Gen Y Gives Thanks: Not just fitness, but wellness

To many Gen Y'ers health and fitness is bigger
than trim figures, it's overall wellness.
(Photo: Photoxpress.com)

Generation Y grew up with health and fitness messaging bombarding them at every corner. They have seen the rise of falls of fads such as the Thigh Master, Atkins diet, Total Gym and the Zone. Probably somewhat as a result, they are a pretty health conscious group as a whole.

Many Gen Y’ers are finding health and fitness brings more than just personal gratification in trim figures, but overall wellness and a sense of gratitude which spreads to those around them. Doniree Walker, 26, a writer and media consultant in Minneapolis, discovered her love of yoga led to some personal reflection about her relationships.

“A yoga instructor I worked with this Fall ended his class by saying something about bowing all the way over and touching the earth, expressing gratitude for the ground on which we practice. It gave new meaning to the ‘Namaste’ we always say at the end of class. So, at the end of each practice since, I have dutifully leaned all the way to the floor and in my head said something to the effect of expressing gratitude ‘to the earth on which I practice.’

I’ve been thinking about what exactly it means to express gratitude to the earth. Because I define gratitude as a genuine and sincere sense of thankfulness and appreciation, I have slowly started understanding that gratitude towards the earth is best expressed in how I live and breathe on it. I can and should show the same respect to the earth in terms of care and honor as I do to the world that it makes up in terms of love and compassion. I’m grateful for the opportunity my yoga class gave me to explore my relationships with my environment, surroundings and support systems.”

Adam Gilbert, 26 year-old founder of MyBodyTutor.com in New York City, finds not only his livelihood in health and fitness, but a gratifying and engaging outlet to help others.

“I am so grateful I can help someone feel hopeful after feeling hopeless for so long. I know eating right and exercising always feels better than the alternative, that my lifestyle and philosophy is extremely sustainable and doable. I’m grateful I can make a promise to a client, confident I can keep it because I know my clients are going to look and feel a certain way, (even before they do), and the feeling I get when a client actually does. I love knowing I can help people stay consistent meal by meal, workout by workout and day by day and ultimately help them reach their health and fitness goals. I’m ultimately most grateful my clients count on me and I know I can help them.”

Gen Y’ers like Walker and Gilbert aren’t just keeping fit, they are keeping well.

Read more about Walker on her blog: : http://doniree.com. Gilbert shares health and fitness tips at MyBodyTutor.com/blog and his personal thoughts at GuruGilbert.com. 

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