Movement has always been a part of my life. I grew up as a high-level gymnast & tennis player - which meant loads of activity, training, and movement.
When I was young (let’s say, 8-12 years) I really loved movement. I found it so much fun to run around, play in the park, and flip, twist and turn at gymnastics.
Movement was PLAY.
And play was, of course, always fun.
Unfortunately, around the age of 13/14, my view of movement began to shift.
As I learned about calories and saw photos of thin women on magazine covers, I started to think of movement in terms of how it could change my body (rather than how it felt in my mind & body)
Movement became something I “had to do to” - and my definition of a successful workout transformed from “was it fun & energizing?” to “did I burn X number of calories?”.
I can clearly remember exact date this shift happened…
In my spare time, I LOVED choreographing dances. Full transparency: as a 10-year-old, I can’t say my dances were “elegant” by any stretch of the imagination… But I LOVED it. I would spend 1, 2, sometimes even 3 hours coming up with a fully choreographed dance and practicing it to perfection.
Dancing was a hobby.
Dancing was PLAY.
One day, I was dancing my little heart away, and began thinking… “I should be running or cycling to burn more calories”…
“If I spent the same amount of time running/cycling as I do dancing, I would burn so much more energy!”…
That day was the day I stopped dancing (and, as dramatic as it sounds, this was literally what happened).
Instead of dancing, I did what I felt I should do.
I ignored what felt good in my body, and I “white-knuckled it” (no pain no gain, right?) to burn cals.
This is how my relationship with movement took a major turn for the worse…
It was no longer fun - it was work. It was “grinding it out”. And, no, it did not feel “good” in my body.
Through my recovery and personal health journey, I worked really hard to re-discover my joy of movement.
My parents played a huge role in this transition - and I’d love to share with you three things ways they helped me improve my relationship with movement…
My motivation for movement was strongly rooted in my identity as an athlete… And to be an athlete, I believe I had to look a certain way. So, my motivation for movement was to “adhere to” what I thought I was “supposed to look like”.
To discover a new motivation (and reconnect with what truly was important to me), my parents had an idea….
Every day they encouraged me to write down one “thing” that I wanted to accomplish in 5-10 years time. I wrote things like…
—> To relieve my back & knee pain (which I suffered from quite a bit during my recovery)
—> To be a strong mother
—> To be able to run around with my future kids
—> To be able to compete in sports again
—> To feel good dancing, and be OK with doing a workout for fun (and not as “work”)
—> To have higher energy levels
I read through these motivations each day - and, eventually, they became stronger and stronger.
Overtime, these motivations influenced my movement decisions - and I began engaging in exercise for fun, for strength, and for energy.
“Gentle exercise” didn’t feel like a “thing” to me…
It was always all-or-nothing. Either sweat-it-out and grind-till-I’m-huffing-and-puffing or don’t even bother.
Both of my parents encouraged me to engage in gentle exercise that supported my mental health.
I started doing yoga with my mom - daily. We would pick a new 15-20 minute Youtube video to try, and do it together in the morning.
In the afternoon, we would go on a walk around the block (or go to a nearby park) to get fresh air & more gentle movement.
Here’s what happened.
I fell in LOVE with yoga, and walking…
Neither of them “burnt-me-out”.
They both BROUGHT me energy.
They both helped calm my mind of all the “clutter” that was there.
Yoga, specifically, felt like a challenge (holding new positions, practicing balance, etc.) It felt SO cool that my body could do those things!
And, they both have become powerful stress-relief strategies that I use to this day
I’d never experienced movement like that before (the kind that calmed my mind, brought energy to my body, and felt good)…
At least, I hadn’t experienced that for a long time.
Movement finally wasn’t about the calories. It was about moving my body, finding peace in my mind, and boosting my energy for the rest of the day.
I’ll preface this by saying that using technology like step counters, heart rate monitors, etc., can be helpful in providing information. Now that I have re-built a positive relationship with movement, I DO use this kind of technology from time to time.
But, there is a very clear difference.
Before, I would use this technology to JUDGE myself - did I do enough? Did I work hard enough? Do I have to keep going/do more?
Using the technology took AWAY from my ability to check in with my own body to determine what would feel best.
Now, I use the technology as a source of information from a perspective rooted in curiosity and kindness. For example, using a heart rate monitor helps me to understand how hard my body worked for me today - and, provides me with information for an appropriate recovery strategy (food, stretching, rest). This helps my body become stronger and fully recover for my next bout of movement.
^This perspective is one that is driven by kindness and self-love.
At the point in my journey when movement felt negative, it was MOST supportive for me to ditch technology.
Removing technology gave me the opportunity to look INWARDS and fully connect with how my body felt rather than “listening to technology” to “tell me what to do”.
This was an important step in re-building my relationship with movement, before bringing technology back into the equation in a new, freedom-mindset way.
If I could sum up my personal journey in three words, I would say: Experimenting. Reflecting. Inwards.
That is…
—> Experimenting with new movement forms
—> Reflecting on how those movements felt in my body
—> Looking “inwards” to determine what I really want for myself (main motivations) and what my body needs in each moment.
I hope something in this post resonated with you today… If you’d like to share your story OR share something that resonated for you, please write in the comments.
And, if you’d like an opportunity to do this kind-of-thing for yourself - tune into your body and discover a health journey that works for YOU, there is an online free summit in Feb that will guide you through exactly how to do that…
In this summit, Coach Jami Fassett (another AH success story & member) and I are teaming up with 6 other health experts to bring you live movement sessions and educational workshops to help you…
Discover a health journey that works for YOU - all for FREE.
Recordings are provided to all registrants - so, even if you can’t make it live, you still will get all the value.
No posts
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.