The joy of movement
“There is no perfect. It’s practice. That’s what it is constantly.”
-Trainer Meg
On this weeks episode I chat with Trainer Meg. This episode is for you if you love movement, are new to movement, or would like to move more. There are so many fantastic take aways from this conversation. Take a listen on spotify & apple podcasts and don’t forget to subscribe to catch the latest episode.
Below I have included a light version of a transcript of the conversation. Anyone know how to transcribe a podcast episode more efficiently?! This is not a work of literary accuracy, but is great for those who want the highlight reel or prefer to read than listen.
Enjoy!
“I need something for myself again. I need to feel like I have control of some part of my life. With a kid, especially a newborn, you have no control “ MB
“I need to do something for myself and I finally have the energy to do that.” MB
When our kids are really young it’s go through the motions and survival, even though we are enjoying it and loving them … some of it. Then there is this phase where there is a rediscovery of you as a person, as a woman, and what you’re passionate about in a new way because you finally have the space. Who am I now? What am I going to do with this? AG
It never quite makes sense, and you sort of align the pieces. It’s never the right time or a good time, you figure it out. AG
Figuring it out, with all the pieces.
If you don’t make space your space is going to get crowded out with all the other things you need to do. MB
When you start with what matters to you, it’s funny how the laundry always gets done. If you start with the laundry you run out of time. When you start with what you’re passionate about it clears up all this energy because you’re so excited and enthused. A
The joy of movement. For A lot of women movement can be a punishment or restrictive.
Moving our bodies is a joyful experience that so many women have lost touch with.
It started in high school for me. Loosing weight or being a different weight or being skinnier and trying to be like this person I saw on TV.
We have been so used to weighing ourselves and tracking, these are just tools. It’s so interesting to start something exciting measuring ourselves against what? We’re not enough or we’re too much. I find it interesting that it’s hard to let go of that control or security of external feedback vs. internal feedback.
If you’re someone that has weighed your self every day it’s not something that is going to happen overnight.
There are other things that we have more control over then our body weight or our size. How am I fueling my body? How much sleep am I getting? Unless you are a new mom. Other things that we can bring our focus too that aren’t a number.
I was sick of that number making our breaking my day.
We can’t trust our own bodies to be where they need to be in space in time. We don’t internally know our bodies we need to get that external feedback.
Takes unlearning to learn how do I feel right now.
Diet industry. That’s exactly the messages they want you to feel and internalize. You can’t trust your appetite. You can’t trust how hungry you are.
Sinful or guilt free. It’s on water! Of course it’s guilt free, it’s water.
I hate that we have been told these messages that we can’t trust ourselves. You can’t trust your self control so we push and push and push. We eat less and less and less. Eventually your appetite is going to take over. We are hungry. We need to eat when we are hungry. The more we don’t listen to those signals. The harder it is to transition to turning those signals back on.
It’s not going to be perfect. I might get a little too full. I might get a little too hungry. And then eat in a way that I might not normally want to eat. It’s first of all believing that those signals are okay. It’s okay to feel hungry. It’s okay to feel full. It’s okay to feel varying degrees. How I react to that and how I feel about myself. This is not a 30 day whole 30. It takes time. You can’t change your thoughts about food on a whole 30.
You can’t change your thoughts about food on a whole 30.
It takes time to re-wire and create a new dialogue.
Trusting body sensations.
Are you hungry? Then eat more. It’s all practice.
“It’s practice, it’s not perfect. “
M
There is no perfect. It’s practice. That’s what it is constantly.” MB
Trying new things. Trying different things and then finding what works for you.
That’s what it is with movement too. You practice. You get better at a skill or you change the move because it doesn’t work for your body. It’s not going to be we’re working towards perfection.
Not this person on the internet telling what works for you or how hungry you are.
The minute you have this figured out your life is going to change and then you have to have to adapt and be curious about being in tune with yourself. what do you need? What feels good?
I like that you brought up a therapist, exploring this stuff is sometimes hard to do on your own.
There are so many different modalities of healing.
There is a lot of healing and moving of energy that happens when you move your body.
Even just having someone there for you. As women we’re there for our partners, we are there for are children our clients … Who is there for you? To hold space for you? Whether that’s in movement or talk therapy. That doesn’t happen very often in our lives.
When people are sick they don’t have a lot of energy to give back.
My job now has this flow of energy out and in.
You’re going to be tired at the end of the night. So, do you want your head to hit the pillow with a bottle of wine going “Oh my gosh, what just happened. I’m exhausted and deflated and defeated. Your partner climbs into bed and you’re like get away from me. No one else touch me.” Or do you get into bed at the end of the night tired because you worked hard. You figured something out. You were loving and compassionate to your kids even when they spilled things. Your partner crawls into bed and you’re like “Oh, hey. Nice to see you.” There is a different kind of feeling and tired to have this exchange of energy. It’s totally different. You’re still tired. You’re still working hard. You still don’t know what you’re doing. You are figuring it out all the time.
We deserve that taking care of. It’s a basic human right to be taken care of. To take care of our bodily selves and our physical selves and our mental selves. If you’re not getting that we need to find a way to help you get that.
It makes me really angry and sad how many women are drowning in their own lives. They have given everything to everyone. Their nose is just above the water and we’re fine. WE’RE FINE. WE’RE ALL FINE! In some ways they are. You would look at their lives from the outside looking in and they are killing it. With their careers. With their families. They don’t have permission to spend time on themselves. To spend energy on themselves. To take care of themselves.
The question that always breaks my heart, “ What do you do for self care? What works for you?” And they don’t have an answer.
Movement is my daily self care. Whether it’s a walk or a strength workout.
Having different options. For me it shows as anxiety. I can go from this really anxious person who has a lot of tension in the heart area and the chest area. I can go from that person to the person that can handle when my kids are fighting and there’s a lot to get done and I just want everyone to go to bed and I don’t want to scream at them.
I can help them with their self care. I can hold them accountable so they make sure they get there self care in. That’s what a lot of people need. They need that accountability so that they can get that self care in.
We practice showing up on the might so that we can bring that into our lives. We practice having someone with us and holding space for us so that we can show up for ourselves. Which then gives us permission to do so in the rest of our lives.
It can be a really intimidating place to walk into the gym. It can be 80% men and that can be intimidating. It’s so embarrassing to admit that was just a few years ago.
So many women when they start to lift weights are so empowered by it. Because it’s not about the weight. You get to see progress every time or you fail. Which is a great experience to have as well. I tried and I failed. What do I need to adjust?
Strong and also feeling capable. People really want to feel capable to do the things in their life that they need to do.
People really want to feel capable. With that is strength. With that is confidence that they can do it. They have the core strength and ability to do things that are hard and lift things that are hard. To feel resilient.
Feeling better as a guide for how successful a workout is, is an instant thing.
Within 10 minutes of starting a workout you will feel better. If your focus is only on weight loss that’s not an immediate 10 minute thing. That’s not a 2 week or 4 week thing or a 6 week thing. It might be a never thing. My focus is in this moment what can we do to make you feel better? To improve your mood? To improve your strength?
There’s always different fun goals we can come up with that aren’t 6 weeks down the road. It is good to have a long term plan, but we also want to keep you in the moment feeling good.
We need these tools that in 10 minutes we can feel better.
If you have 1, 5 or 10 minutes you can feel better. You just have to practice what works for you.
You can feel better in 10 minutes. Will your life be perfect? No. Will you have it all figured out? Of course not. But, you can feel better.
We forget we are supposed to feel good in our bodies.
We are supposed to enjoy our life a little bit. Not on vacation in 6 weeks. Not next year when we can leave our house. Today. Right now. How about now?
I love the idea of reframing exercise into movement. 1, 5, or 10 minutes. You can go for a walk, you can run up and down the stairs for times, you can go on your kitchen counter and do 20 pushups. There are little things you can do. All of that counts.
I moved all day. I didn’t get a workout in, but I moved. I feel better about life and what tomorrow brings because of it.
Reframing it from always having to be exercise. Always having to look a certain way. Moving. In a way that feels good. In a way that brings joy most of the time.
How can you move on a daily basis for the rest of your life?
What’s the first step? Play with how much movement can I add in?
When I tell people about not changing clothes that’s a big barrier sometimes.
Movement first. Move every day.
I have different workouts that I use for different reasons for different times of day.
I have these tools available. If I have 10 minutes I am going to do this. If I have 1 minute I am going to do this. Having those ready to go can help you collect movement.
I often hear it can be a little intimidating to go to the gym, when we went to the gym. Or, when I …. Then I willl hire a trainer. When I … then I will buy the new clothes. That’s something we really need to flip. If you are starting off and you have this resource available now is the time to invest in yourself.
What is the benefit to working with a trainer when stepping back into yourself or self care?
If going from no movement and wanting to start to move. You are going to feel things in your body. It’s probably not going to feel that great when you start.
It’s not going to feel that great when you start. That doesn’t mean there is something wrong with you or you’re broken. You’re too fat. You’re too old, or it’s too late. Any time you do something new it’s not going to feel good right away.
Delayed gratification. It’s not going to feel that great when you start, but it will soon feel better.
How long before it gets easier? Be consistent for the first 2-3 weeks. Are you feeling a little bit better? It will. It’s gonna get better. Your body learns fast.
It might not feel better in the way you think. Is your sleep better? Are you feeling a little bit sexier? Are you feeling a little bit more like not screaming at your children or moving to Alaska. It will show up in sneaky ways. It’s shifting your mental state as well as your physical body.
Probably your mental state will shift before your physical state shifts.
It will feel better.
A guide will continue to work with you and bring you through those first few weeks or first few months where you do question If this is worth it. It’s getting through those times where it is uncomfortable. To the
Then you feel a little more capable. You feel a little bit stronger. And progressing at a good, slow rate.
I would not recommend if you haven’t been moving to a 5 am 5 days a week bootcamp. It’s a recipe for an injury. Especially if your over 20. Our bodies have been through a lot. It takes more time for our joints, our ligaments, our tendons to get used to this movement.
It’s good to have a guide so your progress, but not too fast. You progress, but not too slowly.
There is a real lack of knowledge how to move safely in our bodies.
It’s a real ego check. I need to be in my body.
Not all trainers know women’s bodies. Not all trainers know post baby bodies.
There area a lot of people that just thing oh you’re just getting bigger. I don’t need to change anything except don’t lay on your back. Don’t do anything laying on your belly. There is a lot more to it than that. There are a lot more subtle things.
You could say listen to your body, but if you don’t know what that means. Or if you don’t know how to pull back even if you think your listening to your body.
My partner wants to do jumping rope and I’m like doesn’t sound fun to me because I have to do a triple workout. I have to hold my pelvic floor and jump and …
If you haven’t been to pelvic floor PT, find a pelvic floor physical therapist.
It should just be standard care. A baby came out of your vagina or you were cut. This is trauma to your body.
I had to reach out to my provider and they were like “I’m so surprised. Most women don’t want it.” They don’t want it because they don’t know about it and it isn’t offered. And it’s not covered by insurance the person that’s right there.
It might be a good idea to have one session to see if you have a normal tone to your pelvic floor. If you can contract it and relax it.
I thought I was killing it. Turns out I was not.
Shout out to PT’s at motion.
Confusion around diastasis recti. It’s so confusing.
PT- hands on assessment, benefit.
After baby the space gets closer together, but you might need specific exercises to get that core strength.
It can be hard to feel it in your own body.
Each person is unique and an individual makeup. It’s so confusing with all the noise and all the marketing. What’s real and what’s science.
I like to use someone when I am feeling stuck. Then I start to take it real personally. I’m just not motivated. I’m a terrible person. Bah! Sometimes it can help to have someone hold your hand like you do for every other person in your life. Get you through that sticky spot where you are struggling or it’s not going well. Or you might need to make it a little easier or fun for yourself. Or try something new.
Not everyone can afford one on one training. Hopefully you can find someone who is doing online classes to connect with and get support from. There are a lot more affordable options on zoom or outside.
Sometimes you have to get a little creative. Can you trade something?
Most women are thrilled to share something they are passionate about.
The beginning can be tricky and we can get stuck when things in our life get big and complicated and challenging. We can hit that point where it just becomes too much. We can hit that point where we just need a little support.
Sometimes we don’t like to hear that about ourselves. That we might need a little support on this journey of theirs.
It’s still useful to hire a coach who knows more than you. Who knows different then you. Who can hold you accountable.
We think we know all there is to know about ourselves and then someone from the outside looking in goes… “Can I ask you a question?” You can know yourself, and there is beauty in outside perspective and different knowledge.
If you have had a negative experience in the past with a trainer, with a gym , with a dietician. Someone that has made you feel bad about your body. There are other options. Don’t give up on movement. Don’t give up on feeling better. Don’t give up on feeling like you can nourish yourself in a better way. There are other things you can do to feel good about yourself. It doesn’t need to be that negative/shaming experience.
There a lot of different people that help in different ways out of what we see in main stream media. Look for those. Anastasia & I can help you. You don’t need to feel shame about where you are at right now. You can start where you’re at.