Joseph
You might see the term joyful movement being shared a lot on social media, but what is fun movement and how can you find it?
Playful movement is a method of exercise that focuses on moving your body in a fun way that feels good to you about your unique body and transforming your mind by exercising from something you “have” to do to something you look forward to doing because it helps you feel your best.
All too often, what we see with members of Mindful Nutrition Method ™ is that if they struggled with their relationship to food, they also faced challenges in their relationship to exercising and moving their bodies. Many of them tended to over-exercise, view exercise as a way to “make up” for eating “bad foods,” and they had the “all-or-nothing” mentality of doing strenuous exercise daily or nothing at all.
We’ve also heard from them how exercise is not something they enjoy or look forward to in their day.
By finding a way to move about that feels good and enjoyable to your body, you can transform your relationship with exercise, develop more coordination as you move your body, reap all of those amazing health benefits of exercise and create your own fitness routine.
In this article, you’ll learn simple steps you can take to find your fun move.
Why joyful movement is important
Before we dive into how you can find a fun movement that works for you, let’s explore some of the main benefits of this approach to exercise.
It improves your health
We all know that exercise has innumerable benefits, from helping you maintain your unique balanced weight, balance blood sugars, reduce the risk of heart disease (3), reduce the risk of high blood pressure, reduce stress and anxiety, improve mental health and mood, and enhance Bones, improves sleep, increases longevity and overall quality of life Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
In addition to those powerful health benefits of exercise, a fun movement can help you make more nutritious food choices and feel comfortable in your own unique body as well, which is why fun movement is so important!
Supports a positive relationship with exercise
By focusing on finding a movement that feels happy, rather than exercising as a form of punishment, you can create a more positive relationship with exercise where you choose to move because it’s fun, feels good in the moment, and supports it. You feel your best afterward, too.
Getting there with exercise can take time and patience, but finding some ways to get your body moving that makes you feel more enjoyable is a great first step to fixing this mindset.
It builds more consistency
Another benefit of joyful movement is that it makes it easier for you to be consistent, and we know this is very important with any exercise to support your health and well-being.
When you create habits – whether it’s the food you eat, the way you move, or any other exercise – that feels fun, you will look forward to making that choice on your own regularly.
How to find your joyful move and build your practice
Use these steps as a guide on how to find your fun move and build your practice.
1. Select the types of movement that would be better
The first step in creating your joyful motor workout is identifying the types of movements that feel best for you.
Some of you may have an idea of the movements you like, but for many people, you may need more time to try different exercises and see what works best.
When thinking about this, it can be helpful to think about the different overarching categories of movement and types of exercise in each.
- Aerobic: Such as kickboxing, cardio, dance, trampoline, cycling, etc.
- Undergo to: Like Pilates, yoga, body weight, lifting, etc.
- Activity: Such as hiking, climbing, kayaking, SUP, team sports, etc. (Note: Activity-based motion is a great option for finding fun ways to get your body moving, but it may not be the easiest option in your daily life depending on where you live, so you might consider that your movement is on the weekend and you have a different movement during the week)
The best place to start is to try a variety of workouts with this fresh perspective to find the hilarious move and see which one feels really fun for you.
obé Fitness is an amazing virtual fitness platform that we recommend for this reason! Obé has more than 15 types of classes, including strength, dance, cardio boxing, yoga, pilates, sculpting and more, with a library of thousands of classes on demand, so you can test a variety of exercise styles to see what you enjoy.
We also recommend the obé because it is very suitable. You can access workouts on any device, most classes require no equipment, and most classes are 28 minutes long, making it easy to manage to add to your schedule (plus they offer up to 10 short classes when pressed for time).
Use code NUTRITIONSTRIPPED to get 30% off the first month with obé plus a free 7-day trial.
Start by easing yourself out by trying one form of movement each week to see what works great for you.
Be patient with yourself and commit to trying new exercises until you find something that feels right – I promise there is something for everyone regardless of your current fitness level or age!
2. Connect with friends (or make new ones) for more fun and accountability
One of the best tools to take advantage of when trying to create a new habit is the power of a responsible partner for two beneficial reasons.
First a study It showed that those who exercised with their spouse, friends, or co-workers were happier and enjoyed the exercise more than they did when they were alone.
The second benefit is from the accountability side. else a study She found that the support someone received from working with a partner made them more likely to continue the exercise habit alone.
This is why communicating with others is an important aspect of any of your healthy habits, especially movement.
We encourage our members within Mindful Nutrition Method ™ to connect with friends or make new ones who are committed to supporting them on their journey. A good example of this is finding friends who will exercise with you a few days a week.
This is another reason why I recommend obé Fitness because it has features that help you do exactly that! You can workout with up to 7 friends simultaneously using the Workout Party feature, making it easy and convenient for you to physically call friends and travel together.
If you don’t currently have anyone in your life acting as your accountability partner, obé has an incredible amount of it The community on FacebookWhere you can connect with other like-minded people who share the same goal of moving their bodies in a fun way!
You can also find local exercise classes that are suitable for you and your friends to attend as well. There is no right or wrong answer here, so find what works for you and your exercise partner and what works best for both of you.
3. Ease of doing it one step at a time
Just as an all-or-nothing mindset is common with nutrition, it is also common with exercise.
You don’t need to jump from not exercising at all straight to doing daily exercise.
obe’s Classes, for example, range from 10 minutes to 45 minutes, which gives you options. This can give you the flexibility you need to start and still have options to get your body moving, even on days when you might not have much time.
Before jumping into a fun movement exercise, ask yourself how many manageable exercise days to start with (remember that you can always increase more after two weeks of consistency), how much time you should devote to exercise, and when is the best day and time each week to do so.
The answers to these questions will help you ease the movement of your routine without feeling stressed. Remember, it’s all about taking the time to build consistent habits. It is not about perfection or “all in all”.
4. Add more comfort
Another way to build more consistency with practicing fun movement is to think about how to make it more convenient for you.
One of the core principles of habit psychology is to reduce barriers or barriers that may appear. The more obstacles in your path, the less likely they will follow you.
One way you can make exercise more convenient is by doing it at home rather than at the gym. This way, you won’t have the barrier of needing to get in the car and drive somewhere, which adds more time and another step to the process. Alternatively, you can get started right away at home.
Another example is dressing up your workout clothes the night before so they’re ready to go. This removes the barrier of having to find all the different clothing items right now!
You can also choose the type of exercise to do early on to reduce decision fatigue and prepare your space with a mat and water if you are exercising at home.
5. You have options for yourself
If you’ve ever tried to be consistent with any type of habits, but especially exercise, there are always those days when we don’t feel 100% or our minds simply tell us that we don’t feel the urge to continue.
That’s why it’s important to have options for yourself so that you can have some flexibility with your habit while you’re still on the right track.
Once you’ve explored a lot of movement options, I recommend coming up with 3 different joyful movement postures depending on your energy levels and moods. Many of our members use this habit strategy to prepare for those days they may not want to pursue.
- Perfect moveThis is the exercise you most look forward to and do when you have a lot of energy, sleep well at night, and have the full time you need that day.
- Nice move: This option is when you really want to move your body, but maybe you feel a slight decrease in energy, extra tension, or pain from another exercise and you need to be more gentle and kinder to your body that day.
- The “good enough” movement: This option is when you really don’t feel the urge to move your body, or if you are sick or not getting a good night’s sleep, but you know you still need to give your body a little bit of movement. This can be everything from a 10-minute workout class to a 15-minute walk with your dog – anything you feel you can do no matter how you feel.
Having these kinds of exhilarating movement options already planned will help you be able to add flexibility to your routine so that you can maintain your steadiness without falling into an all-or-nothing mindset.
Put this in practice
Now that you understand more about what exhilarating movement is, you can take these steps and start exploring which movements may be better for you and build your own joyful movement routine.
As you work through this, be sure to check in with yourself as you go and note what works for you and what is really cool, and where you might need to adapt. Give yourself time to find what works best for you!
