In January lots of people pledge to take better care of themselves. Often that means doing more exercise, including starting or restarting yoga. If that is you, you are not alone - my classes have never been so busy!

Obviously I already do a lot of yoga so I opt for running instead. This year I am taking part in RED January for the third time. I am aiming to run at least 1 mile every day. The idea is to kick start my running habit again. I have been a mediocre runner for 10 years now, but had to take 6 months off for a foot injury last year and never quite got back into it. Hopefully by the end of the month I'll be back in the habit.

So you might wonder how it is going. Truthfully I fell at the first hurdle. I started the new year with an absolutely massive hangover (yogis are not all healthy living!) so didn't run on January 1st. I could have used that as an excuse to give up all together, but I didn't and I've now done 14 consecutive days. I'll just add an extra day on at the end.

One of the reasons I didn't give up at the start and I'm still going now is because I have learned that being able to run is an incredible gift. Being able to do yoga is an gift. Being able to move my body in any way is a gift. I didn't always think this way. There are certainly times in my life when I have tried to use exercise to lose weight, or to burn off less healthy food and drink choices. When I have used exercise as a punishment. And that narrative is still out there in the media and probably squirreled away in the subconscious of any women who lived through the 70s or 80s.

My shift towards finding joy in movement (as an adult) has been a gradual one. Yoga has been a big part of the shift. I think that the way yoga encourages us to really notice how we feel both at the start and end of class helped me realise that movement really does make me feel better. This is what has kept me running too. Even though the actual running is often tough, I always - always - feel better afterwards. Then recently I had a job working with people who have respiratory illness. People who genuinely struggle to exercise, but who would love to be able to move more. It's one of those situations where you realise just how privileged you are. What a gift it is to have a functioning body! To be able to move and breathe and sweat and stretch.

If you find yourself treating exercise like a punishment, perhaps try using the tools of yoga to tap into how you really feel. Take a quiet moment to notice how you feel beforehand. Then do the same thing afterwards. Really focus on how you feel physically, mentally and emotionally. I guarantee you will feel better afterwards. Make an effort to really remember that 'after' feeling, and see if you can tap into it when you feel like skipping your yoga class, or whatever other exercise you have planned. I promise that getting started is the hardest thing and that you will feel better afterwards. Exercise truly is a gift, not a punishment!