The Joy of Movement: How Exercise Helps Us Find Happiness, Hope, Connection, and Courage

by Kelly McGonigal

When you participate in any physical activity—sports, dance, running, weight lifting—your moment-to-moment sense of self is shaped by the qualities of your movement. When you move with grace, your brain perceives the elongation of your limbs and the fluidity of your steps, and realizes, “I am graceful.” When you move with power, your brain encodes the explosive contraction of muscles, senses the speed of the action, and understands, “I am powerful.” When you move in a way that requires strength, your brain senses the resistance in your muscles and the force on your tendons, and concludes, “I am strong.” These sensations offer convincing data about who you are and what you are capable of. My twin sister once told me that her favorite part of a run is “the part when it’s horrible.” When I laughed, she explained, “It’s a primal feeling. I’m doing this thing that is really tough, and I’m still doing it. I’m tough.”