We ALWAYS Have Options.

When was the last time you tried something new?

I don't mean ping-ponging from diet to diet or fitness fad to fitness fad. Our bodies (and minds) do respond to a certain level of consistency, after all, and to achieve a specific goal, we often need a specific approach.

I mean: when was the last time you allowed yourself to play?

Many of us ascribe to the belief that life (especially fitness) has to be hard. "No pain, no gain." If you're not on the brink of death, you're not doing enough.

I reject that, for the most part.

There's always a place for hard work, and, certainly, most of us are served well by setting goals that stretch us.

But, if you're not being challenged in a way you enjoy, you're missing a few lessons afforded by movement that have been crucial in my life (and those of many of my clients).

When we give ourselves the space to play, we find things at which we aren't very good. The rub is, thought, that we're in a low-stakes environment -- who cares if I need a wall for this handstand? It's not a competition, and no one else is in the gym measuring my progress but me. In low-stakes environments, we're free to get curious, to ask exploratory questions, to fail, to learn, and to improve.

Fitness is a means to an end: a way to get connected with ourselves. A way to learn what we're capable of and a place to push boundaries, explore limits, and surprise ourselves.

Don't like the program you're on? Hate the route you're running? Look up: we ALWAYS have options. Try something new! You may fail, but you also may find a new experience and a new level of yourself.