What “Meaningful Movement” Means to ME

For as long as I can remember, playing sports, working out, and moving my body has always been a big part of my life. The benefits of moving our bodies are endless, I think we can all agree that our bodies love to move. I’ve had seasons in my life where I was competing in CrossFit, this meant training twice a day, sometimes three times a day. When I was in high school I would run every morning before school and then do my sports after school. During those times in my life I started out with good intentions, but being the person that I am, with my type A personality, I naturally fell into the “more is better” and “going harder” mentality. When one gym session wasn’t enough, why not add in another, and another. Not only did I end up feeling exhausted, drained, and developed an unhealthy relationship with exercise. I continued to push my body even when it was literally screaming at me. At certain points I was injured, lost my period for years, created hormone imbalances, and not to mention the mental guilt and shame I would experience if I missed a scheduled workout.

i always admired people who could go to the gym for one hour, feel good, and get on with their day. Their life didn’t revolve around the gym, and nor should it.

I realize that high level athletes prioritize the gym and recovery, I’m not talking about those people. I’m talking about people who work full time, have a partner, kids, hobbies, and maybe even a side hustle who still think they need to do HIIT, CrossFit classes, and then the extra conditioning classes their gym offers 6 days a week. I know first hand the benefits of a group style class, they’re fun and bring about some friendly competition, but at what cost are we constantly and mindlessly pushing our bodies day in and day out?

meaningful, intentional, conscious movement.

The concept of meaningful/conscious movement isn’t new. In fact, when you think of those terms, you probably think of yoga, Tai Chi, Pilates, breath work, meditation, and walking meditation. What do all of these have in common? They require us to SLOW DOWN, connect to our breath, how we’re feeling, and allow us to tune into what we need during a given day and/or training session.

within the last 2-3 years I’ve made peace with my body. as a result, i’ve stopped exercising to lose or maintain my weight. i move my body because it makes me feel connected to my consciousness, gives me energy, brings me mental clarity, and i genuinely LOVE it.

So, what does meaningful movement mean to me?

moving my body with intention, appreciation, and respect. If i’m feeling tired and extra sore, I listen, honour how I’m feeling, and adjust the intensity and duration of my workout. I DO NOT power through it like I used to. Some days I crave an intense workout and other days I’ve had a poor sleep and my stress is higher than normal. On the days where I’m feeling extra motivated and energized I will either incorporate sprints, more super sets, or increase my weights. On the days when I’m feeling extra tired (I know this isn’t just lack of motivation because I have a consistent mindfulness practice), I will opt for a more restorative movement session; yoga, walking, longer rest periods, and single sets as opposed to super sets.

How do I incorporate meaningful movement into my more intense workouts?

I focus on my mind-muscle connection, my breath, and not racing through the set just to say I completed the rep number I had written down. This has made a huge difference in my injury prevention, mobility, and level of soreness. The mind-muscle connection is a great tool to start practicing, most people can do it for the first 3 reps, but what about the 10th? By no means have I mastered this, I’m not really sure you ever do, but I’m always working at it! I think we can all agree that this not only helps with technique, but also because our brain plays a big role in regulating muscle movement and strength. Think about when you’re performing a glute bridge, you can either elevate your hips off the floor without thinking twice, OR you can engage your core, check in with your posture, ground your feet, establish your breathing pattern, contract your glutes and then perform the movement. VERY DIFFERENT!

Some meaningful movement practices I do daily:

I incorporate yoga into my warm-ups and cool downs, controlled articular rotations (CARS)-moving each joint through all of its ranges of motion, I practice breath work every morning and sometimes in the evening, I meditate (even if it’s just 5 mins) first thing in the morning or after my workout.

What I’ve learned through SLOWING DOWN, being more mindful and conscious when I move my body:

It helps me challenge the societal pressures of working-out harder, longer, and faster. I’ve learned to love restorative movements and see the benefits from staying consistent with them.
I have better energy throughout the day. I attribute this to honouring what my body needs and adjusting my workout accordingly. Sometimes this means breath work and meditation, and that’s totally ok!
I don't stress out about missing a workout, traveling, or schedule changes. I used to think if it wasn’t a full on CrossFit style intense workout, it was a waste of time. I can’t tell you how many times I had to make sure I hit up a CrossFit gym during my travels. I no longer care about whether or not there’s a gym near me, I can do yoga, an at home workout, or explore a city on my 2 feet!

my passion for movement will always be a cornerstone in my life. if I wrote this blog post 2 years ago my opinions and experiences would be very different, same as if I were to write it 2 years from now. i’m excited to see the evolution of my relationship with meaningful movement, this includes my meat-head gym lover self, walking enthusiast, student of yoga, jiujitsu, and a witness to the healing benefits of meditation and breath work.

I think it’s important to keep in mind that human beings are multi-faceted, just because someone loves body building doesn’t mean they don’t also love swimming and meditation. I’m constantly amazed at how humans are incredibly unique with seemingly opposing interests, passions, and dislikes. Isn’t that what makes us so special?