The Case For Joyful Movement

New season, new beginnings. New you. Sounds familiar? 

Maybe you have promised to yourself that “this autumn I will start training and transforming my body”. Or perhaps you already have an established workout routine but you would love to try something new. Afterall, our bodies and minds need to be challenged to avoid hitting a plateau. Let this not be another year of failed attempts. Let’s find something that keeps us motivated and committed for the long term. 

Why Joyful Movement

Instead of thinking of physical activities as a chore and something that needs to be hard and effective, try a different approach: aim to integrate movement into your daily life and count it as a form of self-care. Joyful movement means moving your body for joy and new experiences. It’s a broad term and counts all kinds of physical activities (gardening, walking, jogging, dancing, biking,  …). The benefits of regular exercise are plentiful and holistic. Study after study shows how exercise helps not only our physical bodies but also our mental wellbeing by improving self-esteem and cognitive function, enhancing sleep, boosting libido, and reducing anxiety and depression. When we find movement activities that serve our unique needs we are more likely to stick with them for the long term. 

It’s easy to fall into all-or-nothing thinking: either work out hard for an hour, or do nothing at all. This approach is doomed to fail because life is not perfect and our scheduled sessions don’t always happen as we originally planned. Letting go of perfectionism and black-and-white thinking helps us to find a middle ground and think of solutions. If you don’t like fitness clubs and structured workouts, there are endless ways to stay active, become toned, and experience the feel-good vibes.

The Intentions Behind 

I think it is important to find your “Why” for moving your body and remind yourself of it regularly until physical activities become a habit - something you do without questioning. Why do you want to move your body? Do you want to train to transform your body, manage stress, or something else? Maybe you want to be able to live a long, thriving life. As I discussed in my previous blog post about manifesting and goal setting, I highly recommend always writing down your goals or creating a vision board so that you have an external reminder; We humans have a strong tendency of forgetting things no matter how great intentions we had behind our goals. Life is hectic and without clear goals, it’s easy to get absorbed into all the wrong things we want to get rid of. 

Moreover, your bio-individuality and your “why” help you navigate various choices and find the activities that serve your needs. We are all unique and bio-individuality has a big role here. Meaning that our overall lifestyle, age, sex, body structure, physical health, etc. affect which type of activities best work for each one of us. There is a risk of the paradox of choice where you cannot make a thoughtful decision and feel overwhelmed by the abundance of options. Knowing your personality and what type of things you typically like helps. Do you prefer doing things on your own or with others? Do you like staying at home or visiting new places? Low-impact classes or hardcore sweaty sessions? Simplicity or playing with tools and equipment? Indoors or outdoors? Goal-oriented or calming activities? 

If your reason is to tone and improve mobility, you want to find methods that will help you to get there. In this case low-impact activities like Pilates and barre would be great. If on the other hand you want to build strength and bulk up, you want to do something very different like lift heavier weights. If your goal is to manage stress, I would recommend choosing something slow like yoga where you can focus on your breath and your mind-body connection.  

Try, and see what serves you at this moment in your life. If things are not ok - you don’t feel well mentally, emotionally, or physically - you should change things. We often know deep down what we should do even though it’s not always the thing we would like to do the most.

Overcoming Obstacles

How to Start

When it’s something new it’s always confusing. My best advice for you here is to ask yourself: “What is the smallest thing I can do today?” Maybe it is booking yourself for your very first group class. Or you can do mat Pilates in your living room for 15 minutes. Or ask a friend for a 30-minute walk. You choose. Make sure it is something simple enough. And do it today. 

Finding Your Thing 

I know how challenging it can be at the beginning when you are searching for your thing. I wasn’t particularly athletic growing up. I have always had weak legs and thus, I have never been good at sprinting or jumping. Nor do I like competing. It took me a really long time to start enjoying moving my body and learn to live with it without shame. I have tried all kinds of physical activities and quit countless times until I found mindful practices - yoga, and Pilates - where you can focus on the mind-body connection and not worry about how you look or how hard you train. 

You can start exploring different things by getting a visitor pass to a fitness club and try their classes. Alternatively you could visit your local studio and try their classes whether it is yoga, Pilates, barre, indoor cycling or something else. I would recommend taking at least a couple of classes because typically the first class is the most challenging and intimidating. You can also try free online videos or try subscription-based workouts. Yet, I think it’s highly valuable to at least every now and then have an instructor or trainer who can check your progress and proper alignment. 

Shame And Uncomfortability 

Shame, embarrassment, and feeling uncomfortable are normal sensations at the beginning of the journey but they will pass as long as you keep showing up. People visiting the clubs and studios are normal people who all have their own strengths and weaknesses. The good news is that most of us are so focused on our own workouts that we don’t have the time and energy to stare at others. And why would we? Comparing isn’t helpful in the long term. If someone does something amazing you would love to do one day, take that as inspiration. As your body becomes stronger and you acquire new skills, your posture and mobility will improve, and you will become more confident.

Lack of Time

Learn to manage your time and make smarter choices. If you think you don’t have any extra time, pause, and make a diary of your day to check in with yourself where are those precious minutes going. Do you work efficiently, or do you have downtime at work and end up mindlessly scrolling through social media, online shopping, watching videos, etc.? We all have the same amount of hours per day. It’s up to us to choose how we use our time. Keep in mind that you don’t need to do a full hour sweat session to get the benefits. Just moving your body for 15 minutes can make a major difference in your mood. Usually it’s those incremental changes that can lead to significant improvement in the long term. 

The other thing is to schedule training sessions. What are the days in your week when you could squeeze a brief workout session into your day? Have someone to hold you accountable so that you will show up and do the thing you are supposed to do - and not cancel last minute. This is the reason why a friend who you can train with can become super valuable. Even better: have a professional private instructor with whom you have pre-scheduled sessions and they will tailor specifically a session for you. 

Lack of Money 

This is the funniest excuse ever because walking does not cost money. Nor does running or swimming. Also yoga and Pilates can be done at home without equipment or with very affordable equipment. The internet is full of free videos. Compared to many other things - like eating out, high-end designer fashion stuff, car maintenance, or aesthetic procedures - exercising is low cost unless you choose a luxury private members’ club or have a hobby that requires lavish equipment. This should be about investing in your long-term health and wellbeing. 

Uninspiring Instructor or Trainer

Let’s say that you have found what you like to do but your instructor is not inspiring. In this situation I would recommend finding a new instructor or giving them honest feedback why you don’t like their sessions. Perhaps they are not challenging you enough, or maybe they are teaching the same thing over and over and it’s becoming boring. Sometimes communicating your needs can change the game. 

Unintended Breaks

Life happens and at times we just cannot make it due to work trips, illness, injury, or something else. Creativity helps in these situations: if you are travelling, you can always pack your trainers with you, or fold a yoga mat for travel. Favour hotels with gyms or explore local fitness studios. Walking and sightseeing are wonderful ways to stay active and it is absolutely fine to take a break from your routines and let your body rest and restore. If you are sick or have an injury, a break is often essential to recover well to avoid future injuries. Once you have recovered enough, you can start introducing more gentle movement back to your routine. I would also recommend being mindful, not rushing, and talking to your medical doctor and trainer if needed before doing so. 

Find your joyful way to work up a sweat, quiet your mind, and find peace in the process!

Sending you so much love!