Moving Your Body

What is your favorite form of moving your body?

Is it: going for a walk, dancing, cycling, riding horses, yoga, hiking, climbing, swimming, surfing, running, skiing, skating, playing a sport, or lifting weights…the list can go on and on

Did you know that moving your body is the most natural way to alleviate symptoms of anxiety, depression, and loneliness?

I didn’t know that until I read Kelly McGonigal’s book The Joy of Movement. Kelly is a psychologist and lecturer at Stanford University who writes about the connection between neuroscience and well-being. She teaches that hope, connection with others, and inner courage increase when we move our bodies.

I have never had a friendly relationship with exercise, but as I move out of “punishment-for-weight-loss” thinking and into “moving-helps-my-brain-and-body-feel-better” thinking, I’m beginning to love movement and actually look forward to it each day.

I have a client who says after his evening walk, his marriage is better. He admits nothing changed, except that he went for a walk, spent time outside, gained perspective, generated some endorphins, and as a result, upon his return to his house, life seemed better. He is also experiencing one of Dr. McGonigal’s research findings that the “neurochemistry of movement helps us bond and connect more with others.”

Science proves that you literally feel better about your relationships after a session of movement.

Here is a challenge that might feel weird to you at first, but I hope you are open to giving it a try. Later today, find a place where you can be alone and assured that no one is watching you. Close your eyes and tune into your body. What part of you feels like it wants to move? Maybe circle your hands, arms, hips, head, and legs. Do you want to twist, stretch, reach, kick, wiggle, or lightly dance? Move around in space. No judgment, just movement. Give yourself a few minutes to ease into this, it might feel strange and take you some time to relax. Allow your body to flow and move as it wants to for as long as it wants to. If this felt good, try to do it again tomorrow. Maybe add music. See if you can loosen up mentally and physically as you listen to your body.

Feelings of freedom, power, gratitude, hope, strength, grace, and connection all come from time spent in movement.

What can movement become for you? Time with yourself to _____________ .

See if you can change your relationship from “have to” to “get to” with exercise. Can it be a form of joy for you? Can you see it as mental and physical medicine? Can you gift it to yourself? Could it become a spiritual practice?

Movement is as essential to our human bodies as sleep, food, water, and oxygen.

If you are unable to move freely due to physical limitations, move in a way that works for you. Here are some things to try when you can’t make big movements: lower and raise your head slowly, open and close your jaw, furrow and release your forehead, smile a few times, touch your ear to your shoulder, make a fist and then open your fingers as wide as you can, circle your ankles, wiggle your toes, get creative in the ways that your body can move. Small movements are enough to connect you to your sense of self and notice the benefits of movement.

Ask your body what it needs today.

We spend a lot of time in our heads thinking, let’s see if we can spend time in our bodies too. Your body is a miraculous vehicle carrying your soul through life, give it some attention, gratitude, and love.

Happy moving around the planet this week,