exercise meaning essay

• Importance Of Exercises Essay

Importance of Exercise Essay

500+ words essay on the importance of exercise.

We all know that exercise is extremely important in our daily lives, but we may not know why or what exercise can do. It’s important to remember that we have evolved from nomadic ancestors who spent all their time moving around in search of food and shelter, travelling large distances on a daily basis. Our bodies are designed and have evolved to be regularly active. Over time, people may come across problems if they sit down all day at a desk or in front of the TV and minimise the amount of exercise they do. Exercise is a bodily movement performed in order to develop or maintain physical fitness and good health overall. Exercise leads to the physical exertion of sufficient intensity, duration and frequency to achieve or maintain vigour and health. This essay on the importance of exercise will help students become familiar with the several benefits of doing exercise regularly. They must go through this essay so as to get an idea of how to write essays on similar topics.

Need of Exercise

The human body is like a complex and delicate machine which comprises several small parts. A slight malfunction of one part leads to the breakdown of the machine. In a similar way, if such a situation arises in the human body, it also leads to malfunctioning of the body. Exercise is one of the healthy lifestyles which contributes to optimum health and quality of life. People who exercise regularly can reduce their risk of death. By doing exercise, active people increase their life expectancy by two years compared to inactive people. Regular exercise and good physical fitness enhance the quality of life in many ways. Physical fitness and exercise can help us to look good, feel good, and enjoy life. Moreover, exercise provides an enjoyable way to spend leisure time.

Exercise helps a person develop emotional balance and maintain a strong self-image. As people get older, exercise becomes more important. This is because, after the age of 30, the heart’s blood pumping capacity declines at a rate of about 8 per cent each decade. Exercise is also vital for a child’s overall development. Exercising helps to maintain a healthy weight by stoking our metabolism, utilizing and burning the extra calories.

Types of Exercise

There are three broad intensities of exercise:

1) Light exercise – Going for a walk is an example of light exercise. In this, the exerciser is able to talk while exercising.

2) Moderate exercise – Here, the exerciser feels slightly out of breath during the session. Examples could be walking briskly, cycling moderately or walking up a hill.

3) Vigorous exercise – While performing this exercise, the exerciser is panting during the activity. The exerciser feels his/her body being pushed much nearer its limit compared to the other two intensities. This could include running, cycling fast, and heavy-weight training.

Importance of Exercise

Regular exercise increases our fitness level and physical stamina. It plays a crucial role in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases. It can help with blood lipid abnormalities, diabetes and obesity. Moreover, it can help to reduce blood pressure. Regular exercise substantially reduces the risk of dying of coronary heart disease and eases the risk of stroke and colon cancer. People of all age groups benefit from exercising.

Exercise can be effective in improving the mental well-being of human beings. It relieves human stress and anxiety. When we come back from work or school, we feel exhausted after a whole day of work. If we can go out to have a walk or jog for at least 30 minutes, it makes us feel happy and relaxed. A number of studies have found that a lifestyle that includes exercise helps alleviate depression. Those who can maintain regular exercise will also reduce their chances of seeing a doctor. Without physical activity, the body’s muscles lose their strength, endurance and ability to function properly. Regular exercise keeps all parts of the body in continuous activity. It improves overall health and fitness, as well as decreases the risk of many chronic diseases. Therefore, physical exercise is very important in our life.

Exercise can play a significant role in keeping the individual, society, community and nation wealthy. If the citizens of a country are healthy, the country is sure to touch heights in every facet of life. The country’s healthy generation can achieve the highest marks in various fields and thereby enable their country to win laurels and glory at the international level. The first step is always the hardest. However, if we can overcome it, and exercise for 21 days continuously, it will be a new beginning for a healthy life.

Did you find the “Importance of Exercise essay” useful for improving your writing skills? Do let us know your view in the comment section. Keep Learning, and don’t forget to download the BYJU’S App for more interesting study videos.

Frequently Asked Questions on the Importance of Exercises Essay

What are the benefits of exercising regularly.

Regular exercise helps in the relaxation of the mind and body and keeps the body fit. It improves flexibility and blood circulation.

Which are some of the easy exercises that can be done at home?

Sit-ups, bicycle crunches, squats, lunges and planks are examples of easy exercises which can be done at home without the help of costly equipment.

Is cycling an effective form of exercise?

Cycling is a low-impact exercise and acts as a good muscle workout.

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Your Mobile number and Email id will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Request OTP on Voice Call

Post My Comment

Register with BYJU'S & Download Free PDFs

Register with byju's & watch live videos.

• Skip to main content
• Skip to secondary menu
• Skip to primary sidebar
• Skip to footer

ReadingJunction

Ultimate hub of educational content (Essay, Speech, Debate, Festivals, Events)

Essay on Importance of Exercise: Benefits for Students

January 9, 2022 by ReadingJunction 2 Comments

This article includes an essay on the importance of exercise in 1000 words for school and college class students. Also, explained points like the meaning of exercise, its benefits for students and improvement in life.

Table of Contents

Essay on Importance of Exercise (1000 Words)

School and college students can take help from this article to write paragraphs on the importance of exercise.

What is Exercise?

Exercise refers to physical activity or performing some physical work on a repetitive basis to relax your body and take away out all the mental stress. Doing regular exercise is essential in one’s life.

The advantages of regular exercise are often seen very quickly during a person if he does training regularly. An individual needs to be mentally and physically fit as we all have heard, “Healthy Mind lives in a healthy body .” So to remain fit and healthy one must do exercises regularly.

One must be both physically and mentally fit. Exercising plays an essential role in our lives. It helps us in staying physically meet. Out physical body is meant to maneuver. If we don’t exercise or walk daily, then we’d quickly get susceptible to different diseases overtime.

A bit like eating food , getting to work every day is a number of the essential aspects of lifestyle exercise is additionally crucial in daily lives, and one should make it a habit to a minimum of exercise 4 out of seven days during a week.

How will Exercise Improve You?

Exercise will assist you in maintaining your weight. If you’re overweight, you’ll quickly reduce by exercising as your calories will burn during your workout period.

Your muscles will develop, and therefore the rate of your body is going to be increased, which can help you in burning more calories than usual, albeit you’re not exercising. Exercise also will help in the improvement of both oxygen level and blood flow in your body.

With exercise, the brain cells are going to be released frequently, which helps in the production of the cells in the hippocampus. Hippocampus is that a part of the brain which helps in learning and controls the memory.

The concentration levels in your body are going to be improved, which can also lower the danger of diseases like Alzheimer’s. LDL cholesterol is the primary substance that results in the obstacle of arteries. Exercising daily will decrease the LDL cholesterol level within the body and increases cholesterol HDL.

Other health benefits of exercise on your heart are reducing vital signs, which can help in lowering the strain on your heart. The guts muscles also will strengthen if you’re exercising daily. If you’re exercising daily and are taking a healthy diet, your body has minimal risk of developing heart diseases.

The blood sugar levels of your body also will get controlled by exercising. They’re going to help in preventing or delaying the sort two diabetes. Fatness is one of the prime factors of diabetes, which may be controlled if one exercises daily.

Benefits of Exercise

The recondition and reviving of our full-body is helped by doing exercise. It helps us to form our muscles strong. Exercise also prevents obesity or helps in losing the load. It maintains youthfulness and delays the method of aging.

Exercise improves the functioning of the circulatory system and prevents cardiac diseases. It strengthens our network and prevents infections. Exercise improves our mental fitness and prevents insomnia and depression.

Training is sweet for the guts and also reduces the danger of developing type 2 diabetes and even the threat of certain cancers. Types of Exercises and their benefits:

1. Morning Walk

Morning walk is that the first and most ordinary exercise and is suited in most constitutions. Diabetic patients should do morning walk regularly as a morning walk is extremely good for his or her health.

2. Gymnastic Exercises

Under the guidance of an experienced trainer, only one must do gymnastic exercises. Gymnastics could also be positively dangerous to weak constitutions.

Yoga helps us to regulate our minds even as the body. Yoga may be a mixture of physical, mental, and spiritual exercises. Yoga is perfect for everybody. One must do yoga regularly.

To offer more importance to yoga now in our country Yoga Day is additionally celebrated on 21 June.

4. Free-Hand Exercises

Blank check exercises are straightforward exercises that will be quickly followed by everyone.

5. Aerobics

Aerobics means using or requiring more oxygen. These exercises are done to form the body to consume more oxygen. Aerobics help to enhance the condition of the cardiovascular system and, therefore, the heart Example: Cycling, Swimming, etc.

6. Anaerobic

It means not using or requiring more oxygen. These exercises are highly intensive and thus finished a brief duration of your time. Example: Weight Lifting.

7. Flexibility

It means to stretch your body the maximum amount as you’ll with none difficulty. Joint flexibility and muscular mobility have done by doing these exercises. Example: Stretching.

In doing exercise, you get nutrients and oxygen. It offsets the blood flow, which increases your brainpower, and you’re employed properly with a fresh mind. So these are the first benefits of physical activity.

We should always give proper time to try to exercise because maybe a famous proverb, ”those who don’t have time for exercise will need to find for illness”.

There are tons of advantages of doing exercise, and other people of all age groups can cash in of activity. Yoga helps in improving the strength and efficiency of the circulatory system, which can improve the flow of oxygen and nutrition in your body.

If your circulatory system is functioning okay, then you’ll find everything easy and supreme happiness in your lives. Exercising daily will assist you in improving your muscle strength.

Your muscles will get stronger, tendons, and ligaments will become flexible, which can allow you to maneuver quickly and can protect you from sudden injuries.

If you have strong muscles and ligaments, you’re having very little chance of joint and lower back pain, as all of your bones are getting to be in proper alignment. The coordination and balance of your body also will get improved.

Importance of Exercises

Doing exercise is vital for our proper health and fitness — physical exercises required in each and each sphere of life. The youths of our society today eat tons of food and appearance old before time. Their poor health is additionally one of the social problems.

People without healthiness cannot live happily and also cannot contribute to the expansion of our nation. Therefore to beat these problems, not only the youth of the society but everyone should do exercises to remain fit and healthy and contribute to the expansion of our nation.

Physical Activities are essential for college kids, and thus nowadays, in every school and college, individual classes are organized for physical exercises. Sometimes highly trained professionals also visit the faculties and colleges to show the scholars the physical exercises.

Activities for college kids are as important as their studies. Even in the offices nowadays, the physical exercise training opportunities offered to supply rest to the mind of the workers of their organization and to form them work without feeling any stress. Exercises are of great use to us.

To achieve life, both mental and physical development is vital. Therefore exercises are essential for the overall growth in one’s life. A balance should be maintained between his work, rest, and activities.

Reader Interactions

March 23, 2022 at 6:10 pm

May 8, 2022 at 10:57 am

Thankyou.It really helped me alot.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Copyright Protection

All articles on this website are Copyright Protected. Copying or Using any material in any form is a serious offense.

Important Links

• Privacy Policy
• Terms and Conditions

Home — Essay Samples — Nursing & Health — Physical Exercise — The Comprehensive Benefits of Exercise: A Path to Health and Wellness

The Comprehensive Benefits of Exercise: a Path to Health and Wellness

• Categories: Healthy Lifestyle Physical Exercise

About this sample

Words: 603 |

Published: Sep 7, 2023

Words: 603 | Page: 1 | 4 min read

Table of contents

Chapter 1: physical benefits of exercise, chapter 2: mental benefits of exercise, conclusion: embracing the benefits of exercise, 1. improved cardiovascular health, 2. increased muscle strength, 3. improved flexibility, 4. reduced risk of chronic diseases, 1. enhanced cognitive function, 2. improved mood and mental health, 3. stress reduction, 4. enhanced sleep quality.

Cite this Essay

Let us write you an essay from scratch

• 450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help
• Custom essay delivered in as few as 3 hours

Get high-quality help

Prof. Kifaru

Verified writer

• Expert in: Life Nursing & Health

+ 120 experts online

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

No need to pay just yet!

Related Essays

2 pages / 855 words

3 pages / 1541 words

2 pages / 816 words

2 pages / 714 words

Remember! This is just a sample.

You can get your custom paper by one of our expert writers.

121 writers online

Still can’t find what you need?

Browse our vast selection of original essay samples, each expertly formatted and styled

Related Essays on Physical Exercise

Bianchi, R., Mamo, C., Riva, D., & Rocca, F. (2016). Proprioceptive Training and Injury Prevention in a Professional Men's Basketball Team: A Six-Year Prospective Study. Journal of strength and conditioning research, 30(2), [...]

Pain is a universal experience that we all encounter at some point in our lives. It comes in many forms - physical, emotional, and mental. For me, pain has been a constant presence throughout my life, shaping my experiences and [...]

Brooks, David. 'The Role of Ethics in Sports.' Journal of Sport and Social Issues, vol. 39, no. 1, 2015, pp. 3-14. doi:10.1177/0193723514561946.Coakley, Jay J. Sports in Society: Issues and Controversies. 12th ed., McGraw-Hill [...]

Proper nutrition and physical activity are crucial for maintaining a healthy lifestyle and reducing the risk of chronic diseases. Unhealthy eating habits and a lack of exercise can lead to serious health conditions such as [...]

First, what exactly is flexibility? When you hear the word flexibility, you probably think of a contortionist or gymnast, but the technical definition is being able to move your joints through their whole range of motion. [...]

Keeping physically fit requires resolve! Nothing is more important than deciding to follow a fitness plan. Around the holidays so many of us make a New Year's resolution to get fit and healthy, but I'm here to tell you that [...]

Related Topics

By clicking “Send”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement . We will occasionally send you account related emails.

Where do you want us to send this sample?

By clicking “Continue”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy.

Be careful. This essay is not unique

This essay was donated by a student and is likely to have been used and submitted before

Download this Sample

Free samples may contain mistakes and not unique parts

Sorry, we could not paraphrase this essay. Our professional writers can rewrite it and get you a unique paper.

Please check your inbox.

We can write you a custom essay that will follow your exact instructions and meet the deadlines. Let's fix your grades together!

Get Your Personalized Essay in 3 Hours or Less!

We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

• Instructions Followed To The Letter
• Deadlines Met At Every Stage
• Unique And Plagiarism Free

Essay on Importance of Exercise

Students are often asked to write an essay on Importance of Exercise in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Importance of Exercise

Introduction.

Exercise is vital for our health. It helps us stay fit, active, and healthy.

Physical Benefits

Regular exercise strengthens our muscles and bones. It also boosts our immunity, helping us fight diseases.

Mental Benefits

Exercise also improves our mood and reduces stress. It aids in better sleep and enhances our memory.

In conclusion, exercise is essential for our overall well-being. It is a simple and effective way to ensure a healthy life.

Also check:

• Speech on Importance of Exercise

250 Words Essay on Importance of Exercise

Exercise is a fundamental aspect of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. It is not just about physical fitness, but it also contributes to mental health, productivity, and overall quality of life.

The Physical Impact of Exercise

Regular exercise has numerous physical benefits. It aids in maintaining a healthy weight, reducing the risk of heart diseases, and strengthening muscles and bones. Exercise also boosts the immune system, improving the body’s ability to fight off illnesses.

The Psychological Benefits of Exercise

Exercise is not just about the body; it’s equally beneficial for the mind. Regular physical activity can help reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety. It stimulates the production of endorphins, the body’s natural mood elevators, promoting a sense of well-being.

Exercise and Productivity

Exercise has been linked with increased productivity. It enhances cognitive functions, improving concentration, memory, and creativity. Regular physical activity can lead to better academic performance and efficiency in tasks.

Exercise as a Social Activity

Exercise also provides opportunities for social interaction. Joining a sports team or a fitness class can help foster a sense of community and belonging, enhancing interpersonal skills and building relationships.

In conclusion, exercise has a profound impact on our physical health, mental well-being, productivity, and social life. It is a critical component of a balanced lifestyle and should be incorporated into our daily routines. As college students, incorporating regular exercise can help us perform better acadically and socially, while also setting the foundation for a healthy future.

500 Words Essay on Importance of Exercise

Exercise is an essential component of a healthy lifestyle, often overlooked in our fast-paced modern lives. Regular physical activity fosters resilience, promotes overall well-being, and protects against various diseases. It is not just about physical health; it also has profound impacts on mental health, productivity, and overall quality of life.

The Physical Benefits of Exercise

Exercise plays a crucial role in maintaining physical health. Regular physical activity strengthens the cardiovascular system, reducing the risk of heart disease and stroke. It also helps in managing weight, as exercise increases the metabolic rate, which aids in burning more calories. Moreover, exercise enhances muscular strength and endurance, improving body composition and posture.

The Mental Health Benefits of Exercise

Exercise is not just about the body; it’s equally beneficial for our minds. Regular physical activity can alleviate symptoms of depression and anxiety by stimulating the production of endorphins, the body’s natural mood lifters. Furthermore, exercise can improve sleep quality, reduce stress levels, and enhance cognitive functions, such as memory and attention.

Exercise can significantly boost productivity and creativity. Regular physical activity improves concentration, enhances memory, speeds up cognitive processes, and stimulates creative thinking. It also increases energy levels, helping us to feel more alert and engaged throughout the day.

Exercise and Social Interaction

Exercise can also serve as a social activity, providing opportunities for interaction and camaraderie. Team sports, group fitness classes, and outdoor activities can foster a sense of community and belonging, enhancing social skills and contributing to overall mental well-being.

Promoting a Culture of Exercise

Given the numerous benefits of exercise, it is critical to promote a culture of physical activity. This can be done by creating more accessible and safe spaces for exercise, promoting physical education in schools, and implementing policies that encourage active lifestyles.

In conclusion, exercise is a powerful tool for improving physical health, mental health, productivity, and social interaction. Despite the challenges of a busy lifestyle, it is essential to make time for regular physical activity. The benefits of exercise extend far beyond the immediate gratification of a good workout; they contribute to long-term health, happiness, and overall quality of life. As such, exercise should not be viewed as a chore or a luxury, but as a fundamental part of a healthy life.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

If you’re looking for more, here are essays on other interesting topics:

• Essay on Benefits of Physical Exercise
• Essay on Benefits of Exercise
• Essay on Being a Child

Apart from these, you can look at all the essays by clicking here .

Happy studying!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Appointments at Mayo Clinic

Exercise: 7 benefits of regular physical activity.

You know exercise is good for you, but do you know how good? From boosting your mood to improving your sex life, find out how exercise can improve your life.

Want to feel better, have more energy and even add years to your life? Just exercise.

The health benefits of regular exercise and physical activity are hard to ignore. Everyone benefits from exercise, no matter their age, sex or physical ability.

Need more convincing to get moving? Check out these seven ways that exercise can lead to a happier, healthier you.

1. Exercise controls weight

Exercise can help prevent excess weight gain or help you keep off lost weight. When you take part in physical activity, you burn calories. The more intense the activity, the more calories you burn.

Regular trips to the gym are great, but don't worry if you can't find a large chunk of time to exercise every day. Any amount of activity is better than none. To gain the benefits of exercise, just get more active throughout your day. For example, take the stairs instead of the elevator or rev up your household chores. Consistency is key.

2. Exercise combats health conditions and diseases

Worried about heart disease? Hoping to prevent high blood pressure? No matter what your current weight is, being active boosts high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, the "good" cholesterol, and it decreases unhealthy triglycerides. This one-two punch keeps your blood flowing smoothly, which lowers your risk of heart and blood vessel, called cardiovascular, diseases.

Regular exercise helps prevent or manage many health problems and concerns, including:

• Metabolic syndrome.
• High blood pressure.
• Type 2 diabetes.
• Depression.
• Many types of cancer.

It also can help improve cognitive function and helps lower the risk of death from all causes.

3. Exercise improves mood

Need an emotional lift? Or need to lower stress after a stressful day? A gym session or brisk walk can help. Physical activity stimulates many brain chemicals that may leave you feeling happier, more relaxed and less anxious.

You also may feel better about your appearance and yourself when you exercise regularly, which can boost your confidence and improve your self-esteem.

4. Exercise boosts energy

Winded by grocery shopping or household chores? Regular physical activity can improve your muscle strength and boost your endurance.

Exercise sends oxygen and nutrients to your tissues and helps your cardiovascular system work more efficiently. And when your heart and lung health improve, you have more energy to tackle daily chores.

5. Exercise promotes better sleep

Struggling to snooze? Regular physical activity can help you fall asleep faster, get better sleep and deepen your sleep. Just don't exercise too close to bedtime, or you may be too energized to go to sleep.

6. Exercise puts the spark back into your sex life

Do you feel too tired or too out of shape to enjoy physical intimacy? Regular physical activity can improve energy levels and give you more confidence about your physical appearance, which may boost your sex life.

But there's even more to it than that. Regular physical activity may enhance arousal for women. And men who exercise regularly are less likely to have problems with erectile dysfunction than are men who don't exercise.

7. Exercise can be fun — and social!

Exercise and physical activity can be fun. They give you a chance to unwind, enjoy the outdoors or simply do activities that make you happy. Physical activity also can help you connect with family or friends in a fun social setting.

So take a dance class, hit the hiking trails or join a soccer team. Find a physical activity you enjoy, and just do it. Bored? Try something new, or do something with friends or family.

Exercise to feel better and have fun

Exercise and physical activity are great ways to feel better, boost your health and have fun. For most healthy adults, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends these exercise guidelines:

Aerobic activity. Get at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity. Or get at least 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity a week. You also can get an equal combination of moderate and vigorous activity. Aim to spread out this exercise over a few days or more in a week.

For even more health benefits, the guidelines suggest getting 300 minutes a week or more of moderate aerobic activity. Exercising this much may help with weight loss or keeping off lost weight. But even small amounts of physical activity can be helpful. Being active for short periods of time during the day can add up and have health benefits.

• Strength training. Do strength training exercises for all major muscle groups at least two times a week. One set of each exercise is enough for health and fitness benefits. Use a weight or resistance level heavy enough to tire your muscles after about 12 to 15 repetitions.

Moderate aerobic exercise includes activities such as brisk walking, biking, swimming and mowing the lawn.

Vigorous aerobic exercise includes activities such as running, swimming laps, heavy yardwork and aerobic dancing.

You can do strength training by using weight machines or free weights, your own body weight, heavy bags, or resistance bands. You also can use resistance paddles in the water or do activities such as rock climbing.

If you want to lose weight, keep off lost weight or meet specific fitness goals, you may need to exercise more.

Remember to check with a health care professional before starting a new exercise program, especially if you have any concerns about your fitness or haven't exercised for a long time. Also check with a health care professional if you have chronic health problems, such as heart disease, diabetes or arthritis.

There is a problem with information submitted for this request. Review/update the information highlighted below and resubmit the form.

From Mayo Clinic to your inbox

Sign up for free and stay up to date on research advancements, health tips, current health topics, and expertise on managing health. Click here for an email preview.

Error Email field is required

Error Include a valid email address

To provide you with the most relevant and helpful information, and understand which information is beneficial, we may combine your email and website usage information with other information we have about you. If you are a Mayo Clinic patient, this could include protected health information. If we combine this information with your protected health information, we will treat all of that information as protected health information and will only use or disclose that information as set forth in our notice of privacy practices. You may opt-out of email communications at any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link in the e-mail.

Thank you for subscribing!

You'll soon start receiving the latest Mayo Clinic health information you requested in your inbox.

Sorry something went wrong with your subscription

Please, try again in a couple of minutes

• AskMayoExpert. Physical activity (adult). Mayo Clinic; 2021.
• Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. 2nd ed. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://health.gov/our-work/physical-activity/current-guidelines. Accessed June 25, 2021.
• Peterson DM. The benefits and risk of aerobic exercise. https://www.uptodate.com/contents/search. Accessed June 24, 2021.
• Maseroli E, et al. Physical activity and female sexual dysfunction: A lot helps, but not too much. The Journal of Sexual Medicine. 2021; doi:10.1016/j.jsxm.2021.04.004.
• Allen MS. Physical activity as an adjunct treatment for erectile dysfunction. Nature Reviews: Urology. 2019; doi:10.1038/s41585-019-0210-6.
• Tips for starting physical activity. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/weight-management/tips-get-active/tips-starting-physical-activity. Accessed June 25, 2021.
• Laskowski ER (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic. June 16, 2021.

Products and Services

• Mayo Clinic Sports Medicine
• A Book: Mayo Clinic on High Blood Pressure
• Available Health Products from Mayo Clinic Store
• A Book: The Mayo Clinic Diet Bundle
• Available Solutions under FSA/HSA Coverage from Mayo Clinic Store
• A Book: Live Younger Longer
• A Book: Mayo Clinic Book of Home Remedies
• A Book: Mayo Clinic Family Health Book, 5th Edition
• Newsletter: Mayo Clinic Health Letter — Digital Edition
• The Mayo Clinic Diet Online
• Balance exercises
• Blood Doping
• Can I exercise if I have atopic dermatitis?
• Core exercises
• Exercise and chronic disease
• Exercise and illness
• Stress relief
• Exercising with arthritis
• Fitness ball exercises videos
• Fitness program
• Fitness training routine
• Hate to exercise? Try these tips
• Hockey Flywheel
• How fit are you?
• Marathon and the Heat
• BMI and waist circumference calculator
• Mayo Clinic Minute: How to hit your target heart rate
• Staying active with Crohn's disease
• Strength training: How-to video collection

Mayo Clinic does not endorse companies or products. Advertising revenue supports our not-for-profit mission.

• Opportunities

Mayo Clinic Press

Check out these best-sellers and special offers on books and newsletters from Mayo Clinic Press .

• Mayo Clinic on Incontinence - Mayo Clinic Press Mayo Clinic on Incontinence
• The Essential Diabetes Book - Mayo Clinic Press The Essential Diabetes Book
• Mayo Clinic on Hearing and Balance - Mayo Clinic Press Mayo Clinic on Hearing and Balance
• FREE Mayo Clinic Diet Assessment - Mayo Clinic Press FREE Mayo Clinic Diet Assessment
• Mayo Clinic Health Letter - FREE book - Mayo Clinic Press Mayo Clinic Health Letter - FREE book
• Healthy Lifestyle
• Exercise 7 benefits of regular physical activity

Your gift holds great power – donate today!

Make your tax-deductible gift and be a part of the cutting-edge research and care that's changing medicine.

Health and Fitness Essay for Students and Children

500+ words essay on health and fitness.

We have always heard the word ‘health’ and ‘fitness’. We use it ourselves when we say phrases like ‘health is wealth’ and ‘fitness is the key’. What does the word health really mean? It implies the idea of ‘being well’. We call a person healthy and fit when he/she function well physically as well as mentally.

Factors Affecting our Health and Fitness

Good health and fitness is not something which one can achieve entirely on our own. It depends on their physical environment and the quality of food intake. We live in villages, towns, and cities.

In such places, even our physical environment affects our health. Therefore, our social responsibility of pollution-free environment directly affects our health. Our day-to-day habits also determine our fitness level. The quality of food, air, water all helps in building our fitness level.

Role of Nutritious Diet on our Health and Fitness

The first thing about where fitness starts is food. We should take nutritious food. Food rich in protein, vitamins, minerals, and carbohydrates is very essential. Protein is necessary for body growth. Carbohydrates provide the required energy in performing various tasks. Vitamin and minerals help in building bones and boosting our immune system.

However, taking food in uneven quantity is not good for the body. Taking essential nutrients in adequate amount is called a balanced diet. Taking a balanced diet keep body and mind strong and healthy. Good food helps in better sleep, proper brain functioning and healthy body weight.

Include vegetables, fruits, and pulses in daily diet. One must have a three-course meal. Having roughage helps in cleaning inner body organs. Healthy food habit prevents various diseases. Reducing the amount of fat in the diet prevents cholesterol and heart diseases.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Impact of Exercise on our Health

Routine exercise helps improve our muscle power. Exercise helps in good oxygen supply and blood flow throughout the body. Heart and lungs work efficiently. Our bones get strong and joints have the pain free movement.

We should daily spend at least twenty minutes in our exercise. Daily morning walk improves our fitness level. We should avoid strenuous Gym activities. Exercise burns our fat and controls the cholesterol level in the body. Various outdoor games like cricket, football, volleyball, etc keeps our body fit. Regular exercise maintains our body shape.

Meditation, Yoga, and Health

Meditation and yoga are part of our life from ancient time. They not only make us physically fit but mentally strong as well. Meditation improves our concentration level. Our mind gets relaxed and thinking becomes positive.

A healthy mind is key for a healthy body. Yoga makes us stressfree and improves the endurance power of the mind. Yoga controls our blood pressure. With yoga, a strong bond with nature is established. Meditation is considered the best way to fight depression.

A person stays happier when he/she is fit and healthy. A fit and healthy person is less prone to chronic diseases. The healthy mind reacts better in a pressure situation. The self-confidence of a person is increased. Risk of heart failure is reduced drastically. With the increased immunity power body could fight cancerous cells. The intensity of the fracture is decreased with regular exercise.

Customize your course in 30 seconds

Which class are you in.

• Travelling Essay
• Picnic Essay
• Our Country Essay
• My Parents Essay
• Essay on Favourite Personality
• Essay on Memorable Day of My Life
• Essay on Knowledge is Power
• Essay on Gurpurab
• Essay on My Favourite Season
• Essay on Types of Sports

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Download the App

Want to create or adapt books like this? Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices.

10.6 Definition

Learning objectives.

• Determine the purpose and structure of the definition essay.
• Understand how to write a definition essay.

The Purpose of Definition in Writing

The purpose of a definition essay may seem self-explanatory: the purpose of the definition essay is to simply define something. But defining terms in writing is often more complicated than just consulting a dictionary. In fact, the way we define terms can have far-reaching consequences for individuals as well as collective groups.

Take, for example, a word like alcoholism . The way in which one defines alcoholism depends on its legal, moral, and medical contexts. Lawyers may define alcoholism in terms of its legality; parents may define alcoholism in terms of its morality; and doctors will define alcoholism in terms of symptoms and diagnostic criteria. Think also of terms that people tend to debate in our broader culture. How we define words, such as marriage and climate change , has enormous impact on policy decisions and even on daily decisions. Think about conversations couples may have in which words like commitment , respect , or love need clarification.

Defining terms within a relationship, or any other context, can at first be difficult, but once a definition is established between two people or a group of people, it is easier to have productive dialogues. Definitions, then, establish the way in which people communicate ideas. They set parameters for a given discourse, which is why they are so important.

When writing definition essays, avoid terms that are too simple, that lack complexity. Think in terms of concepts, such as hero , immigration , or loyalty , rather than physical objects. Definitions of concepts, rather than objects, are often fluid and contentious, making for a more effective definition essay.

Writing at Work

Definitions play a critical role in all workplace environments. Take the term sexual harassment , for example. Sexual harassment is broadly defined on the federal level, but each company may have additional criteria that define it further. Knowing how your workplace defines and treats all sexual harassment allegations is important. Think, too, about how your company defines lateness , productivity , or contributions .

On a separate sheet of paper, write about a time in your own life in which the definition of a word, or the lack of a definition, caused an argument. Your term could be something as simple as the category of an all-star in sports or how to define a good movie. Or it could be something with higher stakes and wider impact, such as a political argument. Explain how the conversation began, how the argument hinged on the definition of the word, and how the incident was finally resolved.

Collaboration

Please share with a classmate and compare your responses.

The Structure of a Definition Essay

The definition essay opens with a general discussion of the term to be defined. You then state as your thesis your definition of the term.

The rest of the essay should explain the rationale for your definition. Remember that a dictionary’s definition is limiting, and you should not rely strictly on the dictionary entry. Instead, consider the context in which you are using the word. Context identifies the circumstances, conditions, or setting in which something exists or occurs. Often words take on different meanings depending on the context in which they are used. For example, the ideal leader in a battlefield setting could likely be very different than a leader in an elementary school setting. If a context is missing from the essay, the essay may be too short or the main points could be confusing or misunderstood.

The remainder of the essay should explain different aspects of the term’s definition. For example, if you were defining a good leader in an elementary classroom setting, you might define such a leader according to personality traits: patience, consistency, and flexibility. Each attribute would be explained in its own paragraph.

For definition essays, try to think of concepts that you have a personal stake in. You are more likely to write a more engaging definition essay if you are writing about an idea that has personal value and importance.

It is a good idea to occasionally assess your role in the workplace. You can do this through the process of definition. Identify your role at work by defining not only the routine tasks but also those gray areas where your responsibilities might overlap with those of others. Coming up with a clear definition of roles and responsibilities can add value to your résumé and even increase productivity in the workplace.

On a separate sheet of paper, define each of the following items in your own terms. If you can, establish a context for your definition.

• Consumer culture

Writing a Definition Essay

Choose a topic that will be complex enough to be discussed at length. Choosing a word or phrase of personal relevance often leads to a more interesting and engaging essay.

After you have chosen your word or phrase, start your essay with an introduction that establishes the relevancy of the term in the chosen specific context. Your thesis comes at the end of the introduction, and it should clearly state your definition of the term in the specific context. Establishing a functional context from the beginning will orient readers and minimize misunderstandings.

The body paragraphs should each be dedicated to explaining a different facet of your definition. Make sure to use clear examples and strong details to illustrate your points. Your concluding paragraph should pull together all the different elements of your definition to ultimately reinforce your thesis. See Chapter 15 “Readings: Examples of Essays” to read a sample definition essay.

Create a full definition essay from one of the items you already defined in Note 10.64 “Exercise 2” . Be sure to include an interesting introduction, a clear thesis, a well-explained context, distinct body paragraphs, and a conclusion that pulls everything together.

Key Takeaways

• Definitions establish the way in which people communicate ideas. They set parameters for a given discourse.
• Context affects the meaning and usage of words.
• The thesis of a definition essay should clearly state the writer’s definition of the term in the specific context.
• Body paragraphs should explain the various facets of the definition stated in the thesis.
• The conclusion should pull all the elements of the definition together at the end and reinforce the thesis.

Writing for Success Copyright © 2015 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

• Newsletters
• Account Activating this button will toggle the display of additional content Account Sign out

Navel Gazing

John dickerson’s notebooks: the meaning behind all this navel gazing.

The season finale of Navel Gazing explores John Dickerson’s search for meaning in a box of notebooks

Listen & Subscribe

Choose your preferred player:

• Apple Podcasts
• Amazon Music

Please enable javascript to get your Slate Plus feeds.

Get Your Slate Plus Podcast

If you can't access your feeds, please contact customer support.

Thanks! Check your phone for a link to finish setting up your feed.

Please enter a 10-digit phone number.

Listen on your phone: RECOMMENDED

Enter your phone number and we'll text you a link to set up the podcast in your app:

We'll only text you about setting up this podcast, no spam.

Listen on your computer:

Apple Podcasts will only work on MacOS operating systems since Catalina . We do not support Android apps on desktop at this time.

Listen on your device: RECOMMENDED

These links will only work if you're on the device you listen to podcasts on.

Set up manually:

How does this work?

We're sorry, but something went wrong while fetching your podcast feeds. Please contact us at [email protected] for help.

Episode Notes

In this week’s essay, John discusses instinct versus obligation, his daughter’s wit, how he has changed since episode one, and more.

Notebook Entries:

Notebook 58, page 10. September 16, 2021

“You don’t measure your life the way you measure your writing.” - Nan

Notebook 75, page 46-47. September 2021

When your dog dies and son goes to college and you are confronted with your life’s work it all boils down to one alarm: the clock is ticking. If a scream is better than a thesis, I was hearing some kind of scream, but what was the thesis?

References:

Everything Is Copy – HBODocs

 The Power of Regret – Daniel Pink

The Mezzanine – Nicholson Baker

“ The Creative Process ” – James Baldwin

Slouching Towards Bethlehem – Joan Didion

“ Three Paths Toward the Meaning of Life ” - Arthur Brooks for The Atlantic

Podcast production by Cheyna Roth.

Email us at [email protected]

About the Show

Political Gabfest host John Dickerson has been a journalist for more than three decades, reporting about presidential campaigns, political scandals, and the evolving state of our democracy. Along the way, he’s also been recording his observations in notebooks he has carried in his back pocket. He has captured his thoughts about life, parenthood, death, friendship, writing, God, to-do lists, and more. On the Navel Gazing podcast, John Dickerson invites you to join him in figuring out what these 30 years of notebooks mean: sorting out what makes a life—or a day in a life—noteworthy.

John Dickerson is host of CBS News Prime Time With John Dickerson , co-host of the Slate Political Gabfest, host of the Whistlestop podcast, and author of The Hardest Job in the World .

NATO's biggest drill since the Cold War is a warning for Putin to stay away

As Ukraine struggles on the real battlefield, the war games on what could be the front line if that conflict bubbles over have added significance. If any NATO members come under attack, the message is clear and united: there will be no playing games.

Europe correspondent @SiobhanRobbins

Thursday 30 May 2024 03:04, UK

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

In a dusty clearing in Lithuania, NATO is rolling out the big guns.

Leopard 2 tanks fire their rounds with a deafening thud, while Puma fighting vehicles add to the eerie chorus, accompanied by the buzz of helicopter blades.

The firepower on display is the crescendo of the alliance's biggest military training exercise since the Cold War, led by the Germans and taking place a few miles from the Lithuanian border with Belarus.

The aim is to show how NATO can defend Europe's eastern flank from invasion, offer reassurance to allies and a warning to President Putin.

"Today's exercise sends a clear message - a message of deterrence to Russia," said General Carsten Breuer, Germany's chief of defence.

About 90,000 troops from 32 member states have taken part in drills as part of the Steadfast Defender exercise over the past six months on land, sea and in the air.

And as Ukraine struggles on the real battlefield, the war games on the eastern flank have added significance.

This is NATO's front line if the war in Ukraine were to bubble over.

The Baltic states including Lithuania say Russia is their biggest threat to security. It's why Germany will permanently station 5,000 troops in the area in the next few years.

It's a welcome deterrent, according to Colonel Rimantas Jarmalavicius from the Lithuanian armed forces, who has fought the Russians before.

Last time, he was a student battling the Soviet Union for his country's independence.

"I remember perfectly the system that we lived in. I don't want those times to come back and I don't want my children to live in such a country as the Soviet Union," he said.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine also shocked Germany into action.

This is the first year since the 1990s that the European giant has met the NATO alliance target to spend 2% of its gross domestic product on defence.

Russian aggression has made defence a priority for the government, which announced a special €100bn (£85bn) fund shortly after the war broke out.

But years of underfunding mean now Germany is against the clock to make a military short of ammunition, weapons and troops fit for war.

Read more: The West can halt Putin's war - but does it have the resolve? Russia producing artillery three times faster than Ukraine's allies

Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News

"We have five to eight years when the reconstitution of Russia forces is on a level that an attack against NATO territory might be possible," explains General Breuer.

"For me as military, five to eight years means I have to be ready in five years."

And on the training field, Germany was keen to show it could defend its neighbours with an impressive range of weapons.

This time they were just drills, but if any NATO members come under attack the message is clear and united: there will be no playing games.

Be the first to get Breaking News

Install the Sky News app for free

Related Topics

• Share full article

Advertisement

Supported by

Guest Essay

Do You Want a ‘Unified Reich’ Mind-Set in the White House?

By David Austin Walsh

Dr. Walsh is a postdoctoral associate at the Yale program for the study of antisemitism and the author of “Taking America Back: The Conservative Movement and the Far Right.”

It is hard to be shocked by Donald Trump anymore. The former president’s trial over hush money paid to a porn star has made history, and his performance in court has been so farcical that Mr. Trump was threatened with jail time for contempt of court. He has called his political enemies “vermin” and said that immigrants are “poisoning the blood” of America. Mr. Trump’s transgressions against American political norms are by now almost a cliché.

Yet when Mr. Trump posted on Monday a video on his Truth Social account that featured mock headlines about his re-election in 2024, including one that predicted that “what’s next for America” was the “creation of a unified reich,” it was a shock of a different order, a suggestion that our country was on a glide path toward Nazi Germany in a second Trump term.

Mr. Trump’s penchant for flirting with authoritarianism and fascism is well known — he praised the neo-Nazi marchers in Charlottesville, Va., in 2017, has dined with the white supremacist Nick Fuentes and, of course, instigated the Jan. 6 riot. But the “unified reich” video shows a different kind of danger in another Trump presidency.

The Associated Press reported that the references in the video “appear to be a reference to the formation of the modern Pan-German nation, unifying smaller states into a single reich, or empire, in 1871.” A Trump campaign representative claimed that the video was posted by a campaign staff member while the candidate was in court. That underscores the bigger problem in the Republican Party today, one that goes far beyond Mr. Trump: a generation of young Republican staff members appears to be developing terminal white nationalist brain. And they will staff the next Republican administration.

This is a problem that other Republican candidates have faced as well. Last July the Ron DeSantis campaign fired a speechwriter and former National Review contributor, Nate Hochman, for promoting a pro-DeSantis video featuring Nazi imagery ; and scores of Republican aides on Capitol Hill have been outed by reporters as “groypers” — a term used to describe fans of Mr. Fuentes.

Not every young Republican campaign staff member is a fascist. But the far right is a significant part of the Republican Party’s political coalition. Mr. Trump sailed through the G.O.P. primaries and has probably secured the nomination. The presence of so many extremist elements in positions of power and influence is the price to be paid in the party’s bargain with MAGAism: Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar addressed a white nationalist conference in 2022, and an investigative report from 2020 found that at least 12 Trump administrative aides had ties to neo-Nazi and anti-immigrant hate groups.

The contemporary American right might not be a monolith, but it functions like a “ popular front ,” which traditionally refers to the broad coalition between leftists and liberals in the 1930s unifying against a common fascist enemy. But similar dynamics existed on the right throughout the 20th century and continue.

This is not a new dynamic in conservative politics. The popular-front approach was the staple organizing principle of the American right during the 20th century. In fact, the right-wing popular front gave birth to modern conservatism, unifying a disparate group of right wingers, including luminaries like Senator Joseph McCarthy, Gen. Douglas MacArthur and William F. Buckley Jr. and more obscure — and more radical — figures like the magazine owner Russell Maguire, the classics professor Revilo Oliver and the American Nazi Party chief George Lincoln Rockwell. What bound this motley coalition together was shared opposition to communism, socialism and New Deal liberalism.

Extremists and fascist sympathizers could be found even in the commanding heights of the movement — and other conservatives knew it. Mr. Maguire, a Connecticut businessman and arms manufacturer, purchased The American Mercury magazine in 1952 and turned it into one of the most influential conservative journals of its day, inveighing against the threat of international communism, creeping liberalism and collectivism. It was perhaps the most widely read conservative magazine of its era, with a circulation of over 100,000 at its peak in the mid-1950s (by contrast, Mr. Buckley’s National Review struggled to reach 20,000 readers by the end of the decade).

But Mr. Maguire was also an outspoken antisemite who helped distribute books claiming that a Jewish plot threatened to subvert America. The editor of The American Mercury, William Bradford Huie, defended his professional relationship with the publisher because Mr. Maguire’s money was helping to get the conservative message out. “If suddenly I heard Adolf Hitler was alive in South America and wanted to give a million dollars to The American Mercury,” he told a reporter, “I would go down and get it.”

Still, there were political limits to openly embracing the swastika only a few years after World War II, which suggests that appeals to a “unified reich” will backfire on the Trump campaign. Both Mr. Maguire and Mr. Buckley had employed Mr. Rockwell at their magazines in the late 1950s. Mr. Rockwell, who according to his autobiography had embraced Nazism as early as 1951, approached Mr. Maguire in the late 1950s to finance a “slow, secret Nazi buildup” throughout the country. To Mr. Rockwell’s dismay, Mr. Maguire — a millionaire — offered him only $1,000. The political costs of organizing under the swastika were too high.

After Mr. Rockwell began making public appearances as a Nazi, he quickly became one of the most hated men in the country. Ironically, many of his political stances — opposition to the civil rights movement, support for segregation and intense antipathy to communism — were relatively popular in America in the 1960s, but explicitly tying those politics to Nazi imagery was a dead end. Whatever behind-the-scenes political influence Mr. Rockwell amassed working for The American Mercury or National Review was extinguished when he embraced the swastika.

Times have changed. While the far right has not been the decisive political force that put Mr. Trump in office, he has benefited from its support in some states — and has never paid a clear political price for boosting extremists. Despite his extensive record of political extremism, Mr. Trump still won over 74 million votes in 2020 and has maintained a consistent polling edge over President Biden in 2024.

Contemporary far-right activists like Mr. Fuentes clearly see Mr. Trump’s campaign as another opportunity to build power and influence. And unlike in decades past — where the far right was an important part of the right-wing popular front but did not exert hegemonic control — MAGAism is today the dominant strain in conservative politics.

If elected, Mr. Trump has promised to not govern as a dictator “except for Day 1” of his administration and to “root out the communists, Marxists, fascists and the radical-left thugs.” These are not empty words; the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 proposals are a road map to use executive authority to purge the federal government and replace current civil servants with conservative loyalists.

The likeliest candidates for those positions are campaign staff members and other activists. Given that it now seems to be almost commonplace for Republican staff members to have ties to white nationalists and neo-Nazis and that the Texas G.O.P. recently voted against barring them from associating with antisemitic individuals or groups, we should be very concerned about the potential role of far-right aides in a second Trump administration.

A unified reich in America may still be just a fantasy, but those fantasists could soon be in positions of real power.

David Austin Walsh is a postdoctoral associate at the Yale program for the study of antisemitism and the author of “ Taking America Back : The Conservative Movement and the Far Right.”

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

Follow the New York Times Opinion section on Facebook , Instagram , TikTok , WhatsApp , X and Threads .

4 ways to let go of grudges that can harm our health

Identify the meaning behind your grudge, exercise, practice forgiveness and look for ‘joy snacks.'

Holding a grudge against someone is common for most of us. A neighbor insults us, our boss criticizes us or a friend betrays us, and we begin to resent them. While it’s human nature to get upset at being treated badly, holding on to ill will can hurt our mental health.

In one small study of 20 grudge holders, researchers found that harboring resentment could reinforce upsetting thoughts, lower self-esteem and make negative feelings fester. Another study linked bearing a grudge with an increased risk of heart disease and chronic pain.

Despite these downsides, putting a grudge to rest isn’t always easy. As a psychologist, I know they can drag on for months or even years.

A patient I worked with years ago held a grudge, well into adulthood, against a former friend who had publicly teased her when they were at a camp in the seventh grade. She recognized that her resentment kept her stuck, but she didn’t know how to shake it.

There’s no shame in holding a grudge. But if you’d like to set your grudge free, here are four tips I share with my patients.

Identify the meaning behind your grudge

Research shows that grudges arise for different reasons.

Feeling hurt or betrayed by someone who never owned up to their actions is one cause. For example, maybe your best friend spilled your secrets, or a family member treated you poorly, but they never apologized. In these instances, grudges can be a warning sign, protecting us from future hurt.

Grudges can also be defenses, emotional armor that blocks us from feeling pain. Perhaps we imagine the wrongdoer meeting their match, which shields us from sadness and fear. While this makes us feel better in the short term, it can backfire in the long run.

Get Well+Being tips straight to your inbox

Focusing too much on the slight can cause us to overgeneralize and assume that everyone will hurt us. This thought trap can prevent us from taking social risks, trusting new people or deepening existing friendships . Grudges can make us feel stuck and sometimes even helpless.

One way to set the grudge free is to ask yourself: “How is my grudge helping me?” and “How is it hurting me?”

Your answers can help you decide what to do next. For example, if your grudge is making you anxious or depressed, you could decide to talk with a trusted friend or therapist.

Move your body

Movement such as aerobic exercise can lift a grudge, research suggests. Exercise helps regulate upsetting emotions, which may allow us to release the hurt and anger that often fuels ill will, according to the study.

If your grudge feels like a gremlin you just can’t shake, try walking or doing some gentle yoga.

Even better, try to identify how you’re feeling before you exercise and note what’s different afterward. Calling out these changes underscores that emotions (and even grudges) are temporary, which can feel relieving and empowering.

Replace ‘grievance narratives’ with forgiveness

Holding a grudge can lead to what Fred Luskin , a forgiveness researcher at Stanford University, calls a “grievance narrative.” It’s a story we tell ourselves repeatedly about the person who hurt us.

Years ago I counseled a young man whose brother had died of a terminal illness. He blamed his parents for his brother’s death. “If they had taken him to the doctor sooner, he’d still be here,” he would say. This story, however, didn’t make his suffering disappear.

According to research , grievance narratives put the body in a state of threat, which releases the stress hormone, cortisol, and can impede the healing process.

One cure for grievance narratives is practicing forgiveness . Contrary to what many of us believe, forgiving doesn’t mean forgetting the hurt, nor is it for the other person. It’s a learned skill that can help us move through our feelings, which can be freeing.

Begin by identifying your grievance narrative and use calming breaths such as box breathing to soothe the body.

Redirecting your hurt into positive actions can also help. You can volunteer for a worthy cause or help someone going through a similar struggle.

According to Luskin’s research, such actions can inch us closer to forgiveness.

Look for glimmers

When grudges simmer, it’s easier to get triggered. For example, you may become enraged when someone cuts you off in traffic or you may snap at your child for making a mistake. And when these negative emotions swell, accessing positive feelings can be more challenging.

One way to tame triggers is to look for glimmers. This term , coined by psychotherapist Deb Dana, describes any cue that elicits feelings of safety, ease and connection. Think of it as a “ joy snack ” or a mood boost.

Witnessing a beautiful sunset, listening to soothing music or petting a puppy are a few examples.

Unlike triggers, which jar the nervous system, glimmers activate the parasympathetic nervous system, which helps the body relax.

To identify glimmers, try keeping a “glimmer journal.” Each day, see if you can identify three to five cues that spark positive emotions. It could be something you notice during the day, such as the sound of laughter or a beautiful garden. Or it could be a memory from the past.

Here's one exercise you can try:

Imagine the last time someone made you feel cared for or you felt moved by something you saw. Take a moment to jot down this memory. As you recall your glimmer, notice what emotions arise. Try to soak up this feeling of peace, calm or positivity.

While grudges may be part of life, they don’t have to get the best of us. Exercise, forgiveness and searching for glimmers can help release resentment, which benefits our physical and mental health for years to come.

Juli Fraga, PsyD, is a psychologist with a private practice in San Francisco.

We welcome your comments on this column at [email protected] .

Read more from Well+Being

Well+Being shares news and advice for living well every day. Sign up for our newsletter to get tips directly in your inbox.

Diabetes, air pollution and alcohol consumption could be the biggest risk factors for dementia .

Dairy vs. plant milk : Which is better?

Why is my gas so smelly ? Gender, diet and plane rides can play a role.

Quitting can be a superpower that helps your mental health. Here’s how to quit smarter .

Our relationships with pets can be strong and uncomplicated.

Deciphering the Realm of Aphrodite: Understanding the Domain of the Love Goddess

This essay about the realm of Aphrodite explores the profound influence of love, beauty, and desire in human existence. It into Aphrodite’s role as the embodiment of these forces, emphasizing their significance beyond romantic entanglements. Through the lens of Aphrodite’s domain, the essay examines the complexities of love’s dual nature, the true essence of beauty, and the primal drive of desire. It underscores the importance of navigating these forces with wisdom and integrity, offering insights into their transformative power in shaping human connections and experiences.

How it works

In the mythological tapestry of ancient Greece, amidst the pantheon of gods and goddesses, one figure reigns supreme in matters of love, desire, and beauty: Aphrodite, the ethereal embodiment of love’s intoxicating power. Her domain extends far beyond mere romantic entanglements, weaving through the fabric of existence itself, touching upon the deepest recesses of human emotion and connection. To decipher the realm of Aphrodite is to unravel the intricate web of passion, longing, and devotion that she casts over mortals and immortals alike.

At the heart of Aphrodite’s domain lies the concept of love in its myriad forms. While she is often associated with romantic love, her influence transcends this narrow definition, encompassing platonic love, familial love, and even self-love. In the eyes of Aphrodite, love is not merely an emotion but a force—a cosmic energy that binds souls together and infuses life with meaning and purpose.

Yet, love is not always gentle or kind. Like the sea from which she is said to have emerged, Aphrodite’s domain can be tempestuous and unpredictable. Love has the power to uplift and inspire, but it can also cause pain and heartache. In her capriciousness, Aphrodite reminds us that love is a double-edged sword, capable of both ecstasy and agony.

Central to Aphrodite’s domain is the concept of beauty, which she embodies in its purest form. In the eyes of the love goddess, beauty is not merely superficial but a reflection of the divine. It is the outward expression of inner harmony and grace, a testament to the inherent worth and dignity of every being. Through her influence, Aphrodite teaches us to appreciate the beauty that surrounds us and to recognize the beauty within ourselves.

Yet, Aphrodite’s domain is not without its challenges. In a world obsessed with physical appearance, true beauty is often overshadowed by shallow notions of perfection. Aphrodite challenges us to look beyond the surface and to see beauty in its truest form—in the uniqueness and imperfection of every individual.

In addition to love and beauty, Aphrodite is also associated with desire—a primal force that drives us to seek connection and fulfillment. In her realm, desire is not something to be ashamed of but embraced as a natural and essential aspect of the human experience. Through desire, we are reminded of our capacity for passion and longing, of our innate desire to connect with others on a deep and meaningful level.

Yet, desire can also be a source of conflict and strife, leading us astray from our true path. In her wisdom, Aphrodite teaches us to channel our desires in constructive ways, to seek connection and intimacy with others without losing sight of our own integrity and self-worth.

Ultimately, to decipher the realm of Aphrodite is to embrace love, beauty, and desire as integral parts of the human experience. It is to recognize the profound impact that these forces have on our lives and to navigate their complexities with grace and humility. In the embrace of Aphrodite’s domain, we find solace and inspiration, knowing that love will always prevail in the end.

Cite this page

Deciphering the Realm of Aphrodite: Understanding the Domain of the Love Goddess. (2024, Jun 01). Retrieved from https://papersowl.com/examples/deciphering-the-realm-of-aphrodite-understanding-the-domain-of-the-love-goddess/

"Deciphering the Realm of Aphrodite: Understanding the Domain of the Love Goddess." PapersOwl.com , 1 Jun 2024, https://papersowl.com/examples/deciphering-the-realm-of-aphrodite-understanding-the-domain-of-the-love-goddess/

PapersOwl.com. (2024). Deciphering the Realm of Aphrodite: Understanding the Domain of the Love Goddess . [Online]. Available at: https://papersowl.com/examples/deciphering-the-realm-of-aphrodite-understanding-the-domain-of-the-love-goddess/ [Accessed: 1 Jun. 2024]

"Deciphering the Realm of Aphrodite: Understanding the Domain of the Love Goddess." PapersOwl.com, Jun 01, 2024. Accessed June 1, 2024. https://papersowl.com/examples/deciphering-the-realm-of-aphrodite-understanding-the-domain-of-the-love-goddess/

"Deciphering the Realm of Aphrodite: Understanding the Domain of the Love Goddess," PapersOwl.com , 01-Jun-2024. [Online]. Available: https://papersowl.com/examples/deciphering-the-realm-of-aphrodite-understanding-the-domain-of-the-love-goddess/. [Accessed: 1-Jun-2024]

PapersOwl.com. (2024). Deciphering the Realm of Aphrodite: Understanding the Domain of the Love Goddess . [Online]. Available at: https://papersowl.com/examples/deciphering-the-realm-of-aphrodite-understanding-the-domain-of-the-love-goddess/ [Accessed: 1-Jun-2024]

Don't let plagiarism ruin your grade

Hire a writer to get a unique paper crafted to your needs.

Our writers will help you fix any mistakes and get an A+!

Please check your inbox.

You can order an original essay written according to your instructions.

Trusted by over 1 million students worldwide

1. Tell Us Your Requirements

2. Pick your perfect writer

3. Get Your Paper and Pay

Hi! I'm Amy, your personal assistant!

Don't know where to start? Give me your paper requirements and I connect you to an academic expert.

short deadlines

100% Plagiarism-Free

Certified writers

• Essay Series
• Expert Speak
• Commentaries
• Young Voices
• Issue Briefs
• Special Reports
• Occasional Papers
• GP-ORF Series
• Books and Monographs

Browse by Topics

Progammes & centres.

• SUFIP Development Network
• Centre for New Economic Diplomacy
• Centre for Security, Strategy & Technology
• Urban Studies
• Neighbourhood Studies
• Inclusive Growth and SDGs
• Strategic Studies Programme
• Energy and Climate Change
• Economy and Growth
• Raisina Dialogue
• Cape Town Conversation
• The Energy Transition Dialogues
• CyFy Africa
• Kigali Global Dialogue
• BRICS Academic Forum
• Colaba Conversation
• Asian Forum on Global Governance
• Dhaka Global Dialogue
• Kalpana Chawla Annual Space Policy Dialogue
• Tackling Insurgent Ideologies
• Climate Action Champions Network
• Event Reports
• Code of Conduct
• ORF Social Media Advisory
• Committee Against Sexual Harassment
• Declaration of Contributions
• Founder Chairman
• Work With Us
• Write For Us
• Intern With Us
• ORF Faculty
• Contributors
• Global Advisory Board
• WRITE FOR US

What does an emerging Squad in the Indo-Pacific mean for India?

Authors : Harsh V. Pant | Don McLain Gill

Originally Published Mint Published on May 24, 2024

This new mini-lateral grouping of the US and three of its allies could coordinate actions with the Quad for regional stability

Earlier this month, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin met his Australian, Filipino and Japanese counterparts to institutionalize and launch the ‘Squad’ as a new four-way security arrangement in the Indo-Pacific. The Squad has become an essential addition to the series of security ‘mini-lateral’ groupings in the Indo-Pacific, such as the Quad, Aukus, the US-Philippines-Japan trilateral and the US-Japan-South Korea trilateral.

The Philippines, Japan and Australia are not treaty allies; however, each of these countries shares a bilateral treaty alliance with the US. Thus, the idea behind the Squad centres on the desire  of all four democracies to deepen their level of integration beyond the hub-and-spokes format at a time when China has been militarizing the South China Sea at the expense of the rules-based order of the Indo-Pacific.

Manila has broadened its alliance with the US and is currently negotiating a reciprocal access agreement (RAA) with Japan to enhance troop deployments between both countries.

The seeds for the Squad’s creation were already planted in 2023 through the efforts of the four countries to enhance their strategic collaboration in the South China Sea. Manila has broadened its alliance with the US and is currently negotiating a reciprocal access agreement (RAA) with Japan to enhance troop deployments between both countries. This also complements the existing Visiting Forces of Agreement (VFA) that the Philippines has with the US and the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) between Manila and Canberra. In June 2023, the defence chiefs of all four countries met for the first time on the sidelines of the Shangri La security dialogue in Singapore. Moreover, in April this year, the US, Japan, the Philippines and Australia conducted their first-ever multilateral maritime exercise in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

Though the creation of the Squad may have seemed quite natural, due to the loose and informal nature of mini-laterals, their development relies on the convergence of political will and the intersection of shared interests and threat perceptions among its potential members. Consequently, the degree of collective participation among all four democracies only began to heighten in 2023.

In the past decade, the US, Philippines, Japan, and Australia lacked a collective and homogenous strategic vision vis-a-vis the region. While Washington was initially preoccupied with Europe and the Middle East during the latter years of the Obama administration, the Trump presidency sought to reconfigure US commitments towards  its alliances based on a greater level of transactionalism. On the other hand, while Japan and Australia recognized the challenges posed by China in the South China Sea, there were still limitations in their abilities to project a more military and defence-driven approach in the geographic space. Moreover, the absence of a resident Southeast Asian anchor further constrained the ability of the US and its two treaty allies to play a more robust role in securing the South China Sea collectively.

While Japan and Australia recognized the challenges posed by China in the South China Sea, there were still limitations in their abilities to project a more military and defence-driven approach in the geographic space.

While the Philippines seemed like the most practical Southeast Asian partner then, given its treaty alliance with the US, its close strategic ties with Japan and its defence relations with Australia, the former administration of Rodrigo Duterte significantly reoriented Philippine foreign and security policy. In the hope of gaining economic concessions from Beijing by appeasement, Manila refrained from taking direct action against China through the US alliance network. This policy shift limited the Philippines’ participation in security arrangements to secure the South China Sea.

However, this strategic dynamic significantly changed in 2022. While still heavily engaged in Europe and the Middle East, Washington recognized more clearly that China is the only major power with the material capacity and ambition to dismantle the established rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific. Similarly, with China showing no sign of managing its expansionist and belligerent activities in the Western Pacific, Japan has recognized the need to play a more robust defence role in the Indo-Pacific. This reorientation has its roots in Tokyo’s National Security Strategy (NSS) released on 16 December 2022, which encompasses several notable objectives, including expediting Japan’s military modernization and enhancing its military forces based on the acute traditional security challenges in the region. Importantly, the NSS also highlights the need for Tokyo to enhance the capabilities of friendly regional countries to attain a genuinely free and open Indo-Pacific. Australia has also been showing greater interest in playing a more prominent role as a security and development partner in Southeast Asia.

Since Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr took office in June 2022, Manila has taken a more proactive role in safeguarding its EEZ against Chinese expansionism by strengthening its partnerships to improve its maritime security capabilities and ability to exercise its sovereignty. This shift opened doors for the Philippines to participate more actively in the emerging network of like-minded democracies of the Indo-Pacific. By playing the anchor’s role in Southeast Asia, the country has positioned itself as the Squad’s fulcrum.

All four members of the Squad must consistently engage with one another and explore new means of collective capacity building.

The proliferation of informal strategic arrangements  suggests that Indo-Pacific security will be underpinned by flexible, area-specific and practical elements of cooperation, rather than traditional and rigid alliances. At the heart of these developments lie concerns of a potential challenge posed by China to the stability of the established regional order. All four members of the Squad must consistently engage with one another and explore new means of collective capacity building. Moreover, the Squad needs to coordinate with other existing mini-laterals (like the Quad) to achieve a more robust network-based cooperative framework of like-minded countries in the Indo-Pacific.

It is in the very nature of the Indo-Pacific that mini-laterals will proliferate and the nature of security threats in the region demand that they coordinate their actions closely.

This commentary originally appeared in Mint .

International Affairs

• USA and Canada
• The Pacific, East and Southeast Asia
• cooperation
• Indo-Pacific
• maritime security
• South China Sea
• treaty alliance
• US Secretary of Defense

The views expressed above belong to the author(s). ORF research and analyses now available on Telegram! Click here to access our curated content — blogs, longforms and interviews.

Harsh V. Pant

Professor Harsh V. Pant is Vice President – Studies and Foreign Policy at Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi. He is a Professor of International Relations ...

Don McLain Gill

Don McLain Gill is a Philippines-based geopolitical analyst author and lecturer at the Department of International Studies De La Salle University (DLSU). ...

Related Search Terms

Publications.

Rishi Sunak, UK's Accidental Prime Minister, Goes For Broke

May 31, 2024.

TSAT-1A marks progress, but challenges remain in US-India defence space ties

International affairs | space.