I’m hoping to share a number of learnings through this site, three of the core ones are:

1. Suffering can be nearly invincible to our attempts to resolve/lessen it.
2. There are a variety of methods for countering our suffering that are worth trying.
3. What works for you may not work for me (and vice versa). In fact, what works for you now may not work tomorrow.

I hope this message is not depressing – it is not meant to be. Rather it is supposed to be validating. The suffering you experience is real and you are not a weaker person because what works for others doesn’t work for you. Don’t give up hope, keep looking for answers. Hold my hand as we walk through our suffering.

One method of battling suffering is physical activity. Physical activity can improve both our mental and physical health. I believe in using physical activity to improve our health, I believe it is one of the more effective tools for accomplishing this improvement and that it can result in significant reductions in suffering.

That said, I’m also here to be a contrarian. To push back against the predominant narrative that exercise is a panacea for suffering, especially psychological suffering.

I’ve had significant psychological challenges since childhood. For many years my body was quite healthy and I participated in rigorous forms of exercise. I lived in the mountains and would take off on a mountain bike for hours a day, traveling miles (uphill both ways, of course).

When I went to college I joined the cross country team until structural issues with my legs forced me to stop. Then I switched to a recumbent bike and rode it for ~2 hrs most days.

I led a youth group which involved active group sport on at least a weekly basis and played pickup basketball at a similar frequency.

Yet throughout all of this my psychological suffering was significant. At points my anxiety in particular crippled me.

Eventually my physical health followed my psychological health and my ability to be physically active became severely limited. Riding a recumbent bike became intensely painful, even walking was difficult.

While I may appear capable now, under the surface I am often teetering on the edge of collapse.

I’m not saying physical activity didn’t help my psychological well-being. I am saying that I experienced extremely dark times with intense psychological suffering in the midst of physical exercise. I don’t know that I’ve ever experienced that “runner’s high” folks speak of.

What am I trying to say? Simply, exercise (physical activity) may be helpful in many (perhaps most) cases but (particularly for those suffering chronically) I find it’s helpfulness quite limited.

I encourage everyone to be physically active but it doesn’t heal all wounds, sometimes it doesn’t even touch them.

Physical Activity vs Exercise

I used the terms “physical activity” and “exercise” interchangeably. Honestly, I hate (hate, hate, hate) exercise in a traditional sense. I find it incredibly boring. Being involved in physical activity on the other hand, I often find exciting. The line between the two is blurry. For example, while running is a physical activity I’ve never really enjoyed it in and of itself. In competition (I’m a bit competitive) it becomes tolerable.

When riding a recumbent over the years I usually watched a movie or TV show to keep the boredom away. Now when I use my treadmill it is under my desk and I walk it while I work.

Competitive sports I find much more compelling. Similarly with physical activities that accomplish some purpose (e.g. cleaning, building, organizing).

I don’t think we need to limit ourselves to regimented exercise to find physical improvement.