Finding Serenity
Serenity: The state of being calm, peaceful and untroubled
Ex: “an oasis of serenity amidst the bustling city”
What is your “happy place?”
The place where you can escape the pressures of the day, the to-do list in your mind, the circumstance you happen to be in. The place where the voice in your head is silenced and you are completely in your element. I hope you have one, or that in reading this you will be inspired to discover and pursue yours.
I was very fortunate to be raised by two very active and outdoorsy parents. Both academics, they taught me, without particularly meaning to, how to find balance between drive, discipline and striving to achieve, with mindfulness and restoration through hiking, sports, and quality family time. On top of playing their own team sports, they were active members of the gym, and as soon as I was old enough my mom gave in to my requests to take me to her aerobics classes with her. I would also join her on her outdoor runs around the neighbourhood and then began going on my own. We lived in a rural area in Thunder Bay, Ontario and the images I have of “home” when I think of the name, are the fields behind our house that I would run through, 5km, then 10km, and for who knows how long, to get out of my own head and just “be”.
This is where I found myself heading the morning that I learned that my mom had been taken to the hospital, for what would be as my dad put it a “one way trip”, at the end of her 4 year battle with breast cancer, when I was 13 years old.
At 15 years old, I got a gym membership of my own and began going after school. Without knowing anything about the effects that exercise has on the brain and body in helping to deal with stress, I instinctively felt pulled towards this place. I would go off and on, but I loved knowing that if I was having an “off” day, I knew the place where I could go to fix it. When I moved away to Ottawa for University, I used this to help ease the transition, again being totally unaware of the science that exists to back up what I was doing. This time, I would start my day at 6am in the gym and walk out feeling on top of the world. I always told myself that no matter what else happened that day; even if nothing from my massive to-do list got done that day; I had already accomplished something great. That “something great”, it turns out, was far more than just finishing a workout; it was taking care of my own well-being.
Life will always be in flux. Ups, downs, curve-balls, beginnings and endings. What matters most is how you’re able to deal with the challenges thrown at you. Is your body strong enough to support you in your daily movements? Are you able to play without pain? Do you have the energy required to pursue your passions and wake up every day with a sense of excitement? Have you trained your mind to work for you and not against?
Learning how to care for your Self in a holistic sense can be an overwhelming task. My passion for this field comes from knowing that the tools are available to absolutely thrive in our bodies and our daily lives, but that it isn’t what is necessarily taught in our mainstream society. Learning how to “tune in” to our own needs in order to develop our full potential as human beings is quite different than conforming to the expectations placed on us by society.
Have the respect for yourself to learn what it is that makes you “tick” and follow that. What do you need to do to bring more of that into your life? There is a quote that reads “Most people have no idea how good their body is designed to feel” and I would argue that the same could be said for one’s quality of life as well.
It’s been proven that a change in physiology leads to an overall change in one’s mental state. In my case, I am certain that this discovery of my “happy place” has had an enormous effect on the decisions made throughout the rest of my life, one positive moment at a time.
Janet Alexander
Serenity Fitness & Lifestyle
“Health & Happiness in Body & Mind”