Why Self Care and Exercise are Inherently Earth-Friendly

Both exercise and self-care are important for a happy and healthy life. I’ve found that the more I exercise and take care of myself, the more I align with the core principles of living sustainably and protecting the environment. Believe me, this is no mere coincidence: let’s take a look at the fundamental similarities and pathways between sustainability and self-improvement.

two men hiking in the forested mountains with backpacks and walking sticks.

Appreciation of Nature

Almost any form of exercise (aside from working out at the gym) can take place outdoors. Walking, running, hiking, biking, and other cardio activities go great with the outside world. Also, team sports like soccer, football, and basketball can be played outdoors on a field or paved court. While there are still many productive ways to get exercise indoors, any outdoor exercise we do connects us closely with the earth. Even required “unpleasant” exercises like doing yardwork and shoveling snow apply here.

This connection with nature is found and strengthened simply by being outside. Depending on what we do for school or work, getting outdoors can be a hassle that a lot of us don’t have too much time for. When we do get outside for exercise, the endorphins that greatly improve our heath and mood are having an even more positive impact. I know when I go hiking in the woods at a park or reserve, I find myself enthralled with the natural landscape. Every single time I go, I find something new that I’ve never seen before. An interesting plant, animal, stream, cave, etc. These things inspire me to support environmental activism and write for this blog in the first place. I also feel that many people who are against environmental activism are people who don’t spend much time outside themselves and don’t have a good sensory grip on the things that are actually at stake.

Community

Every kind of outdoor activity has a community that goes with it. Within these communities are tips and tricks, places where people meet up to make friends and hold each other accountable, small businesses that base themselves around certain activities, and more.

Say, for example, you’re really interested in rock climbing. You might go to a rock-climbing gym or take an instructed rock-climbing course on a mountain. You’ll meet people at these places who are just as passionate as you and have scheduled times that they rock climb together. You’ll learn about the best gear, techniques, and strategies for rock climbing which improves your skill and mindset. People involved in this community will sell used or upcycled rock climbing equipment or something else useful like guides or snacks via small businesses. Overall, this will make you spend more time outside engaging in your hobby, bettering yourself and making environmentally friendly choices. Without this encouragement and engagement, you might be more inclined to sit inside, order take-out and watch TV (all of which are worse for the earth and your health).

Being part of a community also helps people who are geographically close to unite and focus on shared goals, which will strengthen the bond between everyone involved and allow us to ask ourselves important questions about the society we live in and planet we live on. Bad mentalities can easily develop when people become socially isolated. This is partially why our earth is being run into the ground by corporations and corruption in the first place.

Emphasis on Improvement

Stagnation and ignorance are easy now, but hard later. If you don’t take care of yourself, it might feel easy. However, the results of an unhealthy lifestyle are hard to cope with. The same rationale applies to the earth. It might be the easier thing to look the other way on the destruction of our planet, but the consequences of ignoring the facts will come back strong. By having a goal-oriented mindset, we can improve ourselves and our lifelong habitat.