“I wanted to make a habit of working out early in the morning.”

“I needed to bring back discipline into my life after quitting my job.”

“I used to love doing intense workouts, but I often got injured, 

so I wanted to start over by doing simpler exercises.”

“For me, it’s really tough to do even light exercises,” and so on.
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I confided in them that I’m terrible at sports. The ritual maker and members encouraged one another by saying that what’s important is to start moving at any time of the day at a tempo that best fits you.

Exercises were roughly divided into two parts. During the week, we were supposed to enjoy light exercises like stretching and going out for walk around the neighborhood, while on weekends, we were to attempt outdoor activities like mountain climbing or futsal. We also encouraged members to put on Tone Up Cushion, which provides powerful protection against UV rays before going out, and to use a mildly acidic vegan cleansing soap to wash off skin fatigue, then hydrate the skin with moisturizer for plumper skin that glows. We also gave away lightweight eco-friendly paper pouches and eSpoir x Meet Me sports towels that can be taken with you outside.

Now that we have worked hard to plan for the exercise, it was time for us to move. I began by stretching in the morning. When I woke up in the morning with sleepy eyes, I turned on the at-home exercise app and carried out my daily mission step by step. My joints made noises, probably because it’s been a while since I last exercised. But I kept on going thinking that even short-lived resolutions, once they pile up, become 30 days and eventually 300 days. In the evening when it is slightly cooler, I went out for short walks, and I tried taking long walks around old palaces on weekends (It’s a secret that I chose palaces because I wasn’t confident that I’d make it to the top of the mountain ?).

The Meet Me community gradually became packed with photos of members proving that they had been engaging in their rituals. Some worked out in the morning, while others either took a short walk at lunchtime or worked out at home in the evenings after work. Some people took yoga classes, ran, or did spinning courses. One member put up photos proving that she had exercised even during her trip overseas. Everyone did different exercises but one thing in common was that we all learned how to make time to relax, recharge, and get refreshed. Making time to care for the different areas of our bodies that have become tense in the mornings, taking a moment to savor the clean air and a beautiful sky view while taking a walk, and even taking some time to smell the fresh scent of the grass in midsummer. It is not as easy as you might think to find this time when we are so occupied with our lives in this modern society, so it really felt great watching the members fully concentrate on themselves for a few minutes at the shortest and even several hours at the longest.

After two weeks, we had a zoom meeting to reflect on ourselves. For the first 30 minutes, we did yoga together online and shared our thoughts on rituals.

“I realized that I am the type of person who can move my body even early in the morning.”

“I was able to show an iron will to move, even finding scrap time.”

“I enjoyed communicating with various people and sharing positive energy with one another.”

“We all live in our own bubbles where we communicate mostly with our colleagues and friends, but this ritual gave us a chance to get a glimpse into the various lives of different people. I loved how we all shared how we were spending the day, our feelings, and how we were solving the problems we faced, all the while supporting and motivating one another.”

I had mixed feelings while listening to the members share their thoughts. Although the Go Outside was a ritual aimed at forcing ourselves to move physically, what moved was not just our arms and legs. The moments we sweated out either on our own, or together, was a time to awaken even our minds, which had become overwhelmed with life.

There is a lot of research showing that exercise can help you ease depression, and running is said to release feel-good hormones. It doesn’t matter if you move alone, or with people, in your room or in the outdoors. Just start moving today. Even I, someone who is bad at exercising, can take a walk every night with my dog. Well then, shall we get moving? Let’s Go Outside! :-)