Exercise And Me… Are We Meant To Be?

“I can’t live without my daily jog!”

“Lifting my fork is enough exercise for me, thank you.”

When it comes to people’s take on exercise, I’ve seen all sorts. It’s part of being a Pilates teacher. But in the end, there are fundamentally 4 types of responses:

a) I hate it!
b) I like it, but exercise doesn’t like me.
c) I enjoy X type only.
d) I just like moving my body. Period.

I was both a) and b), dreading exercise and believing that exercise and me were never meant to be.

Even though I became a professional dancer I set foot on a dance class for the first time at age 19. I abhorred exercise because everything I knew had to do with push, over exertion and sports that made me feel incompetent. Were the exercises “wrong”? No. They were all I knew and not all techniques work for everyone and every body. When they do, they work differently still.

Like me, many people shy away from movement because of legitimately uncomfortable past experiences. It’s a smart way to prevent further discomfort from something we instinctively sense to be aggressive to the body.

But what about those of us who love it, but can’t do it? My response: almost everyone can practice some form of movement. I’m distinguishing movement from exercise to sidetrack the meaning that’s usually attached. We hear ‘exercise’ and immediately picture a gym with sweaty people and all sorts of equipment. Nothing wrong with it, except that this is only a partial version of how you can get your body to move. Besides, some people love gyms, others can’t get far enough.

So I use Movement instead. Movement is just that, moving your body. This can mean dancing, running, walking, doing aerobics or a simple morning stretch.

To those of us who are not gym devotees I write this reminder: the exercise that works for you is usually the one you enjoy, and your level of joy tracks your level of practice. In other words, the more you do it, the more you like it.

To bring the point home and as we’re about to see, you don’t need to choose the exercise that supposedly helps you burn more calories or up your cardio. Dreading your workout creates a stress response in your body that changes your inner chemistry and defeats the very purpose of doing it. Ironic, but true.

Research shows that stress causes for an uprise in cortisol levels, which sets off your fat storing mechanism. The more cortisol you secrete, the tighter the body holds on to fat. This is a blow to the previous paradigm that exercising more will make you lose more weight. In addition, training too hard puts you at risk of developing immune system deficits, fatigue, mood disturbances, feeble joints and adrenal insufficiency.

But the right exercise for you helps you work with your body rather than against it. It helps you feel grounded and connected, igniting you with the vitality of being alive from the inside and feel the confidence that comes with being embodied.

Besides, not all exercises fit everyone and every body, and those that worked yesterday won’t necessarily be the best choice today. From jogging to Pilates, lifting weights or taking a stroll in the park, our bodies ask for reboots and upgrades as our lives flow and evolve. In addition to bio individuality the ‘perfect’ exercise works until it does. Your body’s requirements will change, and so will your personal needs at different points in your life.

Are there common generalities? Yes. But within the general, understanding that which makes you, your mind and your body stronger and more flexible, takes practice, self awareness and the willingness to explore and adapt.

What about you? Do you like to move? Which exercises help you feel most alive?

Catarina is a Transformational Nutrition and Eating Psychology Practitioner, Pilates and Qigong teacher. Using natural methods that help awaken the body’s own healing mechanism, she helps people transform their relationship with food and their bodies – once and for all.

Find her at: http://www.catarinacatarino.com

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