I Know I Should Exercise, But...

An engaging guide for expanding your psychological flexibility to get your body moving more, using the powerful tools of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) “I know I need to move my body more, but...”I'm too tired...Work is too busy...I hate exercising...I just can't get motivated... Sound familiar?? There are subtle, invisible, and powerful psychological barriers blocking you from getting the exercise and movement you need. Adding insult to injury, these same barriers contribute to you feeling bad or guilty when you fail to move as much as you know you “should.” The key to overcoming your mental obstacles is to understand the source and nature of your resistance and craft your response accordingly. Diana Hill is a clinical psychologist, author, and host of the Wise Effort podcast. Her mission is to help her clients and readers grow the psychological flexibility skills needed to get moving in directions that matter to them. Katy Bowman is a biomechanist, author, and movement teacher who has spent a career helping people integrate more movement into their lives. In I Know I Should Exercise, But... , the two join forces to help you challenge your barriers to movement in a new way. Katy translates her understanding of the obstacles that keep people sedentary—including dozens of real-world examples from readers and clients—into 44 essential impediments to movement. Diana responds to those common barriers, while introducing you to acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), behavioral psychology and self-compassion: evidence-based-approaches for aligning actions with values. Whether your internal barrier is born of fear, malaise, inertia, embarrassment, or difficulty managing competing priorities, you will learn how to disempower it by applying tools from behavioral neuroscience, self-compassion and the core processes of ACT—including mindfulness, acceptance, and cognitive defusion. You'll learn to identify your resistance—whether it's an unhelpful thought, a misplaced motivation, or a contextual barrier—and respond wisely and effectively. And you'll learn how thinking about movement differently can help you overcome external barriers, too. You'll also learn how to connect movement to your deepest values, by exploring such questions as:What about moving your body really matters to you?When do you feel the most vitality around movement?How would moving your body enhance other important parts of your life?How can you share your motivations for moving with those around you? Through simple, familiar examples, I Know I Should Exercise, But... introduces an effective method for making meaningful and lasting change. And once you've got yourself up and moving it can be applied to other areas of life as well!

Diana Hill, PhD, is a clinical psychologist and an internationally recognized expert in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and compassion. As the host of the “Wise Effort” podcast and author of Wise Effort: How to Focus Your Genius Energy on What Matters Most, Diana helps individuals and organizations cultivate psychological flexibility to lead fulfilling and impactful lives. She is also the author of The Self-Compassion Daily Journal and ACT Daily Journal. With over 20 years of meditation and yoga experience, Diana combines her deep personal practice with with the latest psychological research to make well-being approachable and relevant to everyday life. Her work has been featured by NPR, The Wall Street Journal, Woman's Day, Real Simple, and other media outlets, and she contributes regularly to Insight Timer, MIndful.org, and Psychology Today. When not walking and talking with therapy clients, you'll find Diana digging in her garden, bee-keeping, and taking sunrise ocean swims with her two boys. Katy Bowman, M.S. is a biomechanist, movement teacher, and bestselling author who has changed the way many move and think about their need for movement. Her 11 books, including the groundbreaking Move Your DNA, have sold more than 300,000 copies in English and been translated into 16 languages worldwide. Named one of Maria Shriver's "Architects of Change" and an America Walks "Woman of the Walking Movement," Bowman teaches movement globally and speaks about sedentarism and movement ecology to academic and scientific audiences. Her work is regularly featured by diverse national and international media including The New York Times, The Guardian, NPR, CBC Radio, Seattle Times, Good Housekeeping, Outside, The Joe Rogan Experience, and The Today Show. She has also worked with companies like Patagonia, Nike, and Google, as well as a wide range of non-profits and other communities to create greater access to her "movement as nutrition" message. Founder of the movement education company Nutritious Movement and host of the Move Your DNA podcast, Bowman lives in Washington State, where she spends as much time as she can moving outside with her family.