Want Good Motivation For Exercising

[Afonso]

So, last year, around June, I started exercising a lot. I became much more physically fit and energetic. I lost a lot of weight, put on some muscle and became leaner.

However, since I started my Self-Actualization journey and meditation practice, my awareness has boosted a lot. And some months ago I realized that I was going to the gym so as not to feel lonely, to having a sense of purpose, for looking attractive for the girls and feeding the Ego. Since my realization took place, I have not gone to the gym.

Before, when I got anxious or bored or lonely I would go to the gym and I would take a lot of pics at the mirror and stuff like that.

Now, I'm aware that ALL of that was negative motivation. (I would rationalize that I was exercising because of health benefits).

How do you deal with this? As I stopped exercising, I have lost a lot of muscle and became fatter. That makes me want to hit the gym. But even that wanting stems from negative motivation! Even my concern with this issue and my wanting to get back to exercise stems from negative motivation.

How do you deal with this? I intellectually know that exercising is healthy and good for the body, yet I don't find anything that positively fuels me to go exercise.

Edited July 25, 2017 by Afonso

[SFRL]

 

[Afonso]

3 minutes ago, SFRL said:

 

Yeah, that looks amazing and stuff but the issue remains: what motivation?

You can say that motivation is just to LOOK BEAST YEAH FUCK YEAH KICK THIS SHIT but then again, what difference is between doing that going shopping everyday for the best outfits? It's just Ego games in the end of the day.

[SFRL]

13 minutes ago, Afonso said:

Yeah, that looks amazing and stuff but the issue remains: what motivation?

You can say that motivation is just to LOOK BEAST YEAH FUCK YEAH KICK THIS SHIT but then again, what difference is between doing that going shopping everyday for the best outfits? It's just Ego games in the end of the day.

That's only a surface level comparison. 

Shopping is a fast reward. 

The results from working out take months and years to pay off. 

 

Also right now you are young. Your health and fitness are a given. You don't appreciate it because you haven't lost it. Right now you got the eternal youth. You won't understand until you get around 30. 

[Afonso]

1 minute ago, SFRL said:

That's only a surface level comparison. 

Shopping is a fast reward. 

The results from working out take months and years to pay off. 

 

Also right now you are young. Your health and fitness are a given. You don't appreciate it because you haven't lost it. Right now you got the eternal youth. You won't understand until you get around 30. 

"The results from working out take months and years to pay off."

Don't you see the repeating pattern here? The pay off is Ego Boost, Muscles and being Physically Attractive all of which stem from pain of not being good looking or of social rejection/low self-esteem.

[SFRL]

2 minutes ago, Afonso said:

"The results from working out take months and years to pay off."

Don't you see the repeating pattern here? The pay off is Ego Boost, Muscles and being Physically Attractive all of which stem from pain of not being good looking or of social rejection/low self-esteem.

You are right. It's ok to be weak. 

[Steph1988]

@Afonso

- more energy

- looking prettier 

- increasing your lifespan 

- study suggest it makes u smarter or keep you smart longer

- keeping deceases away

- good for your hart and blood pressure

- and yes confidence why not it should just not be a crutch.

- it will even be kind of fun after a while 

and...

5 hours ago, SFRL said:

The pay off is Ego Boost

let me ask you this, if u u are afraid it will just boost your ego? are u not massively acknowledging your ego?

Just go ahead and do it regularly, it is doable 

Currently i'm focused on work and i work 5-6 days a week of 10-12 hours still i do a daily ( ok i skip sometimes but not much ) 50 push up 50 sit up 8 pull up well that is no tough work out but doing it everyday makes me quite fit actually and i even made gains in my shoulders.

its not hard if you do it daily after 2 weeks

if u are not motivated by all the endless list of benefits science has proven just do because it makes u feel real good and that's it really don't look deeper and just do it !

[ajasatya]

8 hours ago, Afonso said:

since I started my Self-Actualization journey and meditation practice, my awareness has boosted a lot. And some months ago I realized that I was going to the gym so as not to feel lonely, to having a sense of purpose, for looking attractive for the girls and feeding the Ego. Since my realization took place, I have not gone to the gym.

How do you deal with this? I intellectually know that exercising is healthy and good for the body, yet I don't find anything that positively fuels me to go exercise.

i went through the same process and i could not stand gyms anymore. but i also realized that a healthy body would improve my daily experience of life. so i noticed that i needed to exercise the body while immersing in a mindfulness training. there was no other option for me because everything else felt like a waste of time. so i choose hatha yoga. been practicing consistently for 2 years.

[Michael569]

Notice how you feel when you neglect your physical body. Even a great deal of consciousness work cannot compensate for lack of physical activity. Now compare it with the feeling you get when you leave the gym, when you have the cocktail of serotonin and dopamin which makes you feel alive and vibrant! A real growth is what needs to occur, you need to convince yourself within that this is something you have to be doing on daily basis. No amount of supplements, gym partners or music will do that for you, all those will collapse at some point. 

The deep motivation has to come from your willingness to be an extraordinary human being , I don't mean being muscular but becoming clean, efficient and full of energy, this transcends in all areas of your life. The pain in the gym is a small price to pay. I like the quote "pain is the weakness leaving your body." Created by some meathead but it does have a point.  To positievely fuel yourself, think of positive benefits: Longevity, Sexual Performance, Energy balance ,Perfect mental clarity. It transcends in all other areas of your life. 

All that being said, you probably need some tangible advice to kick you in the butt.

• Do a proper warmup
  • Start with light stretching to get your blood circulating, this you can do while at home. You'll already start to feel energy gain. 
  • Try adding skipping rope as a warmup. Its a lot of fun, much better than treadmil. 
• Exercise outside, the fresh air will do you good and occasional peer may motivate you to go harder
• Have someone hold you accountable. ( but again that's not a real, growth) 
• Eat a proper nutrition, this could also be a result of some negative energy. Brandon Brazzier's- Thrive Diet is an excellent guide to highly digestible athletic diet. 
• Try a Sedona method, Leo has a good video on that. 

[tyy]

@Afonso I can relate to this perception shift. I still get lost in body image thoughts sometimes though, which was the original reason I started. Much like @ajasatya outlook, I now see training as a way to improve the daily situation. One example is: sometimes work demands a lot from my shoulders, so they get more emphasis in the gym to preserve/strengthen them. It's a good habit to keep, just modify it to suit your higher level of consciousness. 

[SFRL]

Check out: Hodge Twins 

They got a really good YouTube channel for natural bodybuilding. 

And kinds of things, lol

Edited July 26, 2017 by SFRL

[Lord Bwyra]

You can make everything part of your spiritual practice.

There are many ways to exercise besides going to the gym and taking selfies of yourself. You have cornered yourself into a false dichotomy;
gym+selfies vs zero motivation to exercise. 

I think this offers you two challenges:

1) Contemplate on the deeper meaning of physical activity, keeping the body strong, agile, flexible, mobile, endurance in heart, lungs, etc. Think about how you would feel if you were missing some limbs. Be grateful that you can walk and jump and run and play and fuck like a God.

2) Practice mindfulness as you do your chosen exercise so that you are performing the movements with grace and beauty and admiration for what the human body is capable of. Align your breath and focus and smile (if you are at the gym you can practice your war cry when the reps get too heavy).

Perhaps try some new form of exercise whether it's yoga, running, swimming, climbing, martial arts, calisthenics, gymnastics. Take a class or online course. Just make sure you keep challenging your body and mind. (Sex can be great too if you find the right partner who's into sportfucking!)

One of the biggest mistakes for inexperienced spiritual seekers is that they think that certain practices like meditation require a specific setting. Or that they have to go to a cave in india to get enlightened. But true spirituality and self-actualization work is practiced everywhere, every moment you are alive. The opportunities for growth and enlightenment are endless.

All the best

[MotivatedVeronica]

Just think about why you started in the first place whenever you feel like quitting. And it will make you focus on your goal. And here are some tips for you to help you focus. Click here!

[Jakob Eiring]

I just discovered this guy named Ido Portal. He has some interesting thoughts about how and why you should use your body. There are some pretty in depth interviews with on London Real (a YouTube channel), that you can check out! Hope it helps!:)

[Jedd]

Watch this 

[alea]

A stoaic philospher said that you can't be master of all fields.  I think we should learn to give up. Yes, if you give up exercise you will lose its benefits, but you should accept, it, take responsibility of your decision. 

Everyone is different, every time is different, maybe you have more crucial things than "exercise" that you should focus on now. Maybe your personality tends to other things such as arts, science, friendship etc. 

[Siim Land]

“Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up, it knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve. It doesn't matter whether you're the lion or a gazelle-when the sun comes up, you'd better be running.” - Christopher McDougal

[ElenaO]

I see where you are coming from. I think the way to deal with this is to keep exercising, but at the same time doing actualization and spirituality work. I had (and pretty much still have) very similar thoughts. That's why at some point I stopped doing things one by one. Right now I am pretty much lost (an existential crisis?). If you have time and desire to exercise it's a shame not to do it. Imagine how many people hate exercising and if you don't then hey, you are the lucky one. Keeping your body fit and in a good shape can only help on the path to self actualization. Of course, if you later decide that there are more important things to focus on, then sure, just drop the exercise altogether. But if you are able and willing to do it now, it's just silly not to do it. Whatever the motivation behind it. Just be mindful of it.

[Vaishnavi]

one thing that I can suggest is taking up someone else's motivation might not last long. Lately I've realised that I'm highly disconnected to my body, that I don't know what it is like to actually feel my skin, feel my body, feel the air that i'm taking in, that I ain't grounded in my system cause I take it for granted. 

Genuinely and authentically connecting to my body and feeling every cell, the blood, the breath, my skin, is what I genuinely crave for now, so even if I do get lazy, I somehow catch up cause I stay mindful of the fact how disconnected I am. I now want to work on my health for its own sake, because I want to feel what it is like to be in my skin and not because I have to for a quality life or something. 

so maybe keep your overall health in mind instead of just exercising. Once you develop a strong enough reason for why you want "good health", disciplining the mind for exercising gets easy. Like describe in rich details what you want your health to be like and do it not out of obligation but because you want to, so write when you are actually inspired to. 

P.S. I'd highly recommend Yoga. It leads to holistic development of the system (strength, flexibility, willpower, calm etc.) 

[Source_Mystic]

Look not going to get into ego games or the inner psychology of the issue. What I suggest is doing a physical activity you actually enjoy . For me it is cycling or simply taking long walks or swimming  but the important thing is that you acutely enjoy it . We do things we enjoy more and with less subconscious resistance if we hold a affinity  for them.

  Follow you bliss instead of forcing yourself to do something you truly do not want to do .... good luck