Regain Control Through Movement
It doesn’t feel like there is much in our control right now.
A lack of control can sometimes lead to emotions like fear, helplessness, stress, anxiety…you name it. Sound familiar? Me too.
First, it’s important to recognize that these emotions are both normal and valid. Even if you acknowledge that you have it better than that a lot of other people out there, that doesn’t mean you aren’t entitled to your own thoughts and feelings. Whatever your situation, your emotions are valid.
With that being said, there is a definitive space between stimulus and response. Within this space, we can decide what we do with these thoughts and subsequent feelings. In other words, how are we going to react to the hand we were dealt? Are you a “woe is me” or “I will do my best with what I’m given” kind of person? There is freedom in knowing that, to a certain extent, it is up to us to decide.
Okay, I’m back… and transitioning to my actual profession. Although a little outside my scope, I’ve recently had so much inspiration from Dr. Lisa Lewis and other experts alike that I wanted to share.
Anyways, I don’t want to just sit here and preach about how “this is the perfect time to take care of ourselves and exercise!” Even though I 100% believe this to be true, I understand the situation at hand.
We don’t have our gyms, we don’t have our motivators, and we don't have our space. This is all out of our control.
Ask yourself, though: what’s in my control? Can I carve out 30 minutes in the morning to do something for me? What resources do I have? How can I be creative to complete the task at hand? You may find you have a lot more than you think you do.
From here, we can find a way to regain control with our bodies. I may not be able to control what’s going on in the world, but I can control my breath. I can control the tension in my core when I perform this exercise. I can control how hard I work. I can regain a sense of control with intentional movement.
With any form of exercise, we are working to increase our resilience to whatever movements we are doing. Your body adapts to the stressors you place on it in order to resist these stressors the next time you are exposed to them.
If we can do this through movement, we can carry this over to our everyday life.
Whatever these stressors are (a difficult yoga pose, a set of push ups, a long run), they might be uncomfortable…but that’s okay. If you persist, you will grow. You will get better. Then they may not suck as much the next time.
Embrace the discomfort; it will be over soon - and so will this. We got this!
Stephanie Spoto, CSCS