What you want and the challenges you face are closely related, two sides of the same coin.

Do you know? Do you dare to know? Is this, perhaps, your first challenge? Is it a matter of clarifying your thoughts, or of what you’re doing, or not doing – or some combination of these?

I know: the question I’m posing is a general one that seems to have nothing to do with exercise. But there is a reason for this. Some of the issues that come up when considering changes in physical exercise are similar to ones that come up around other changes. Any hope or wish you have that is bigger than you can imagine at the moment, whether you’re talking about exercise or some other facet of your life will bring up the same issues.

Clarity

One big issue is clarity. Clarity or, more precisely, the lack thereof, might have something to do with you perception of obstacles that appear impossible to overcome, or challenges that seem too big to face.

Are you sure you know what you enjoy doing? Walking, dancing, swimming, bicycling,

or anything else that captures your fancy? Perhaps you have to go out and try a few before you make up your mind.

But now go bigger. Are you clear in your mind about wanting to be healthy, live a long active life, travel, enjoy children and grand-children, engage in community service, politics, or whatever else may be important for you?

It seems like it should be easy to know what you want, but it isn’t. But it surely is worth exploring.

It’s your life!

Challenges

How do you deal with your challenges? You may think: “I know what I want, but my physical condition makes it impossible to do what I want to do.” But if this is true now, are you sure it must stay that way? It is certainly difficult to envision possibilities if you have been inactive for a while, or experience pain or discomfort. And there are some obstacles that can’t be overcome.

Yet, over the years, I have however encountered people with enormous challenges who through persistence and manageable steps have drastically improved their physical functioning and their lives.

The right approach to improving your ability to move is as much a state of mind and a redefinition of “exercise” as a carefully planned menu of helpful movements. If the conditions are right, most of us can do more, often much more, than we imagine.

Being a Beginner

Are you ready to get started? Allowing yourself to be a beginner can be a path to renewed and revived movement. When you’re a beginner you start with basics, accept that you’re a learner, and re-learn in a way that can differ quite a bit from the way you’ve been doing things for years.

Over a lifetime we all develop habits and patterns. Some are helpful, some are not. Since both are so much part of yourself, you are used to all, even those that don’t benefit you anymore. This is true for movement patterns as well as for other patterns of your life.

Now, having said this, I will be the first one to admit that it isn’t easy to be a beginner. Whenever you are a learner, you open yourself up to vulnerability. That, I think, is the real challenge, but it’s also key for keeping a young body and mind and to expanding as we age.

Being a beginner frees you up. As a beginner, you aren’t expected, and you don’t expect yourself to already know everything. You can explore, experiment, try out a different you, start small, take new steps, embrace new possibilities and other pieces of life.

I can help you to get started.

Christine

Call (503-334-7816) or email: christine.movementforlife@gmail.com

For more information or to register for individual sessions or for my monthly workshops, see

http://www.movementforlifepdx.com/workshop/

Have you started daily walks or jogs only to stop after a short period of time

because they ended up being just another chore to get over with?

That’s how I felt before Nutmeg, the beagle, showed me how to get more out our daily walks.

It took a while. I wasn’t a very good pupil. I wanted cardiovascular training. All he wanted was sniffing, sniffing, and more sniffing. He was holding me back, wasting my time, driving me crazy.

Finally I began to think about how much Nutmeg looked forward to our walks. Here I was, wearily gathering up leash and doggy bags. There he was, running around in circles, dancing with joy in anticipation. How could I be unaffected by such enthusiasm?

This is what I learned in beagle school.

1) Everyday is different.

One day you feel good about walking fast. The next, you might not have the same energy. That is O.K. Varying speed is good training. Your body needs a challenge, but it also needs time to recover and rebuild.

Changing the terrain gives muscles and bones a changing challenge. Can you fit in a walk on uneven ground, or over hills of varying size and steepness? Its more fun! Your muscles will also benefit from being worked from different angles. Up- and downhill pacing makes for vibrations that stimulate bone growth and density.

2) Engage your senses.

We may not be able to smell as well as a beagle, but our walks can still be sensational. Smell the winter air of this frosty morning. Listen to the wind. Observe the tops of the trees moving in the rhythm of the gusts. Let your walks be a treat for your senses of smell, hearing, and vision.

Try this to get more enjoyment out of your sense of sight: remove your glasses, if you wear them, and alternate between taking in details of plants and flowers nearby and vistas that draw your vision into the distance. If you alternate for a while between the two, you may experience colors in more brightness and sense the three-dimensionality of shapes and objects more strongly.

3) Stop your mind’s chatter.

I doubt that Nutmeg has a mind that chatters. Mine does.

There are many ways you can get your mind into a more relaxed and focused state.

What works for me is connecting to the world by really seeing, really listening, really smelling. How about you? Did you notice the tiny raindrops on that flower? Did you see the arrangement of green and purple berries on that blueberry bush? If your mind is present to the details of your physical environment, your worry and anxiousness are likely to subside.

Your dog walks differently than mine? You don’t even have a dog? You can still take advantage of the situations of your everyday life and realize the opportunities they offer. Watch out for them and use them to  transform obligations into health, pleasure, and joy.