Trigger Warning: Discussions of trauma and disordered eating.
Hello Warriors! In North America, it’s Thanksgiving season. In the US we will celebrate in a few weeks and our friends in Canada had their festivities in mid-October. I’m a big fan of gratitude practices as tools for Mental and Emotional Health. And I strongly believe that movement, in all its many forms, can be a form of gratitude.
Each of us is endowed with a physical shell that allows us to experience our world. That may seem a bit esoteric or metaphysical but stay with me. It is through our physical bodies that we experience the smell of salty ocean air. Or the taste of our favorite food. And the feel of a sweatshirt warm from the dryer.
It is also through our physical bodies that we can experience the comfort of a hug during a stressful time. The joy of playing peek-a-boo with a baby or the grief of loss can be experienced through and with the body. Essentially, we are able to experience a physical sensation when certain emotions are triggered.
This isn’t a one way street, though. This is a superhighway where mental and emotional states can be experienced in the physical body, like anxiety causing butterflies in the tummy or shaking of the legs. And just like a highway, there are two directions.
Physical practices can activate mental and emotional states as well. A common occurrence that many students and clients have had while working through yoga asana is the experience of a trauma response. Seated or reclined hip opening postures, like Cobbler, are particularly adept at bringing up emotional responses to trauma. Students will move their physical bodies into asana and can experience a wide range of emotions, including intense anger or sadness.
I illustrate this link not to bum anybody out, but because it is a very strong link. However, we have the ability to use our physical selves as a tool to better our Mental and Emotional states. Moving our bodies on the regular is in itself a sign of gratitude. Whether you are religious, spiritual, or agnostic, it is important to acknowledge that we each get one body and it is intended to be moved.
The movement we choose can greatly impact our Mental and Emotional Health. I love to go on about walking as an amazing form of movement if it is accessible to you. Beyond the physical benefits, there is a ton to love. Walking is generally a low level exercise that doesn’t trigger our fight-or-flight response. Meaning there is no adrenaline or cortisol spike, so we are able to stay fully present in the moment and enjoy where we are and how our body feels if we can allow it.
Any type of exercise that adheres to a similar pattern (i.e. low level and fairly rhythmic) will have similar effects. This allows our brains time to process whatever it is that needs to be processed, leading to a calmer and more focused us.
Then there is movement for the sake of joy. I talk about this a bunch as well, but I largely feel that too many of us are slogging through workouts because someone made us believe that that particular workout is “better.” Which more often than not translates into a bigger calorie burn. What if we were engaging, at least some of the time, in movement that we enjoy? How could that change our perceptions of what our bodies are or could do?
I get that I’m still banging on about the Olympics, but I’m an exercise science girly so you’ll have to bear with me. When Ilona Maher was fat-shamed on social media, she clapped back with the perfect response. And then went on to help the US win a bronze, grace the cover of Sports Illustrated, and compete on DWTS. Because she knows that what her body can do is way more important than what it looks like.
Throughout my life I have had a difficult relationship with my own body. And truthfully, I was set up to struggle. I was enrolled in my first diet program at ten, watched most of the females around me fight with their bodies in one way or another, and came of age in the mid to late 90s (Google it if you don’t know what I’m hinting at). But I was also a fairly active kid. I played soccer, then basketball and softball. I biked with my cousins and brother to the pool at least three times per week during the summer. And when I hit high school, it wasn’t unusual for me to go on walks as long as the weather was good. I never disliked gym class, nor was I picked last as I was decently coordinated.
At some point in my teen years, all the moving helped me appreciate my body for what it was able to do. No, I wasn’t going to win the one mile run when we did the Presidential Fitness Assessment, but I could complete it without stopping. And I did pretty well at the V sit and reach. Looking back with hindsight (and a lot of hard earned knowledge), I can say with fair certainty that this appreciation kept me from some seriously disordered eating. While my body didn’t look the way I had wanted, I was able to be grateful for it.
The important take away here was that I was choosing movement that I enjoyed. I liked playing sports. I liked (and still like) going for walks. As I got older, I’ve tried tons of other types of exercise. Some, like Tae-Bo, I’ve loved but only hung on for a bit. Some, like step aerobics, I’ve disliked and tried to avoid for fear of embarrassing myself. And others I’ve picked up and kept, adapting them to whatever season of life I’m in, like strength training and yoga.
Movement, in whatever way we like and are able to, is the best way we can learn to be grateful for the body we have been given. It is also a great way to affect positive change in our Mental and Emotional Health.
Until next time, be well friends!
