I’m a hypocrite. Not a willing one, nor do I wish to remain so. I’m hypocritical because in my work, I espouse the need to move, be active daily, and yet… I fall short of this so many times. Most days. I’m definitely not alone, I know this because the clients of mine who are honest tell me so and I can say, don’t worry, I get it. Me too.
But it’s not enough to live in this cycle. We know, scientifically, that exercise is good for us. Really, it is only thing with any evidence based data behind it suggests to help injury and long term health. I’m a huge advocate for moving in a way you love to move. Don’t like running? Don’t run. But what do you like to do? It’s not enough that we stop at “not liking to move” – we have to finish the thought and consider what it is that we like to do. And for this, I speak as much to myself as anyone else.
I love to dance. But I can’t dance in the way I really want to at the moment (don’t worry, slow steps are being put into action to rectify this!). This fact has been enough to give me all the excuse I need to not move. But it’s no excuse. I love to walk, but there has been so much rain lately, walking outside (outside of work hours) has been nigh impossible. And excuse? Yep, but not a good one.
The thing that shifted my mindset was a Youtube video of all things. About a Tiny House. A yoga teacher has built her tiny house around supporting the concept of movement. It was one sentence in the whole video, but the seed of an idea has landed with me, and I’ve been thinking on it ever since. The other thing? She mentioned in a yoga practice, hanging helps with head and neck alignment. I don’t know how this is spoken about in a yogic practice, but from a physiotherapy standpoint (as long as your shoulders are injury and pain free), hanging provides traction that could, in fact, help.
The first thing I went and did was bought a chin up bar ($12 from Kmart) for my doorway. I’ve put it right next to my kitchen. The reason? I looked for a daily habit that I can add a little intervention into to motivate myself to use it. I’ve started composting (yay!), and can’t add my milk to my tea before I take the tea leaves out, so I have to wait in the kitchen (or return to the couch and fight the whole must-get-up-again feeling). It’s the perfect amount of time to do a little big of hanging. Or ab work. Or the very beginnings of learning how to do a chin up #goals.
It’s worked! In the week that I’ve had it, I’ve been using it every day (and my shoulder have been good-sore as proof!). B even raves about it. He’s been wanting to improve his own shoulder strength ever since fracturing his shoulder blade about two years ago.
But I haven’t stopped there. I thought, post-wedding, that the positive changes I aspire to in my life, I could take my time with. That’s still true, but true to form, these changes have been snowballing a little faster than I’d anticipated. I have:
- Started to compost. When we bought our house, we had two compost bins in the back that were sorely neglected. I went to a composting workshop (nerd, I know) because I had no clue what to do! Now, B and I have been using it consistently for the last three weeks, and bought a worm farm to supplement the process. More on all that in another post
- Reduce plastic. This is a big one, and buzz-wordy at the moment (but, yay!). I have moment of constant failure in this, but being more conscious of it has worked. I’ve been using beeswax wraps (sourced from a local beekeeper), have been making more things from scratch (hello, coconut youghurt)
- Growing my own food! Long term project. Current obsession. We’ve already been using lemons, avocados and silverbeet from our garden. This will improve as more things grow and I learn how to deter predators. It makes me a little sad when I realise how many kiwi fruit and apples went to waste because I didn’t pay them enough attention when we moved in!
- Improving my eyesight. This is very recent. Today, recent. A friend of mine, Gemma, posted on her social media about the idea that there is a way to reverse myopia (nearsightedness) through simple exercises and small changes over time (everything I support as a health professional). So much more reading and research goes into this, but it’s something I’m hoping to look into. And hey, if it works it could be a game-changer. I’ve worn glasses/contacts since primary school!
- I’ve upgraded my Fitbit watch. I loved my other watch for a time – but it was thick and becoming cumbersome to wear to work. But I’m back and excitedly on the Fitbit bandwagon and counting my steps (and being given a little buzz when I haven’t moved much in the hour) is a great reminder to stay a little bit more active.
Small. Daily. Changes. You know what? It hasn’t been too hard. It just takes a little bit more attention. Gentleness too, when you fail (which is frequently – hello decision-fatigue purchased bathroom loofahs in plastic).