movement practice: a philosophy
“Never tell a child, ‘you have a soul.’ Teach him you are a soul. You have a body.”
I’ve mentioned a few times over the internet that I have a “movement practice” — one that I have cultivated as a way to exorcise stress. I’ve had a couple of people reach out and ask what my movement practice entails.
Let me begin by saying, as emphatically as possible: I hate exercise. I hate it. I’ve never played a competitive sport in my life. I’ve heard of things like “runner’s highs,” and I’m convinced that they’re myths. And yet, my entire life, I’ve tried so many different things. I’ve tried running. I’ve weight lifted (which, admittedly, I didn’t hate). I’ve done yoga — all the different types. I’ve tried running bleachers. And every time I’ve tried these things, I’ve told myself, “this will make my body look amazing.” I would imagine ripped abs, and strong thighs, and perfect shoulders. Sometimes, as part of trying to achieve this dream body, I’d try diets — crazy ones, like the Cabbage Soup Diet. Or strange elimination diets. Or just starve myself.
And inevitably, when the results didn’t come fast enough, I’d give up.
But in 2019, I’d made a pact with myself that I would do whatever I could to help reduce the stress of losing and rebuilding our home of the previous 18 months. At the time, my mindset was fully one of experimentation — I looked up the time-tested ways of stress reduction, from eating healthily to meditation. And of course, one of the things that came up was exercise.
Sigh.
But I was game. And I decided that if I was going to exercise, I was going to do it on my terms:
This would be strictly for stress reduction. This would not be to lose weight. This would not be to get a “bikini body.” This would not be to get to an ideal weight. My movement was to be strictly to reduce stress.
I had to do something that I enjoyed doing. This was probably the hardest for me — because again, I hate exercise. So to actually come up with something that I enjoyed, at first, seemed damned near impossible. But I started by thinking to myself, what are some things or movements I used to do as a kid that I really enjoyed?
I actually whipped out my journal and made a list. And I was actually pretty surprised that I came up with a few things — ballet, for example. And also roller skating. But the two things that I thought of that really piqued my curiosity were jump roping and hula hooping.
And so I began. I bought a weighted hula hoop (because the toy hula hoops don’t work), and an inexpensive jump rope, and one morning, I decided to try both in the privacy of my garage. I set a loose goal of how long I wanted to do either, but gave myself permission to stop any time I wanted. That first day, I think I managed to get to 30 minutes, sort of going back and forth between each. And let me tell you, I was bad at both. But I had a good playlist, and my goal was simply to move — not excel, not even break a sweat. Simply move.
The other thing I did was put a weekly limit on how much and often I would do this movement practice. Notice I said limit: I did not say goal. I made a rule of how many days a week I was allowed to move (and no more!) and how long each of those days I was allowed to move (and no more!). I also gave myself permission to do something else altogether, as long as I moved. So, for example, if I just couldn’t face my jump rope, a couple of walks around the block during the day counted toward my “movement practice.” And if, weirdly, I was in a groove one week and wanted to move MORE than my limit, I did not allow myself to. My hope was that by keeping a limit on it, I wouldn’t get burned out.
It’s been about 18 months later, and I usually move 4-5 times a week, 45-60 minutes each time. I split up my time: 15-20 minutes jump rope, 15-20 minutes hula hoop, 15-20 minutes jump rope. I’ve gotten pretty good at both — I don’t do tricks with either of them, but I can do them consistently, and don’t trip on the rope or drop the hoop anymore. On the days that I don’t move, I do something else that’s good for me: like nap. Or drink extra water. Or whatever. I’ve upgraded gear — better shoes, a better jump rope — but only after old gear has worn out, and after I was sure I’d stick to this movement practice. I’m sure I’ve lost some weight, but I have no idea how much I’ve lost, because I’m not worried about my body: remember, this is entirely about my mind. If I look in the mirror or notice my clothes are hanging differently in a way that might indicate I’ve gained weight, I check in: am I feeling stressed? Do I need to move? And then I adjust. But I haven’t really dropped any sizes since I started, which is fine, because that was never the goal. The goal was to feel calmer and better in my body. And mission accomplished.
Also, I will say, I have no interest in joining communities, or challenges or anything like that. I like this being a solitary practice. Also, because both the jump rope and hula hoop are rhythmic, I often enhance the time by listening to music or podcasts — meditative ones, uplifting ones, educational ones, but always ones that feel like spirit care. And because I usually do this first thing in the morning, it helps me set my head right for the day.
One last point: I call it a “movement practice,” because that feels more honest than “exercise” or “work out,” specifically because of that focus on spirit, rather than body. Again, this is purely self-psychological — it helps me remember my focus: soul, not body.
So that’s it! I share this in case it might sound interesting to another exercise-hater out in the world. May you find a movement practice that works for you.
the art of noticing