Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds-Wellness Style

Therapists have a unique relationship with their itself, therapists also stress the importance of wellness throughout the year.  Our clinicians not only have strong beliefs in achieving goals of physical, mental and emotional wellness for their patients but also for themselves!  Lucy, PT, shares a piece that achieves all three: a call for exercise but delivered with some laughter.  Boost your goal to wellness with this awesome playlist!

I LOVE to exercise! I equally LOVE music. When you put the two together, “What a Feeling!” as Irene Cara would sing. Music and exercise, exercise and music are certainly as great as Simon and Garfunkel or Sonny and Cher. Can there be a better duet than your favorite exercise with your favorite song?

I run, bike and swim. This poses a challenge for finding the exact right music for the workout of the day. You can’t ever have “Cheeseburger in Paradise” playing when you’re sweating and toiling over a run. It’s too incongruous. It doesn’t work. You don’t know whether you need running shoes or ketchup. The right songs paired with the right workout can create the ultimate experience. I use music to motivate me to exercise. Try it, it works! As soon as you commit to working out, get your music on. I start with “All Fired Up” with Pat Benetar and my heart rate accelerates just listening to the song. You would not believe how fast I can get dressed and laced up to that song. My stretching song is “Cruel to Be Kind” which is the very definition of hamstring stretching!! I yell “Goodbye” to my husband and kids and out the door I go for a run. It’s out to the “Long and Winding Road” for me.

Now that I’m over forty, ok, well over forty…I need a bit of a jump start to get the old bones running. “Come on Eileen” does the trick. I get my ‘80s on, and off I go chugging down the street with visions of bad dancers in overalls in my brain. Sometimes in the evenings I run to “Sunglasses at Night” just because I feel a bit defiant. Nobody knows I have Meatloaf, Abba, or Neil Diamond playing in my headset when I smile and wave at the neighbors. It’s empowering, it’s “Hot Blooded”.

The middle of my run is definitely my “Danger Zone”. I need help to press on and stay the course. “Help” comes in the form of “Band on the Run” and I figure if they can run, so can I. Kenny Loggins reminds me that I’m “Footloose” and I continue to “Move Along” through “Where the Streets Have No Name.” After all, “It’s a Beautiful Day” and I’m “Born to Run”.

“The Final Count Down” of my run consists of an all out sprint as if it’s “The End of the World As We Know It”. Unfortunately, I’m a bit “Windy” at the end of my run, but “I’m Still Standing”. If you need a little extra motivation to help you exercise or keep you going, say “Hey Mr. DJ, Turn the Music On!” and find “Your Song”. Elton John, Train, Duran Duran or Maroon Five are all fantastic exercise partners and can help you reach your fitness goals. So “Don’t Stop Believing” in music and exercise and you can have “The Time Of Your Life.”