There’s no right or wrong way to move your body. It’s all about questioning the rules, ignoring all the shoulds and shouldn’t, and learning to view movement as a form of self-care. instead of as a way to shrink or control. Realizing that your body deserves respect and to be moved in a kind and compassionate way and figuring out what moves you and doing more of that, is life-changing.
If you haven’t had the chance to learn about the other 9 Principles of Joyful Movement, I highly recommend going back and checking them out here!
Prefer to listen? Check out this episode of the Joyful Movement Show Podcast instead.
To Challenge, is not to Punish
Before I became a non-diet personal trainer, I found myself pushing and pushing, always trying to be stronger, faster, thinner, and better. When this is done from a mindset of needing to fix ourselves, to prove ourselves, essentially, that’s really coming from a mindset of I’m not good enough as I am, or I’m not worthy, which is a mindset of lack or fear. When movement is approached this way, it’s really hard to enjoy it and stick with it. You cannot create a body you love or a movement practice you enjoy by hating your way there. Instead, I encourage a mindset of abundance, growth, and love. Even if you don’t fully accept and love yourself or your body just yet, hopefully, you’re a little closer to believing that you deserve respect, that you’re enough and worthy just as you are. You don’t have to prove yourself by dieting, losing weight, or killing yourself with punitive exercise.
What’s really cool is that when you have an abundant growth mindset, then movement can become this fun way to connect with your body and play and have fun. Once you discover movement that lights you up and makes you feel amazing, then you can start to challenge yourself on your terms. You can experiment with different types of movement to see what you’re capable of, but all from a place of body respect, curiosity, growth, and fun rather than a place of needing to prove or change yourself.
4 Ways to Challenge Yourself On Your Own Terms
It’s good for our body to be challenged in different ways, however, you just need to balance that challenge with connection to yourself and kindness to make sure that you’re respecting your limits and still enjoying the process. So what does it mean exactly to challenge yourself on your terms?
1. Make sure you enjoy the activity.
Even when you’re working hard, you can still enjoy yourself. It has to be fun for you on some level. Now, you might still grunt and sweat and swear. I mean, as a personal trainer in Goderich, I do that and people do this in my studio all the time, but behind that hard effort, I know they’re having fun pushing themselves because they know in my studio anyway, they never have to do something that they hate. And you don’t need to either. You might hate running, you might hate swimming, you might hate yoga, whatever the thing is, you don’t have to do it if you don’t like it.
2. Listen to your body and respect your limitations
Not every day is a day to challenge yourself.
If you’re tired, sore, coming down with something, or you’re just not feeling it for whatever reason – those are the days to take it easy.
You don’t have to go for a personal record every time you go out. It’s totally cool for some sessions that you just show up and go through the motions.
And of course, if you have a known injury or a restriction, don’t cross those lines.
But if you’re feeling great, then, by all means, go for it. Often the idea of challenging yourself just happens organically in the moment. You might be out for a run and notice that it’s feeling really easy and effortless today. So you decide to change your route and add in a couple of hills. Or maybe you’re in a yoga class and you’re feeling really strong and powerful and decide to give Crow a try for the first time. Perhaps you’re doing some pushups and rather than going from your knees like you usually do, maybe you try one or two off your toes just to see if you can.
Those are all ways that you can challenge yourself on your terms in the moment.
3. Trying new things
As you become more confident with movement that you enjoy and you discover how to move your body as a form of self-care, you’ll start to become more confident moving in different ways.
As an example, if you’re just starting out with a daily movement practice and you’ve found that you really enjoy dancing at home, perhaps your next challenge is to join a dance group fitness class.
Or if walking is your jam, maybe you’d like to challenge yourself by taking up hiking or joining a beginner running program.
Eventually, maybe you’ll try something different altogether, like lifting weights or pilates. Maybe even kayaking or rock climbing or playing soccer.
I teach my clients to start building a movement toolkit like a whole repertoire of a wide variety of movement options that they enjoy so that they have an abundance of things to choose from each day, to keep things fun, interesting, accessible, and adaptable.
4. Competing in an event
Disclaimer, competition can be a little bit tricky, and it all goes back to the mindset behind it.
If competition is all about proving and validating your worth through your athletic abilities, resulting in over-training and stress, nervousness about the event, and sometimes even injury, then I would not recommend races or competing for you at this time.
However, if you’ve healed your exercise mindset and you’re respecting your limitations and it’s fun for you, then competing in a race or an event can be a fun way to challenge yourself on your terms to see what you’re capable of.
Races are usually a really great community event. It’s a fun way to connect with other like-minded individuals.
As a Non-Diet Personal Trainer, Here is How to Know if You are Challenging Yourself on Your Terms
How does it feel, or how do you know if you’re challenging yourself on your terms?
Well, let’s start with how it doesn’t feel. It should never feel like torture or punishment. If you’re challenging yourself on your own terms, it shouldn’t feel awful. It definitely should not hurt. You shouldn’t be dreading the whole experience and counting down the seconds till it’s over. You should not feel ashamed or disappointed in your efforts or your performance. You should not be having thoughts like “that wasn’t good enough” or “I could have done better.” There should be no comparison to others, jealousy, envy, or judgment toward someone who might have got a better result than you. These actions and results come from a place of wanting to prove or fix yourself, wanting to change or feel worthy. These are all fear-based feelings.
On the contrary, if you’re challenging yourself on your terms, you’re going to feel empowered, connected to your body, inspired, and curious. You’ll feel proud of yourself regardless of the actual outcome. You’ll be pleased with your attempt, with your accomplishment, irrespective of anybody else’s result. And you know what? You’re going to be happy for them too. Your body will feel strong, powerful, and alive. You’re gonna be able to see how far you’ve come and celebrate your efforts. These are all actions and results that come from a mindset of growth and abundance, and already knowing that you’re enough.
A great litmus test, to ask yourself when you’re challenging your body is, is this respectful? Or is this fun for me and my body? And if the answer is no, there’s absolutely no need to engage in the activity. And it’s absolutely fine to say no or substitute something else.
My hope for you is that you feel empowered to know when to push and when not to, and feel confident making that decision for yourself.
If you are ready to take the step into joyful movement, Radiant Vitality is here to help you on your journey! Radiant Vitality is a weight-neutral fitness and body image coaching service whose mission is to equip you with practical and sustainable tools to heal your relationship with exercise, food, and your body. Contact Radiant Vitality today!
