Movement is a Method of Expression.

Movement is a method of expression.

Whether that’s lifting, dancing, yoga, running, or drumming, the method of movement you employ can help you find your voice.

We don’t all have to lift heavy things – although that particular modality is my preference, as it teaches me lessons and introduces me to power I am often unsure I had.

You are under no obligation to do things you hate (at least not in the areas meant for our pleasure and improvement). If you don’t like to lift, or run, or whatever, you don’t have to.

I had been a competitive swimmer my entire life. I swam because it taught me discipline, gave me a tight-knit community, and allowed me time to think (my first experience in meditation, now that I reflect).

When I went to college, I didn’t know what to do to fill that void. I had had a coach standing over me from the age of 6, telling me how far to swim, how fast to do it, and how to add weight training to supplement it. I couldn’t ask Josh or Charlie or Chad to give me my workout for the day anymore. Now what?

I decided to go on a run or two a week. I hated running. The only part I enjoyed was getting to spend time with my friends (Hi Whitney! <3). It didn’t feel good, I wasn’t good at it, and, like so many of us, I believed that the only purpose of exercise was to burn off what I ate.

My relationship with movement changed again when I was in my early 20s. I found lifting, and even the EXACT workouts from my swimming days took on a new life: I could feel how my workouts fit together. I began to decipher what my body was trying to tell me. I could challenge myself, having hard evidence that I had it in me to achieve difficult goals.

If I had continued to believe that movement was nothing more than a credit card, giving me a balance to have extra fries, I never would have learned how to express my deepest truths through the activities in which I engage.

My power would have stayed hidden in the cupboard under the stairs.

For me, it was lifting. For you, it might be walking in nature, competing with a Crossfit team, or taking a dance class.

Freedom: it’s yours.

Now that you have it…what are you gonna do with it?

xoxo,
Steph

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