In early life, movement is intuitive. I haven’t taught my toddler son how to move – he has just learned how to roll over, to take some steps, to run, to stretch, to jump (just about!). Early childhood and young adulthood provide ample opportunity to move whilst playing in the playground, garden or park, and then at after school clubs and university societies. Being a hospital doctor seemed to provide me with enough space, time and opportunity to keep moving – it was a relatively active role. I then specialised in public health, which ironically can be desk-based, given its focus on preventing ill health. The pandemic further intensified the lack of movement in my day-to-day, because of lockdown and working from home but also because I was working very hard. Now, I am remembering why movement is important for my body and mind, how it makes me feel and how to do it in a way that makes me feel good. These are the important things I have learned.

1.Gentle escalation and progression

After I gave birth and after appendix surgery, I definitely noticed that I didn’t want to be at my usual level of activity. All I felt like doing was sitting up in bed or a chair with the baby and then slowly I felt like pottering around the house and then I eventually mustered up the courage to go for a walk outside. In our lovely local park, which is a large rectangle, there are multiple pathways which essentially map on to a small circuit, a medium circuit and if you go the whole way around, a long circuit. I remember a time when I could only complete the small circuit before I wanted to go home. I slowly set my sights on the medium and long circuits once I was comfortable. I now don’t even think twice about which path I take or which circuit I’m doing but seeing myself make these small advances and progress did so much for my confidence and motivation in those early days! Not only that, but I think listening to my body, not overdoing it and stopping when I no longer felt comfortable kept me safe from injury. 

2. Functional movement.

If you ask my husband, he will tell you how much I go on about this and how obsessed I have been about this since we were at university together. I have always wondered why people go to the gym and build lots of muscle in random places. How do you decide which machine to use? How do you know which muscle to work that day? How can you be sure you won’t get injured? What are these muscles for? It all confused me a lot. He kindly and gently explained to me that there are many reasons to go to the gym. It makes you feel good. Many serious professional and amateur sportspeople (which he was at the time) are very aware which muscles they need to be working on, which cardio to do and how to use their bodyweight to train. They also have personal trainers to support them.

However, I was never convinced of this course of action for myself. I am not a serious athlete and discontinued both competitive sports I was interested in (ice skating after school and ballroom dancing after 3rd year of university). I believe that our bodies need to be able to fulfil whatever we require of them in daily life. I want to be able to hang my clothes out to dry, cook, garden, play with my toddler in the garden, dance at parties, try new watersports on holiday, and cycle whenever I want. I am sure this list will shapeshift over time – maybe one day I will become a gym bunny! It strikes me that for me, the best way to ensure I can do these things for a long time is to actually do them and start gently, progressing when I feel like it and stopping when I feel I need to. 

3. Finding something you enjoy !

I also don’t think exercise should feel like punishment! I think exercise should feel like warming up your body and using it for something you either need to do or want to do. For expressing yourself and feeling the energy move through you. I know that not everyone feels this way but I do. As a child I used to spend hours at the playground, finding sticks and climbing trees (and sometimes using the actual play equipment haha). As a teen I enjoyed ice skating and dancing during term time and watersports in the holidays.

Recently, in addition to gently increasing functional movement like walking and household tasks, so far I have tried yoga/pilates, climbing, swimming and running. I guess, in the past, the latter 3 would have been functional movements for people. Although they all made me feel good afterwards, the mental and spiritual benefits of yoga and the core workout in pilates stood out for me as something to incorporate into my life on a weekly basis. I love that I can do them alone at home or together with friends and others in a class. Climbing and swimming were a lot of fun and I very much enjoyed them. I would like to continue to do both these activities but at a lower frequency due their intensity and problems with accessibility in this phase of my life. Running felt great after but honestly, for me, sucked. I will not be attempting this again. Ever. Ever ever. 

4. Listen to your body.

Somewhat amazingly, I’ve noticed my body asks to be exercised. Not that it speaks to me…with words….but I will feel an intense need to move my legs or workout my core or just go for a walk and get some air and sunshine. Stretching also feels like second nature when muscles feel tight and they feel relieved afterwards. I think my body also tells me when to stop or when I’ve hit my limit and it feels like I probably shouldn’t do anymore. I also know when I’ve done something good – it feels like the blood is pumping right to the ends of my fingers and toes and I feel more energetic, more alive. My face looks brighter and glows, honestly. If I take the time to check in I can tell when my posture is off and how to improve it so everything feels more aligned. I also know when I haven’t eaten enough food to cover my exercise. All these things don’t really require a teacher or instructor – they come naturally but it’s hard when stressed to check in and listen. It’s also possible to override all our natural instincts and ignore them if we take in too much outside information and don’t trust ourselves!