day 5:

Oh, exercise.

Growing up, I was a pretty active kid. I was always out riding my bike or running around the neighborhood until I heard my dad whistle for me to come home.

I played fastpitch for 11 years.

I played volleyball for a few too, until everyone else got their growth spurt and I stayed at 5'3''. I had to say goodbye to my career as an outside hitter...

just kidding I wasn't that great.

When I got to high school there was absolutely zero time to exercise. I would go to seminary then school then two or three hours of choir or play rehearsal, come home, do homework, and go to bed.

When I started having back problems my junior year, I started to do yoga pretty regularly just in my room before bed.

But I was definitely not as healthy as I should have been.

When I got to school I started running pretty regularly.

At my peak I was running 5 miles 3 times a week.

And it felt really good to have seen my progress. 

When I started getting busier and didn't have time to run, I would just do yoga to help with my stress and to get my body moving.

Unfortunately, this semester that hasn't been happening very often either.

So for day 5 I put on my leggings and threw in a couple sun-salutations.

It was not as involved of a yoga practice as I would usually do.

But it felt good. I had more peace and I had more energy.

Elle Woods said it best:

On my journey of making peace with exercise, I have learned it is not about the distance I can run. I still really want to run a half-marathon. I would love to be a marathon runner one day. I would love to hike mountains on the weekend.

As a college student, it's easy to get discouraged about my exercise when I have these big dreams for my fitness but not enough time to dedicate to them.

But it's not about that.

I have learned that it really, truly, is just about making a regular effort to do something.

Conquering your body is the first step to conquering everything else.