Part II of the Body Glow series is here, as promised! This part is probably my favorite area to speak to. It’s about what I like to call joyful movement. If this is the first time you’re hearing about Body Glow, here’s the first post explaining the series!
My body image and exercise journey has been a rough one. At many points I had so much anxiety about exercise that I just didn’t do it, at other points I found myself running 2+ miles every day thinking it would help me lose weight. Regardless, there’s always been this strange energy around exercise for me. When I talked to women of color in my circle, many of them strayed away from exercise as well. A few responses I got from them were centered around:
Not feeling motivated
Not having enough time in their schedules
Feeling unfamiliar with gym equipment
Associating exercise with weight loss and already being okay with their size
Feeling as though there aren’t safe spaces to exercise
Maintaining their hairstyles
These are all valid reasons, and I’ve used each one of them to not get up and break a lil’ sweat. I’d like to make the argument, however, that exercise is a vital part of being kind to ourselves. Back in January I took a holistic view of my wellness practice and realized something big was missing: moving my body regularly in a way that sparks joy. It’s far past the physical “gains” that many of us associate it with -- exercise is a journey filled with personal victories, gratifying moments of realization that you absolutely killed that sh*t, and most importantly: a way to find solace in the mind. There’s power in the fact that just 20 minutes of exercising can help me break free of anxiety and take back control of my thoughts. That right there is what brings me back every time.
I see so many women of color making amazing waves to improve their mental health, break generational trauma, and follow their passions, all while looking like a BOSS. What I’d love to see as well is more of them contributing to their bodies as much as they do to every other part of their lives. Relationships with bodies can be complicated, I get it. It’s certainly why I kept away from exercise for so long. Though when I leaned into my body, learned what I liked and what I didn’t, my relationship with my whole self got a lot stronger.
We know what it does for the body, but here I want to talk about how joyful movement benefits the mind and our holistic wellness journeys. A word to the wise: our bodies and genetic makeup are all very different. Try your best not to put unnecessary pressure on your body to morph into something it wasn’t made for. There’s no need to fundamentally change your natural build.
Release mental blocks instead.
There have been more instances that I can count where I’ve been trapped in my thoughts, glued to my bed, and completely devoid of the ability to function. It’s a real pain that many with mental health issues face and has personally plagued me since my early teens. It’s awful feeling like absolutely nothing can pull me out of a bottomless hole of thoughts. When I found exercise that I loved, however, days like that pretty much stopped happening. Don’t get me wrong, I still see a therapist and get anxiety, but nothing will pull me out of a funk quicker than a workout. Honestly, truly.
Empower yourself + increase confidence
You’ve been sitting in chair pose, squatting your life away for what feels like forever. There’s ten more seconds before you get to stand up and you power through like the boss you are. How absolutely dope do you feel? Since achieving a regular exercise routine, my confidence in myself and my body have increased drastically. I don’t obsess over my weight anymore, there’s very little body image anxiety, and I have fallen in love with how strong I feel on a regular basis. Even small things like not getting tired going up my 4th floor walkup or carrying groceries with ease show me that I’m giving back to my body in a positive way. Find power in the fact that though you may have struggled through a workout, those mini muscle tears that have you feeling sore are exactly what’s building up your body to be as strong as can be.
Learn to prioritize life experiences that matter
When I moved to New York, I was all over the place. Going out and drinking, eating out all the time, making decisions I almost always regretted in the morning, and feeling generally unsettled about who I was. There’s a natural sloppiness in life that’s inevitable, but some of it actually can be controlled. On weekends when I have the most free time, do I want to drink too much and not make my 9:30am barre class? Would I rather wake up at 11 and lay in bed for hours with no motivation or roll out of bed and be pumped to make my grocery list, write for Bright-Eyed Joy, and enjoy a picnic in Central Park with my close friends? There’s very few times I don’t choose the latter, and it’s because these things are contributing to my overall well-being in a way that eases my stress and makes me feel good. Moving my body gives me the inspiration and mental power I need to flow throughout life with as much ease as I can. That’s an achievement living in NYC if I ever did see one.
How do you get started?
Choose a kind of exercise that you feel most open to and just go for it. I began on ClassPass so that I could try a variety of options at once. If ClassPass isn’t your jam but you’re still into group fitness, most studios have free or discounted ratse for your first few classes. If you’d rather not start in a public setting, I highly recommend at-home workouts on YouTube. I got started on Yoga With Adriene and I still adore her. Just search what you’re looking for, i.e. a H.I.I.T. workout, and find a video to try. Remember that it’s not about being the best, it’s about accepting your body as it is and then fueling it with the movement it needs in order to work best for you in the short and long-term. Find what you love, embrace that burn, and keep at it even after a tough workout. That, my dears, is the recipe for joyful movement.
If you’re in NYC, I’m teaching a few free barre classes during November/December! Follow me on Instagram @brighteyedjoy for updates.