Exercise: A Sanctuary From Stress
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But harnessing themselves to exercise frequently was not going to happen unless it was necessary to accelerate their weight loss. In the interim, study after study has pointed to the benefits of exercise for improving sleep (1), maintaining cognitive abilities (2), improving bone strength (3), maintaining cardiovascular health (4), decreasing the likelihood of certain types of cancer (5), regulating glucose control in diabetes (6), improving mood disorders (7), and, of course, losing weight.
But one benefit of exercise not emphasized sufficiently is that exercise can be a sanctuary from the stresses that surround us. For example, a friend with a very public job retreats to her basement exercise machine when she comes home from work. She told me that this is her private time. She doesn’t answer the phone or do email or attend to the unending obligations of her career and home, but instead immerses herself in watching old movies on a television screen as she works out on her elliptical trainer. Another, a busy therapist, swims underwater (with a snorkel tube) several times a week. “I don’t want to hear anyone talking,” he told me. “Swimming allows me to escape.”
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