Valentine’s Day was yesterday, so I might seem a little late hopping on the Love Train, but February is Love Your Body Month thanks to EDIN (a nonprofit organization based in Atlanta committed to the prevention of all types of disordered eating, from obesity to anorexia, and the promotion of positive body-esteem through education, outreach and action. – http://www.myedin.org/). As a personal trainer, my philosophy is that exercise should be enjoyable, balanced and sustainable, hence the FLOW motto: Love Yourself, Move Your Body, Live Free. You'll see some examples below of how I believe fitness can be enjoyable, balanced and sustainable, every body can do it - 1) Find what you love, then complement it with training to balance out your fitness regime, 2) be consistent, and 3) practice trusting and listening to your body.
A "Find-What-You-Love & Complement It" Love Your Body Example: My sister has always been a runner. She started having hip issues, had to take some time off running, started taking Pilates lessons consistently, and she’s found a whole new way of moving from her core – and living in – her body. She’s found a new sense of body awareness and can run with ease and without pain in her hips and knees.
Another "Find-What-You-Love & Complement It" LYB Example: A client of mine had always been active taking spinning classes and running/walking in her neighborhood, but when she turned 50, in addition to witnessing her mother’s decline in strength, she had tests run that encouraged her to look into adding weight training to her routine for her own bone health. We worked hard together for a year slowly but consistently incorporating resistance training (traditional weight + body weight training) and yoga to her weekly routine. A year later, she felt like a new person, had the tests run again, and was amazed at the results of her strength, stamina, energy and mood.
While I do believe everyone can find movement they love, I realize some people just don’t dig “exercise” and find my beliefs a little Pollyanna-ish. I always beg to differ because even if you’re a book worm, I believe you can find to love getting active – even just a little – because of the way it makes you feel. It’s a natural high, an inexpensive form of therapy.
A "Be Consistent" LYB example: A client I’ve been seeing for three+ years jokes and says that while her husband has jokingly threatened to cut off the cable and reduce their dinner dates to save money, he’d never get rid of me because of how it makes her feel! She’d be the first to admit she hates exercise, but we find a way to move. I’m gentle with her, and I push her here and there, but mostly I let her take the lead tuning into her body to see what she feels like, how she wants to “be” in her body that day. Regardless, three days a week, she’s ready to go – rain or shine.
Then, there’s the black/white thinking or fear of sinking into old, unhealthy and disconnected behaviors when approaching a fitness program. I work with a lot of clients who have suffered from disordered eating from flirting with way too many diets to being critically ill with bulimia and/or anorexia. Whatever history – from too many grapefruit-Monday diets, to a chronic bad body image, to being hospitalized for an eating disorder – it’s easy to slip into black/white thinking with exercise and food. All or nothing. An hour or the couch. Cabbage soup or birthday cake. Soaking wet with sweat or never wearing athletic shoes again.
A "Trust-&-Let Go" LYB example: A client of mine who’s struggled with bulimia for 10+ years started yoga sessions with me about two and a half years ago. Yoga was a new approach to her fitness regime – out of the gym, onto her mat, into her body. Less about a hardcore sweat, more about being in her body. She’d have good weeks and bad weeks with recovery, which is perfectly normal. One step forward, two steps back. Then, she got fed up with a lot – less about the bulimia in particular because that was the Bandaid, I would say, and more about things she didn’t want in her life, hence abusing food and her body. She dove into recovery full force, making a lot of healthy yet hard changes in her relationships, work and love for herself. (She even got rid of a personal trainer who wasn’t exactly listening to her needs – She got it more than he did in terms of balance and strength!) She sought out more yoga on her own, fell in love with a studio close by, and while her body awareness has blossomed more than ever, she is exploring more than poses – she’s connecting with how her physical transformation and awareness is just a blip on the radar screen of the fulfilling places her spirit is taking her.
And, time for a dose of my own medicine. Even trainers need trainers. Teachers need teachers. Therapists need therapists.
My personal Love Your Body example: I’ve always loved dance and “aerobics” classes – so much that I made it my career. So, yes, it’s easy for me to practice what I preach. But, I have recently hit a wall for a couple reasons – in addition to some other wonderful changes happening in my life right now that are leading my body/energy to new places, my knees have been speaking to me for the past year. More and more. At first, I thought it was the all the yoga with clients as well as an intense yoga training last year. The heavy doses of yoga training were the only thing different I’d added to my mostly step+weights routine that I’d loved for the past 15 years. In a nutshell: I saw an orthopedist, learned my leg/knee structure isn’t made for 90° angles, I suffer from paetellofemoral pain syndrome (aka runner’s knee, even though I’m not a runner) – in other words, all the movement I’d been doing had finally caught up with me. Not only am I out of balance muscularly but also my bone structure ain’t happy. Time for physical therapy.
So, now, I am a) laying off some old training and complementing it with some new ways to strengthen another area of my legs that need some TLC, b) getting really, freaking bored on the stationary bike as prescribed by my PT, but I feel better afterward, so I’m sticking with it, and c) letting go of the old by cutting down on step classes (big time bummer) and lunges/squates/leg press big time. I am swallowing my own preaching pills knowing I will feel better when I treat my body with love to strengthen it in ways it’s never seen, trusting Nike’s motto of “just do it”, and letting go of my own need to do it my way. But make no mistake, once my muscles are balanced and stronger, I’ll get back to my regular step classes that feel like a magic dance on a box.
So what are you waiting for? Find a way to get moving. Do it for the right reasons. Love your body this month, every month, every day. Find the middle ground, experience being grounded, strong, flexible and balanced. You’ll discover much more than muscles and a toned bod – Your spirit will thank you. Love Yourself, Move Your Body, Live Free.
Want to experience some "love your body" yoga? Check out my free class on Sunday 2/20/11 - click here for details:
http://listentoyourbodyflow.blogspot.com/2011/01/yoga-for-healthy-body-image-free.html
