The importance of being healthy

Columbians are not exactly known for their athletic abilities. Many of us came here because we were tired of being ridiculed for running 12-minute miles and wanted to find more of our uncoordinated and bookish kind. And while our minds seem to get a perpetual philosophical workout in Lit Hum and Contemporary Civilization, it seems like our bodies remain underactive between the immense number of pages of reading, hours in class, and the short distance between classes and dorm buildings (we complain that Harmony Hall is too far from campus, when at many colleges all the buildings are even more spread out); not to mention that for most of the year it’s far too cold to go for a jog outside, and the indoor track at Dodge isn’t exactly an appealing atmosphere. All in all, getting into an enjoyable workout groove at Columbia is a hard task that many students understandably find difficult to attain. This isn’t UC Santa Barbara, where it’s possible to play beach volleyball all year round.

But despite this difficulty, it is important to recognize that regular exercise is one of the most underrated healthful activities that students can engage in to improve their overall wellbeing. A few weeks ago The Eye ran a feature article on the prevalence of depression at Columbia. While depression is an extremely important issue that should be taken seriously, a study conducted at Duke University has shown that regular exercise is almost as effective as the drug Sertraline in treating depression. I am not trying to dismiss the severity of clinical depression and the importance of chemical treatment in most instances, but a focus on leading a more active lifestyle may help alleviate the stress that comes from studying at a pressure-cooker Ivy League university, which certainly can be a major contributor to depression.

In the short term, exercise can increase your general mood on any given day, allow you to relax, help you sleep better, and help you lose weight. In the long term, many studies have found that exercise increases longevity and can prevent heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, and stroke. And the best part is that it doesn’t take that much exercise to get these benefits—only thirty minutes of brisk walking per day will help you to immediately feel the effects of a better tuned body. That may sound like a lot, but think critically for a second: How many minutes do you spend on Facebook per day? At Columbia, many students moralize about the negative health consequences of drinking and smoking, but how many of these students get enough physical activity in their lives? We have a lot to say here about living a “correct” lifestyle, but sometimes it’s about getting out and actually doing it (and ironically this op-ed proves I am just as much at fault for this).

Columbia is not the best environment for the happy jogger or yogi, though. Although we do have course offerings for physical education, as an experienced yogini, I can say that the instructors here do not know what they are doing. An instructor told the class during tree asana to press our foot against our knee, not our thigh or calf. This is the exact opposite of yoga doctrine, and an incredibly dangerous way to practice this position. All the same, let’s not resign ourselves to getting soft in Butler and complaining about the rain. We have all of New York City to explore and need to use our bodies as the vehicles they were meant to be.

It’s still sometimes too chilly to bask in the sunshine, but it’s definitely not too cold to go for a jog. Take advantage of this in between April weather as an excuse to go biking along the river. Find a free yoga class on the Internet and go with a friend (all Lululemon Athletica stores offer one free yoga class per week, taught by featured instructors from local studios, so you can avoid the clueless teachers at Dodge). And when it does get sunny out, asana on your own in a park: embrace the true meaning of “sun salutation!” Arrange a game of capture the flag in Central Park. Plan a day trip up to Westchester to go hiking and have a picnic. Or even wake up thirty minutes earlier and go for a brisk walk around campus before class.

It may seem like the looming deluge of end-of-semester papers and finals would make this a bad time to explore your workout options, but I would argue the opposite: Now is the time to get your blood flowing so that you can manage the end-of-the-year stress effectively. What we eat, how much sleep we get, and how much daily activity we engage in affects each of our academic performances so much more than we realize. And while it may not always be possible to get the recommended eight hours of sleep with the amount of reading assigned to us, it’s definitely possible to schedule small amounts of daily exercise that will keep our blood flowing, our hearts pumping, and surprisingly enough, our brains thinking. So carpe diem, and happy moving!

The author is a Columbia College first-year. She is the food & drink editor of Spectator Arts and Entertainment.