Exercise is great for the body. Do anything that makes you feel good. It doesn’t matter if it’s bicycling, tennis, jogging, volleyball, swimming, golf, brisk walking, using a trampoline, jumping rope, playing with the dog, or whatever. Some sort of exercise is vital to maintaining optimum health. If we don’t exercise at all, then the bones weaken; they require exercise to stay strong. We are living longer all the time, and we want to be able to run and jump and move easily until our last day.

I go to the gym twice a week and also do quite a bit of gardening, which is hard physical labor and keeps the body strong. Over my lifetime, I have done many sorts of exercise: Jazzercise, aerobics, matwork, yoga, trapeze work, and dance. For some time now, I’ve been going to a Pilates gym. We work with springs rather than weights, so the muscles stay long. This form of workout suits my body very well. I also walk fairly regularly, which I enjoy very much because it gives me a chance to take in the beautiful surroundings in my lovely Southern California neighborhood.

If you are thinking of embarking on an exercise program, start slowly, maybe with just a walk around the block after dinner. As you build your stamina, you might increase your rate and distance until you are walking at a brisk pace for a mile or more. You’ll be surprised by the changes you see in your body and mind when you start taking care of yourself in this manner. Remember: Every single thing that you do for yourself is an act of self-love, or self-hate. Exercise is self-love. And loving the self is the key to success in just about every aspect of your life.

Healthy Healing has a “one-minute exercise” for those who say they have no time, or when we are too rushed to do a longer set. Simply lie flat on the floor. Then stand up in any way you can. Then lie down again. Do this for one minute. It exercises the muscles, lungs, and the circulatory system.

As I’ve researched different ways of staying fit, I’ve found that there are many two- to five-minute exercises that you can do throughout the day. For instance, to tighten your lower abdominal area: slowly exhale and, as you reach the place where you normally finish breathing out, smoothly and forcefully breathe out more, using the power of your lower abdominal muscles. Work up to doing ten of these exercises each day. Fit them in wherever you can, doing one or two at a time.

My favorite “one-minute” exercise that I do when I am in a hurry is just to jump up and down 100 times. It is quick and easy and it feels good.

So you see, there are lots of ways to make sure the body doesn’t get rusty and rigid. Keep moving and have fun.