Zen motivation

Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism notable for its emphasis on practice and experiential wisdom—particularly as realized in the form of meditation known as zazen—in the attainment of awakening. As such, it de-emphasizes both theoretical knowledge and the study of religious texts in favor of direct individual experience of one’s own true nature.

So says Wikipedia, at least. Zen is all about meditation and intuition, which is why I was bit disappointed in the list of 31 Ways to Motivate Yourself to Exercise posted on (so-called) “Zen Habits”. A Zen Buddhist wouldn’t look to magazines or “cover models” for enlightenment or motivation, nor the possibility of “being attractive”.

I think these kind of mind tricks to be more defeating than motivational. No one is perfect, and to strive for perfection is like self-inflicted failure. Still, the list points out how it’s not only hard to be motivated, but it’s hard to be motivated by the right things.

Good health is ultimately a personal choice, and the motivation has to be just as personal in order to be successful. So here are a few motivational suggestions that are a little more “zen” than the Zen Habits approach:

View exercise as personal time you can feel good about
Make exercise fun – pick the workout or sport you enjoy, stop thinking about the calories, and just have some fun
Workout with a friend
Sign up for a 5k or triathlon
Log your exercise
Sign up for a class
Think about how good you’ll feel afterwards – few people can say they’ve regretted doing the exercise once it’s over

Zen Habits does have one particularly powerful big-picture motivator that I can’t argue with:

Living long enough to see your grandkids … and play with them.

Link

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