GETTING STARTED ON YOUR WELLNESS JOURNEY!
What is wellness? Where do we start?
In a time and place in the world where it seems like there’s SO much conflicting information about what can help us be well, it can be overwhelming trying to begin any wellness journey.
Oftentimes I’ve found myself focused so much on one part of the wellness wheel, that I neglect to see that within the scope of health and wellness involves many pieces to truly be whole. In the coming weeks I’ll be sharing my best advice from years of research and trial and error in the wellness space.
A big discovery for me on my wellness journey has been finding a balance between discipline and fun, structured yet accessible to our lives and schedules. At the very root, if we don’t find joy in the things we do (even if those things are hard at times) and make honest assessments of our time and schedule, we will have ebbs and flows, starts and stops, but it doesn’t become our lifestyle. It is simply something we do to reach an end. In order to make wellness a lifetime achievement it MUST be something we know we can maintain and enjoy.
For this week, let’s focus on exercise and movement.
For the LONGEST time, I thought a workout meant I had to spend at LEAST an hour doing it and I should be drenched in sweat or aching or both by the time I was finished. The more I have studied and followed the work of leaders in the fitness and yoga/movement worlds and done my own experimenting, the more I’ve realized that consistency REALLY is key. Something done for at least 20 minutes 5-6 times a week has proven so much more effective for me than those long, painstaking workouts. (the science on motivation as well as weight and stress management backs this up!) We ALL have 20 minutes to spare (if you’re not sure, pull out your phone and see how much time you spend on it, I have, and, yikes!)
Where’s the LOVE?
I can’t believe how much time I spent in my life doing workouts I didn’t like or even hated. Staring at the seconds slowly creeping off the elliptical to hit my necessary 20 or 30 minutes only to trudge through a circuit exercise while thinking about dinner or work the next day. Even worse, I would think about how much time I would need to spend on the elliptical to eat the things I loved. Not a recipe for long term success!
We must fall in love with our exercise, because then it doesn’t feel like exercise, it feels like FUN. That doesn’t mean that sweaty or long workouts or hikes can’t be fun, they certainly are. But honestly ask yourself how much joy each session brings you. If the answer is not much, consider a different workout.
Setting up for success!
Take time to identify what you really love to do with your body, I can’t stress this enough. If you start out with the goal of 20 minutes of something you love 5-6 times a week, before long you will be up to hour workouts and beyond that seem to breeze by. Your endurance will go up and you will be excited to challenge yourself in new ways.
Once you know what you love and you make the commitment, further set yourself up for success by considering your set and setting. I love yoga because all you need is a flat space and your breath (look for my 20 minute stretching for beginners this week!) There are SO many movement practices we can do that require little to know equipment from dance to Qi Gong and there are about 7,000 different types of yoga classes nowadays!
A silver lining of Covid is that we’ve all got more options than ever for at home workout options from gear to online offerings. Spend some time finding the right equipment or teacher you will need to stay excited about coming back for more.
Don’t overlook your setting!
Making sure the place where you practice / work out is clean and ready for you is SO important. We want this space to be a place we want to come back to! Fill it with your favorite colors or plants, have a speaker charged and ready if you like to workout with music and even add incense or your favorite smelling flowers. Part of looking forward to your workout is looking forward to the space where you workout and not having to spend time setting up, you should be able to show up and get to work. This creates pathways in the brain that will keep you wanting to come back for more.
Go for a walk! Ok, I know this one isn’t groundbreaking, but especially considering how limited our options are for being outside, taking a simple walk can be a great way to break up the monotony of being inside AND also break up your workouts for the week. On a day where you “just don’t feel like it” put on your favorite e-book, music or maybe walk in silence and use your walk as a meditation. I’ve had SO many wonderful insights while going on long walks (like to write this blog!) Many eastern traditions recommend taking a stroll after eating, Chinese medicine has a saying “Fan hou bai bu zou, huo dao jiu shi jiu” (飯後百步走，活到九十九). This translates to, “if you take 100 steps after each meal, you’ll live to 99.” Yes, it rhymes much better in Chinese! The idea is that taking a short walk after a meal is good for us for many reasons.
What’s working for me?
Lately, I’ve been on a morning workout KICK! (First time in my life!) I’ll dig deeper into my morning routine in weeks to come (if you want to win the day, win the morning!) but I’ve actually enjoyed a bit less yoga and a bit more resistance band work and weights. I was lucky and scored a free weight set from a military veteran who was moving and I’ve been out in my backyard doing deadlifts and bicep curls at 7 in the morning, yahooooooo!
My athletic background means I have a general sense of what to do with my body so if you’re brand new to weights or resistance training, take some time to at least understand the basics before you begin. My favorite resources are,
The muscle motion apps - these apps are wonderful for showing proper form and the muscles engaged in many different types of workouts. When you’re bored, you can open this up on your phone and add some new movements to your routine!
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/strength-by-muscle-motion/id1302056349
Youtube - Jeff Cavaliere, AthleanX.com - Jeff is a physical therapist and a WEALTH of knowledge and tips. More for those looking for resistance workouts although he has some great cardio movements and tons of great core exercises. He also has amazing free resources on youtube for injury recovery and corrective exercises.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCe0TLA0EsQbE-MjuHXevj2A
Retreats!
Those that know me know how passionate I am about retreats and for good reason. They have changed my life is SO many ways and have provided me a platform to share what I know about wellness AND learn from some amazing humans (both leaders and attendees). I like to call them an incubator for rapid self growth. Wellness Retreats are a place where you can safely step out of your day-to-day and into a higher form of yourself. I’ll be sharing lots of what I know in these blogs in the weeks to come but to really do a deep dive and experience transformation for yourself, you might consider joining us for a week or weekend of learning, sharing, growing and laughing.