as a motivator is an outdated construct, not to mention counter to mental wellness. It’s a frightening thing to throw aside a familiar way of thinking, but when you do, you open yourself up to learning new, more functional ways of doing things.