A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog all about how so many of us are affected by negative body image and confusion around health and how diet, fitness and wellness culture perpetuate those harmful ideas. SO MANY PEOPLE reached out to me. I’ve had numerous conversations with women, some very emotional and raw. It showed me that I’m on the right path. And so I’ve been journaling a lot about all kinds of issues surrounding body image, what it means to be “healthy” and “fit.”
The term joyful movement keeps coming up. In my research in the body positive realm I’ve noticed there are a few categories of exercise:
1.The Fitness Industry: You must do x in order to get to y. You may recognize this as “do these 4 moves to get a six pack” or “3 ways to get rid of your love handles.”
2. Intuitive Eating/Anti-Diet Spaces: You’re allowed to be gentle. Do what feels good. There’s no need to push hard, because that’s what diet culture tells you to do.
3. Rogue Camp: People unsubscribing themselves from anything that removes them from their own autonomy. “I make my own rules and do the things that help me feel the way I want to feel.”
Are you a part of one of these? Or maybe there’s some confusion around it?
Joyful Movement seems to be the antithesis of fitness/diet culture from what I’ve read. Counter to the traditional fitness mentality of suffering through workouts to atone for what you ate or to shrink and fix your body, joyful movement often perpetuates this idea that you have to be gentle and/or just take walks. (WHICH ARE BOTH GREAT!) But joyful doesn’t mean gentle and easy to everyone. Personally, I enjoy doing hard things sometimes, like lifting heavy weights and getting a little out of breath in a HIIT workout. My joy through movement comes from participating in MANY kinds of movement modalities (one main reason I started my online subscription, Vari-Move). But, it’s not the actual doing of hard things, rather it’s the WHY behind it.
Regardless of if your joyful movement is comprised of nothing but gentle walks and yoga or an eclectic mix of movement styles, if you’re doing them to shrink your body, it’s still rooted in an aesthetic pursuit. A pursuit that is rooted in the ingrained white, patriarchal ideas that smaller bodies are better, harder bodies are better. The other side of the coin is that your movement practice is rooted in a feeling. Some examples of feelings are: I want to feel strong and powerful. I want to feel my feminine side. I want to experience a deeper connection to my body. I want to feel competent, prepared and resilient. I want to feel less pain and stiffness. I want to be able to lift my kid/grandkid up with ease and freedom. I want to enjoy moving with friends. I want to move without the pressure to attain any goal or outcome.
What feels joyful to me in movement is rooted in focus, challenge, resilience, variety and autonomy. Identify the way you want to feel and then participate in those practices. Maybe don’t participate in practices that you loathe. Maybe don’t go to the exercise class with a teacher that tells you “this will fix your love handles.” Remember that any sort of physical attribute or a specific aesthetic is absolutely not a feeling. Keep digging for your answer. I promise that finding movement that brings you joy is the sustainable way to keep moving. And to live is to keep moving, joyfully.
Liz Reynolds is a dancer, yoga/Pilates teacher and an Ayurvedic Wellness Coach. She is currently working towards her certification as an Intuitive Eating Counselor in hopes of educating women in the yoga and wellness community about Intuitive Eating and how to overcome poor body image.