Last Month I had the privilege of hearing Mr. Robert Holden speak at the Hay House Writer’s conference in Portland Oregon. He had me before hello because the first thing he did was dance and get us up and moving with him like Ellen DeGeneres.
The whole room erupted with laughter, smiles, joy and gyrations. What is it about movement that makes such an impression? Is it the fact that we don’t do it as much anymore that makes it seem like such a novelty?
If you’ve been to https://movestrongmethod.com/, you’ve been given the choice to download the free gift that’s there. If you haven’t, I’ll preview one piece of its content here. My gift to you is an absolute minimum self-service guide with four choice options that need to be addressed regularly for you to even remotely consider living beyond your basic needs. (aka. Worrying about your performance, requires supporting the base your standing on before you can climb higher).
All of my performance coaching clients, both parents and young adults, start with acknowledging their basic needs. Which brings me back to Mr. Holden and his dancing. Movement, like the dancing he called forth from everyone in the crowd, is a fundamental human need.
AND! It’s a need that we have unnecessarily complicated and made wildly confusing. Don’t you think?
Are you confused about how to move, how often to move, what type of movement is best, what intensity level you should be working at? Does the following question cross your mind – why can’t these standards that people create for movement just stay the same and stop changing every time new research results are published…?!?
Deep Breath – take one with me. Air IN and Air OUT. One more if you need…in fact 2 more and move around a little before you read on, even if you just shake your head 😊
So What?
You want to know the truth about movement? You want to know exactly what you need to do for yourself and how often and how much…wait, wait, we just took a deep breath from that diatribe. I’m sorry. See how easy it is to get wrapped up in doing it “right” or did I forget to mention that point. Oh, my goodness. Let’s get to it then!
THE TRUTH IS that there is NO right way to move. No perfect amount, no exact strategy, no one best way.
THE TRUTH IS, the less you move, the less likely you are to move and the more you move the more likely you are to keep moving. Cue Mr. Newton!
THE TRUTH IS that as long as you’re moving, it counts.
What if it were just that simple? What if all you had to “know” about movement is that your body does it naturally?
Boy if this were true, you could stop worrying about whether you’ve done it “right” or done “enough” because if you made a conscious effort to move today, then you did what you are designed to do.
When you give yourself permission to try on this idea, then all you need to do is move. If you want to track your steps with a fit bit or apple watch, go ahead. Want to log in your exact calorie burn or food intake on My Fitness Pal? Do it. Anything you do to keep track is actually an awareness practice, not a measure of your success. It’s a way to reinforce the habit and motivate you to keep going.
Now What?
What I’m really asking you to do here is to consider the VERY PROFOUND idea that Robert Holden presented to us at the writer’s conference. I put the emphasis intentionally on profound because he himself made sure to make a very BIG deal of it before revealing his wisdom. He said, if you want to be a writer, you’ll have to write.
Yes, that’s right friends! Amazing wisdom isn’t it!
I’m going to borrow a bit of Mr. Holden’s profound wisdom while giving him the credit and say, if you are a HUMAN BEING, you are DESIGNED TO MOVE. And if you want to BE a HUMAN BEING, you’ll want to MOVE on a daily basis.
Anyone reading this not human? Any zombies, aliens, magical beasts checking out this blog on human movement?
Ah! It’s as I suspected. You’re all human and you’re all meant to move.
Let’s Get Cooking!
This week, no matter what is going on in your life, please adopt the following mantra; “I am designed to move”. If you don’t want to get out of bed, say to yourself, “I am designed to move”. If you’re facing a lot of stress at school or work, say to yourself, “I am designed to move”. If you’re feeling daunted by the to do list or the volume of responsibilities you have, you guessed it and say it out loud now please, “I am designed to move”!
If whatever is happening in your life doesn’t seem in the slightest related to movement, think again. You are designed to move and standing still for too long (both mentally and physically) without remembering your divine design is the best way to get stuck, slow down and let movement become a novelty instead of the force that drives you forward in life.
This week take the advice of Nike and “Just Do It”. Move through your life and if you want to, do all the stuff that research and the experts tell you to do like take the stairs, park farther away, bike to work and stand or walk during phone calls.
Except this week, MOVE because you are DESIGNED TO MOVE and because it’s one of the things humans do best. All those other details about doing it “right”, you can worry about when you want to start climbing the steps to improved performance.
For now, your life performance starts the way nature intended by using the resources you have available simply because we’re designed to.
Get Moving This week and no matter what you do, tell yourself repeatedly if needed; “I am designed to move”.
Good Luck!
Coach Jen
