Exercise gives you more than health and fitness

This afternoon it was snowing like crazy here in DC. So I got some warm running clothes on, put the leash on Kokolulu (my dog,) and headed out into the snow for a run.

At first there were cars everywhere. It was a total rush hour, commuter traffic jam, cluster out there. People were angry, honking. Even the snow plows were stuck in the traffic jam. But soon I was down a trail running in the woods, away from it all.

Immediately I felt my head clear and my stress dissipate. With the fresh snow and muted twilight, the trees were a beautiful black-and-white photograph. When you exercise outside, you get to see things that people who spend all their time indoors miss out. Sunsets (and rises,) wildlife, fresh air, pretty vistas, and remote locations. My mind can wander and my body feels alive.

Exercise gives you so much more than health and fitness. You see things, feel things, experience life in ways that you would otherwise completely miss.

I am in a job search right now for a Wellness Coordinator or Corporate Fitness position. The reason why I strongly believe this can happen is that EVERY time I meet someone here and tell them that I am a fitness coach, they say "I could sure use your help." People want this benefit. They need this benefit.

Helping people improve their health is not complicated: they need information, motivation, and inspiration. But the benefits go FAR beyond the individual and the physical. When the transformation occurs, a person comes alive. They feel a new energy and vitality that quickly becomes infectious to others.

An organization certainly wants healthy people: it helps from the insurance and benefits side.  But if we think more broadly, an organization that embraces wellness/fitness is one that ENERGIZES employees.  Corporate culture becomes a strategic advantage when individuals feel valued, and they are encouraged to be physically, mentally, spiritually their very best. 

This company realizes a strategic benefit far beyond health and fitness.