In life we always try to pigeon hole everything and exercise is no exception. We think about exercise as Yoga or Pilates or weights or cardio or Hiit etc... and often dismiss a “type” of exercise because of the name. It does not matter what it is called, the important thing is we keep active and do something that we enjoy.
It should not feel like it is a chore, but more an important part of our lives. It is something that enables us to live our life as we want to.
For 2022 I have been thinking about goals, reflecting back on 2021 and trying to think about the message I want to get across to my clients but also what I want to focus on for the coming year. In the past I have had very specific goals but as we have seen over the last 18 months there is no certainty anymore and with everything that goes on around, our goals need to change to reflect this.
I believe we should focus on these 4 areas :
Moving
Breathing
Listening & Observing
Nourishing
Moving encompasses so much whether it is walking or running, Yoga or Pilates, lifting weights or doing bodyweight exercises - the most important thing is we take the time to move, to stretch, to mobilise and to strengthen.
Breath is so important and yet so many of us do not use our breath to the best of its ability. Breath provides our body with life - it is our energy, it provides calmness, it helps our anxiety, oxygenates our body, releases stress, can help with posture and to increase our cardiovascular fitness.
Listening both to our body and to others. We need to learn to listen to what our body is telling us, when it is tired, when it is in pain, when it is feeling full of energy. Observe how your body is moving - notice the changes this can help us to think about what we need to do more of and what we need to do less of. It is also about taking the time to just be, to sit (or lie) in stillness but be aware of our body and our mind. For some this may be during meditation, for others it is about simply taking the time to silence everything around us, to stop participating and start observing.
Nourishing - this is both physical and mental. By eating a nutritionally dense diet we can provide our body with what it needs to perform and to make us feel good. We also can nourish our body by getting adequate sleep and rest - as we listen and observe our bodies we know when we need to rest more and when we are feeling energised. Nourishing our mental health is also very important, taking the time to just sit to observe the breath doing nothing. To stimulate our minds through reading, by doing what we enjoy and being kind to ourselves, always showing ourselves compassion and love.
The pandemic has made a lot of us reflect and look at our lives and our businesses as this touches us all. I believe one of the areas that will become more important is to look at our health and fitness as a whole, roles of Yoga teacher, Personal Trainer, Nutritionist or Massage Therapist become blurred as we realise that they all have to interlink and interact with each other, definitions stop defining as we go on our journey of health & wellbeing.