I started a 9-5 and got so busy I didn’t know how to balance work, personal life, and being active

whenever I get so busy, exercise or any form of physical activity was the first to go because I didn’t have the time; my 9-5.

my coaching business dominated my life for so long that

I ignored every sign my body was showing me until I had the first piercing feeling run through my back. I wondered if this is what back pain felt like from being sedentary, 

I had suffered minor back pain before from lifting too much and in the wrong way, 

but something about This one felt different,

I already knew that pain was a way your body sends signals when it can not take something anymore 

so I started my research on back pain 

And this led me down a path that has gotten me to where I am today

I made the decision that I was going to start taking better care of myself and my body

you see, I was exercising all these while, so its not like I was sedentary or so I thought

but it wasn’t enough; exercise was only 5% of my day, and

I would sit the rest of the 70% and lie down the remaining 25% which was not helping my body in any way, in fact it made matters worse

I was exercising in the same position that i would sit throughout the day,

I would do lots of squats, lunges deadlifts

not only was I not moving enough, I was going through the same range of motion every day

So in all, I wasn't moving as well as I could be

these are the things that happen, and we take them for granted

I only got to know this because I experienced the pain that went with ignorance,

this ignorance led to my education in movement

I learned from the best minds in movement and the human body

It is fascinating what the human body can do

I realized the mistake I was making

Here are three things that stood out for me

1. I was moving too little
2. I wasn’t playing enough
3. I was normalizing pain as part of life.

As you read through you would understand why these are mistakes and how to avoid making them

My experience with back pain taught me so much about the human body

And even the back pain was minor, it redefined what movement was for me,

Which helped me identify the problem we all face this present time 

We don't move for our health instead we sacrifice our health to move 

movement in this context means physical activities, exercise, or working out 

I hear people say, even if your body does not feel like it, get up and do it

I used to say those things to my clients and myself I know now that you have to listen to your body

Your body is not lying to you

If you listen long enough, you will hear

We have trivialized Movement 

We have turned something that could be so wonderful into a tool to fix our bodies

A tool to fix what’s not broken

Our bodies are not broken

Think about the time when you started to feel like your body needed to be fixed

Think about the time you started being conscious of the food you ate What were you hearing? What did your family say about their weight or their bodies

What remarks did aunties or uncles make about a sibling or a friend?

The teachers at school made being fat in school a thing 

(fat is not foul language. It is a descriptor, and it is not a negative descriptor, It depends on the personal meaning you attach to it)

How many of your friends from a young age started to worry about their bodies and what they looked like

It all started with not being comfortable with our sizes. next thing you know we are talking about specific body parts like something is wrong with it

Who sets these standards?

But before I digress 

All these have not managed to bring us closer to a healthy body

Instead, we are going far away from its

movement is to serve as a healing therapy for our body and mind and not use it against ourselves

and wonder why our body image goes downhill as we age

You see, while I was swamped with work.

I was still very much obsessed with what my body looked like

it consumed my thought because I would wake up to exercise only because I was trying to fix my body

no wonder it was always so hard to exercise

So my sole reason for exercising was to look a certain way that was acceptable to the society. 

I was hurting myself and my body in the process, 

And for what exactly?

Ask yourself 

Why do you need to fix the arm?

or have your belly flater 

would it make you happy?

And how long would that happiness last?

My guess is -not long

Because you would find something else to be unhappy about, and that would also need fixing.

Believe me, I have been through that road

What happens when you use movement as a tool to fix your body

1. You become occupied with thoughts about your body and they are mostly negative
2. You start to resent the movement
3. Your mood suffers

There is no separating your mind and your body, and the only way they communicate is in the presence of movement

Think about this

if we started to explore movement that made us feel good,

a movement that heals us,

If we become proactive in our movement health then we wouldn't see the need to fix our bodies

When you go from one movement/ exercise challenge to the others, you begin to dread the movement

Especially when the only meaning you attach to it is that you need to change your body

And how long are you willing to go through that pain? 

There are many benefits to having a lifestyle of movement that does not include what your body looks like; to list a few

1. when you have a movement lifestyle, you tend to feel better
2. stepping outside when you are down is a quick way to get your mood up
3. you age better and stronger 
4. one sure way to fall in love with your body is by moving more
5. movement helps you think better: ever notice how people pace when they are trying to think, move their hand or shake a part of their body
6. movement helps you release tension and tightness in the body
7. the more you move, the more energy you have to move
8. movement helps you avoid chronic pain
9. movement helps improve our emotion because part of the brain that controls movement is linked to the parts that control thoughts, emotions, and sensory perception.

The above benefit would add so much color to our lives than being fixated on our bodies

Imagine going out of depression because you took a step outside

Or your anxiety got better because you decide to dance or take a walk in nature

Or fatigue becomes a thing of the past because the more you move, walk, and dance, the more muscle your body builds to accommodate these activities, which translates to more capacity to store energy 

You see how an active lifestyle can change your whole being and make you better for it

Picture how colorful it gets

When you listen to your body and move in ways that make your body come alive, movement becomes play

When you play, you are practicing a movement, and it grows

it grows with you,

you listen,

you explore,

you enjoy

when you go through this stage

you become more willing to train

more willing to challenge yourself

challenging yourself no longer feels like work this is where healing happens

this is where adaptation happens

ever seen people cry while practicing a movement

or have you ever gotten emotional on on a workout 

sadly most of the time we go with the reverse

We just train.

No mind-body connection

and feeling the misery of training,

then the ego comes in. We need to be humble enough to practice movement because we start seeing it as a waste of time.

“Adults have “workout routines,” but the experience is often exactly that - work and routine. The average exercise program is not very fun or meaningful.This is part of the reason exercise feels like a chore and why most people don’t do it with enough volume, variety, and intensity to get its beneficial effects.”

Tod R. Hargrove

If you want to start exploring movement, here are a framework for how to get started 

I call it the 3Ts framework

Toy 

• Sit still 
• start by noticing how certain movement and posture makes you feel
• explore different movements, what you can do, and what is too hard
• To start with what you can do and make it simpler

Tune 

• Keep repeating those movements
• explore different ways of doing a movement 
• Play with the movement until it feels better or feels good

Train 

• Do it often
• When things start to fall into place, challenge your body to get better at different techniques
• add load to the movement

Repeat all of the above with different movement

Picture this!!!

you want to do a push-up, and you try doing a full push up and it doesn't work, so now you bring your knee to the floor and maybe this time it gets easier but still feels too hard,

so you decide to go against the wall, ok this feels better, as you explore, you find different ways to do a pushup against the wall

you use one hand,

you go in rhythms

while playing with these movements, you are getting stronger and are able to make it more challenging

this is where the training happens

let us look into what I did with my journey with back pain

When I experience back pain, I had to look for ways to move, sit and stand that felt good and were without pain, 

I started playing and toying with different ways of moving without pain and started to practice postures that felt good

From playing with the movement, I started to practice that movement so I got stronger, and because it felt good, I was willing to repeat them often

It made me stronger, more confident, and better overall.

My body felt good

It felt so good that I could load it with weights. 

By this time, it was challenging, but it felt so good.

You see, I was willing to load my movement with weight because have spent enough time playing with it. 

My body loves it, and my body loves to get stronger too

It is a win-win for all.

And the same goes for all movements, exercise, physical activity, workouts, and sports.

Whatever you call it,

I am not saying that having a specific plan or program is not useful; it is; however, if you are not an elite sportsperson or elite athlete, there is no need to push your body to these extremes.

Start toying with a movement, then fine-tune it, Then train with it. 

There is no better way to build body awareness.

Playing with movement means moving in a way that is fun, exploratory, and personally meaningful

Look at animals; they develop skills and resistance through play and not with a boring workout routine that is boring and repetitive

Meanwhile, most of the approach you see on social media is all work and no play and is mostly made to achieve body goals, as stated above, because of the mindset that the body needs to be fixed 

Our body adapts and learns.

When you learn to play with moving, your body is more open to learning as opposed to when you force it through a routine. 

Think about the times someone gave you unsolicited advice; what did you do with it?

Now think about how your body feels when you make it do things it is not willing to do

Ps. no matter how challenging a movement looks, it is playing at different fitness levels.

You have to find where you can start to play with it.

Enjoy the rest of your day

Love Chisom.