Regular exercise and self-compassion are remarkably good for you.

Regular exercise

  • decreases risk of death from any cause.1
  • is the most effective way to prevent
    • cardiovascular disease,
    • diabetes,
    • cancer,
    • hypertension,
    • obesity,
    • depression,
    • and osteoporosis.1
  • improves your mood.2
  • helps you quit smoking.3
  • improves brain health.4
  • improves your sleep.4
  • improves your sexual health.6 7
  • would be prescribed for almost all types of physical and mental health issues, if it could be taken as a drug. 8

Self-compassion

  • increases motivation to self-improve.9
  • increases feelings of
    • happiness,
    • optimism,
    • curiosity,
    • and connectedness.10
  • decreases feelings of
    • anxiety,
    • depression,
    • rumination,
    • and fear of failure.10
  • protects from
    • social comparison,
    • public self-consciousness,
    • self-rumination,
    • anger and closed-mindedness.11
  • increases resilience.12
Mac running down trail finishing an easy jog in the mountains.

Let's face it, running is hard. That's why regular exercise and self-compassion are perfect companions. The ultimate way to show ourselves compassion is to treat our bodies and minds to regular exercise and to stay motivated and positive during a training program you need to be kind to yourself. Choose a link to learn about Running Kindness' perspective on how to train and practice self-compassion.

References

Look at you, reading over the references... pretty sexy. I don't just throw facts out, hoping they are true. I did the research, and here are the scholarly works that back it all up. Exercise and self-kindness are powerful.

1.Warburton, Nicol, and Bredin. 2006. Health benefits of physical activity: the evidence. CMAJ. 174(6)801-809.

2. Gilani SRM, Feizabad AK. The effects of aerobic exercise training on mental health and self-esteem of type 2 diabetes mellitus patients. Health Psychol Res. 2019;7(1):6576. Published 2019 Mar 11. doi:10.4081/hpr.2019.6576

3. Fight Cravings with Exercise. NIH

4. Q. Ding, S. Vaynman, M. Akhavan, Z. Ying, F. Gomez-Pinilla,Insulin-like growth factor I interfaces with brain-derived neurotrophic factor-mediated synaptic plasticity to modulate aspects of exercise-induced cognitive function, Neuroscience,Volume 140, Issue 3, 2006, Pages 823-833, ISSN 0306-4522, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroscience.2006.02.084.

5. Dolezal, B. A., Neufeld, E. V., Boland, D. M., Martin, J. L., & Cooper, C. B. (2017). Interrelationship between Sleep and Exercise: A Systematic Review. Advances in preventive medicine, 2017, 1364387. https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/1364387

6. Joan Khoo, Ho-Heng Tian, Benedict Tan, Kelvin Chew, Chung-Sien Ng, Darren Leong, Raymond Choon-Chye Teo, Richard Yuan-Tud Chen, Comparing Effects of Low- and High-Volume Moderate-Intensity Exercise on Sexual Function and Testosterone in Obese Men, The Journal of Sexual Medicine, Volume 10, Issue 7, 2013, Pages 1823-1832, ISSN 1743-6095, https://doi.org/10.1111/jsm.12154.

7. Amelia M. Stanton, Ariel B. Handy, Cindy M. Meston, The Effects of Exercise on Sexual Function in Women, Sexual Medicine Reviews, Volume 6, Issue 4, 2018, Pages 548-557, ISSN 2050-0521, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sxmr.2018.02.004.

8. Kujala UM Evidence on the effects of exercise therapy in the treatment of chronic disease British Journal of Sports Medicine 2009;43:550-555.

9. Neff, K. (2009). The Role of Self-Compassion in Development: A Healthier Way to Relate to Oneself. Human Development, 52(4), 211-214. doi:10.2307/26764906 https://www.jstor.org/stable/26764906

10. Neff, K.D. (2009). Self-Compassion. In M.R Leary & R. H. Hoyles (Eds.), Handbook of individual differences in social behavior (pp. 561-573). New York: Guilford Press.

11. Neff, K.D. and Vonk, R. (2009), Self‐Compassion Versus Global Self‐Esteem: Two Different Ways of Relating to Oneself. Journal of Personality, 77: 23-50. doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.2008.00537.x

12. Leary, M. R., Tate, E. B., Adams, C. E., Allen, A. B., & Hancock, J. (2007). Self-compassion and reactions to unpleasant self-relevant events: the implications of treating oneself kindly. Journal of personality and social psychology, 92(5), 887–904. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.92.5.887