Just as intuitive eating is about healing our relationship with food, joyful movement is about healing our relationship with exercise, and reclaiming the joy in physical activity. Joyful movement is about shifting our perspective - it’s about viewing exercise as a pleasurable way to be active on our bodies rather than a chore. Too often, we get swept up by the idea that exercising has to be painful or tortuous in order for it to be effective. We approach exercise feeling like we have to burn calories in order to “earn” our food. This mindset is toxic to our physical and mental health, and ultimately backfires. When we view exercise as something that we have to suffer through, we begin to dread it and try to get away with not doing it. We hit the snooze on our alarm in the morning, skip out on going to the gym, and inevitably fall out of our exercise routine because it is just too taxing and exhausting to keep up. Ultimately we try to force ourselves to do something we hate day in and day out, and we come to resent it and avoid it.
The foundation for a healthy and active lifestyle cannot be built on guilt. Joyful movement is a radically different mindset, one that centers around pleasure in movement and honoring our bodies. Exercise should be a celebration of us and our bodies, not a guilt trip. Joyful movement is about finding ways to be active that are mentally and physically pleasurable for each person. Each person is unique and we each will find different activities enjoyable. There is no one “right” way to be active. It’s important that we listen to our bodies, and that we are present in our movement. When we approach exercise and physical activity from an intuitive and joyful perspective, we are able to be more in tune with our bodies, and will reap the benefits of physical activity that much more.