Let Your Body Choose Today's Exercise

I don’t like to exercise! I mean, the thought of intentionally moving my body is so unappealing that I’d rather just forget the whole thing. As a youngster, I was quite athletic. In fact, in high school, I made the varsity tennis team as an incoming freshman! I guess, now, left to my own devices, I’d just much rather write at my computer or read a book.
Luckily, my metabolism has cooperated most of my life so I’ve gotten away with sitting around much longer than some. Unfortunately, however, I’m becoming painfully aware that my metabolism is changing and that having some kind of a daily exercise routine is definitely in order.
Walking the dog has been helpful but not nearly enough. I even live in a neighborhood with parkways and green ways that is very conducive to outdoor living, yet I seem to walk my dog just long enough to recognize a neighbor and chat for 15 - 20 minutes. My dog being old doesn’t help much because he’s usually ready to turn around and go home as soon as I’m done talking too!
My husband and I used to have bicycles until they were stolen from our garage. After the second time, we gave up and replaced them with scooters. Harder to steal and much more fun to ride.
Not wanting to waste time traveling to a gym, changing, showering, etc, I decided I’d rather not have to leave the house to exercise if at all possible. And that’s when I discovered FIT TV on my cable. They broadcast a variety of exercise programs that run in ½ hour or one hour segments and include anything from yoga to aerobics to belly dancing. I find this system fits me because I simply tape an exercise program that appeals to me, work out with it and then decide if I want to keep it on file or not. If yes, it gets logged into my DVR file and I can return to it whenever want. If not, I erase it, never to be bothered with it again!
What I’ve discovered, over the past few months, is that my body seems to know what work out I need and when. Instead of looking at the list of workouts I’ve recorded and over-thinking things, I just let my body decide. Not knowing what workout my body will choose and when, is a bit thrilling, I admit. Sometimes it chooses something expected and other times, it chooses something unexpected and I just go with it anyway!
How my body knows what exercise it needs is a mystery. All I know is that it gives me great pleasure and relief to know that my body is in control of it’s own health. I don’t have to over think it or feel guilty about not doing what I think my body wants me to do or what I think I’m supposed to do. It just simply knows and I just simply listen.
How about you? What does your body need today? More rest, more exercise, less stress? What can you do for your body today without thinking about it too much? Just ask it, you might be surprised at what is tells you!