Entry 5: Nurturing - 9/23/22

This entry is going to be mostly about health and fitness. I will go deep into who I have been working out with and what I have been doing in the gym. There are many aspects to a healthy life that go beyond lifting weights. I have tried to create a lifestyle that encourages the best version of myself, and as I go on everyday I am learning more and trying to improve. I hope to share some of what I have learned!

Bray and I at gym in Windom, MN.

Teamwork

    Lately I have been working out with my friend, Bradyn. I really enjoy working out with him because he is relatively new to working out, so I get to teach and mentor him. I have helped people with lifting before, like last winter I encouraged my cousin, Nick Espenson, to lift with me and i mentored him as well. He has "graduated" from "grasshopper" and is now going strong on his own! When I lift with others I like to also encourage them to strengthen all areas of their life. Usually whatever I am studying at the time I also share with my current lifting partner. Not only do they gain information and wisdom, but by telling them it also helps me remember. I once heard someone say “if you cannot explain it, then you do not fully comprehend it” and I can agree with that. Working out with others and those who are new to exercise has also been a great way for me to see if I would like some sort of job in Physical Training/Therapy or as a CrossFit coach. I can say I definitely would enjoy some sort of profession in exercise. The most important thing to me whether I pursue a job in health and fitness or not is that I keep living a healthy lifestyle no matter where or how old I am. I can feel God trying to use me through exercise because of the great people he has marvelously provided in my fitness life. After just a short year and six months in the gym, God has provided Abbi, Nick, Meadow, Chummy, and Bradyn. Each one of these people hold a unique place in my heart and as a gym partner. Some were shorter lived relationships in terms of training together and other relationships have sailed away, even so, I am thankful for all of them. I am beyond stoked to see the people God provides for me while at YWAM. I cannot wait to have such a strong team of believers and physically strong people encouraging and pushing me to be my best self.

Vitality

   The closer I get to leaving for Hawaii the more intense I have been going in my workouts. I feel as if the energy that would usually go towards worrying and making up unrealistic problems of a new environment is being expressed through exercise and cardio. Instead of thinking of all the things that could go wrong in Hawaii and the Himalayan mountains, I am transforming that energy into vitality through exercise. I believe that vitality is a valuable currency. For those who do not know what vitality is, vitality is the power giving continuance of life, present in all living things; the state of being strong and active; energy. I think it is a super powerful emotion and I have actually created a poem expressing how I feel about it. I will publish that poem in the next couple days! It will be posted under the Poetry page.

Recovery

    I love making analogies using cut diamonds. Something about using such a beautiful piece of matter to convey a message is truly satisfying. So with that in mind, I think health can be considered a beautiful cut diamond and things like exercise, sleep, food, etc, could be considered the “facets” of health. Facet meaning one side of something many-sided, especially of a cut gem. 

    The first facet I will talk about in this journal is yoga. I almost always follow a lifting or cardio session with yoga. Since I got back from morris about 1 1/2 months ago I have been ending my workouts everyday with 5-25 minutes of restorative yoga. I have been experimenting with the yoga style “yin”. Yin holds poses for much longer which causes the connective tissues in the muscle to stretch. This is a great type of yoga for me after an intense workout because it allows me to walk away with little to no soreness. As I keep journaling I am sure I will bring up the other "facets" of health in my life.

Support