It is incredibly easy to find information about how to exercise, how much you should be exercising, and why it’s important to exercise. In fact, this information seems to find us, even when we aren’t looking. You might receive this information from your doctor, your friends, the nightly news, and daily targeted advertisements on your social media! The message behind much of this information is that you need to exercise to be healthy and this might also mean changing something or many things about the way your body looks. It can feel really challenging to divert your attention from these messages and check in with yourself on how much and what type of movement your body needs. 

If you are someone struggling with body image, disordered eating, or even seemingly benign impacts of diet-culture, you might feel confused about how to incorporate movement into your life. There are extraordinary benefits of connecting to your body, but this needs to be not only physically safe for you, but emotionally safe. It can cause emotional harm to coerce yourself into doing an exercise because you “should.” This sends the message to yourself that external messages are more trustworthy than internal messages, making it harder to trust that you can care for yourself and keep yourself safe. It is powerful to make even small decisions, such as whether to move your body and how, intuitively because it adds up to a much greater sense of self-trust. 

You might have had such bad experiences with movement (did anyone else dread “The Mile Run” in elementary school?) that you avoid any type of physical activity, and then feel guilty when you see messaging around why you should exercise. There are so many messages tangled in shame and guilt that movement can feel like something that is for other people and not for you. Media messaging sells the idea that movement is for young, thin, able-bodied people who can afford expensive gear and classes. Even practices with a greater tradition of enjoyment or emotional attunement like yoga, dance, and walking can be misused to promote or sell the idea of weight loss. As an alternative, the Health at Every Size framework offers the idea of intuitive or joyful movement. 

Intuitive movement or joyful movement is exactly as it sounds. It is movement that you enjoy and that is fueled by internal cues of what you need emotionally, physically, and even spiritually. There isn’t any one type of movement that qualifies as intuitive or joyful, but rather what matters in the process of how you engage with the activity. It is always okay to decide not to engage in movement. Rest is part of an intuitive life and part of honoring what our bodies need. The frequency and duration of movement can be flexible and will shift depending on factors like energy level, emotional state, schedule, and countless other shifting variables!

Below are a few questions to check in with yourself before moving your body:

• What do I need today? 

• What internal cues or messages is my body giving me about what I need today?

• Why am I choosing this specific activity today?

• How would I feel if I knew this activity wasn't going to change anything about my physical appearance?

• What, if any, external messages are impacting my decision to do this activity today?

We can use our relationship to movement as a chance to practice flexing our intuition muscles. When we honor what our physical bodies need, we send ourselves the message that we can trust ourselves to truly care for ourselves. As you connect to your physical sensations during movement, you are also practicing the skill of listening to your body throughout your day. This increases your awareness of how our emotions show up in the body and invite us to change the stories we may have created about how certain emotions show up in the body. For example, excitement and anxiety both cause our heart rate to speed up and can feel similar, but are differentiated by their breathing patterns. The more savvy we become at learning our physical cues, the less our minds rush to fill in gaps with sometimes false information. 

In my previous blog on self-compassion, I talked about finding motivation from a place of love and kindness towards ourselves. Intuitive movement offers a chance to extend that kindness to the ways in which we engage with our bodies and empowers us to only choose to move our bodies when we are able to do so with love. If the ideas shared here sound interesting but you’re unsure of where or how to start, check out these resources. As always, talk to me about any parts of this you are wanting to further formulate for yourself. 

• Christy Harrison Food Psych Episode 

  • In this podcast episode, Christy Harrison speaks with Lauren Ezell Minear, a therapist and yoga instructor, about the role of movement in healing trauma.

• Barre3

  • Barre3 instructors incorporate mindfulness into all of their workouts, even the routines that are focused on cardio or strength training. I appreciate the language they use to describe the physical sensations of the movement and the way the instructors consistently remind you to check in with what your body needs. 

• Kundalini yoga 

  • This style of yoga is all about connecting with your breath, noticing physical sensations, and connecting to a higher power. This free clip offers an entire class that is done seated. 

• Calm App Movement 

  • This app is most commonly known for its guided meditations, but also offers guided movement based in mindfulness techniques. 

• Inclusive Personal Training

  • Seek out trainers who specialize in making movement accessible, HAES-informed, and weight neutral or fat positive. 

Finally, allow this to serve as your reminder and validation that it is always okay to make the choice to not engage in movement— especially if you are recovering from the impacts of diet culture or disordered eating.