When to start exercising after illness

[shelley]

one of the most difficult transitions in the road to recovery is knowing when to stop resting and start exercising.

When we are first stricken with imbalance, we need to rest and allow all our energy to towards healing. Things like digestion, assimilation and synthesis of nutrients take a whole lot of energy and that's usually all we have to spare. So in order to sweat we use detox baths, saunas, things that don't require us to burn a lot of calories to get that cleansing sweat flowing.

But what often happens in this period of convalescence is we keep resting even when it's time for us to get off our butts! And thus slow down our recovery tremendously. Only exercise combines a shedding of toxins with the all-important oxygenation of every tissue AND the release of powerful endorphins that make us feel good about ourselves and our world.

We get our full IQ, or even increase it, by exercising. "Dumb Jock" jokes aside, there's no one smarter than a person whose brain is fully oxygenated by exercise while eating a smart diet. If you want to tackle a difficult test or meet a deadline, don't just get enough sleep or eat a hearty breakfast, work out!!!

So every week of your convalescence check in with your body and see if it's time to exercise. Go for a five minute walk and see if you feel energized of depleted. If you feel energized, keep doing it! If you feel depleted, take a day off and try again the next day. Depending on how long your period of convalescence was, you may feel tired for a few weeks before you get that endorphin rush. Just don't push it or get discouraged - it's there waiting, I promise!!!