Tips for moving your body
Even when you don't feel like it...
I love the feeling of moving my body. Even when it’s crunchy, moody or sore. When I don’t do it for a while, I feel a particular kind of meh, and need to do something, anything to get myself out of it. Back in 2007, when I first started work as a lawyer, I remember feeling desperate to move; for the first time in my life I was confined to an office for set times of the day. It felt weird, stifling and claustrophobic and I often wondered if there was something wrong with me as no-one else seemed to be bothered by the physical stuck-ness that desk jobs keep you bound in. I was doing triathlons outside of work, and although I enjoyed the camaraderie of rocking up to events and competing with friends, I realise now that it wasn’t an embodied experience. Although I was moving my body, I wasn’t connected to it.
‘s recent Tuesday Thread, How do you move? got me thinking about how I moved at that time, and how things have changed since then.
Now, I move almost every day. Sometimes in the comfort of my own home (a shake, a kitchen dance or a random wiggle at whatever’s on the radio). My favourite way to move is at a Neon Fuel street dance class twice a week (I’ll write more about that soon). I have been doing the same class, with the same teacher, Thalia, for the last 8 years. The majority of us are over 40, most have kids, some have danced before, others are total beginners. We all were nervous the first time we came, yet most of us have stayed. The classes are super challenging, but somehow also super welcoming. Thal has created a rare thing, and it shows by the community that these classes have generated. I prioritise dance because it always feels good, because I love the music, because it’s given me a community of inspiring women who support each other in the best kind of ways. I build my working week around it. It’s given me a home. It’s given me a home in my body.
I much prefer moving at some point before lunchtime. If I leave it any later, I tend to cop out or feel too tired (I can feel my body start to wind down around 3/4pm). At various times in my life, I’ve been a swimmer, a dancer, a competitive triathlete, an acrobat (full-time) and a triathlon coach, dance teacher and fitness instructor, but it’s only now that I’ve started to feel like I’m really moving my body, and moving emotions through as I move my body. Someone told me recently that the word ‘e-motion’ is a hybrid of the words energy in motion. I don’t know if that’s true, but the connecting of feeling and movement is important. What we feel impacts how we move, and how we move impacts how we feel. Whilst I love movement and couldn’t live without it, I still always have days where the feelings of ‘can’t be bothered’ are stronger than the moving vibes. And that is ok. After going through different kinds of relationship to movement (punishment, competition with my self, competition with other people, as a way to try and shape my body in a certain way) it was comforting to reflect on the last few years and know that I’m now largely in a loving, supportive and encouraging relationship with movement. I’m moving in the ways that I’m deeply drawn to and in ways that are good for my body.
These are the things, thoughts and feelings that have helped me develop this practice:
1. Move every day
Don’t overthink this one. Gently challenge yourself to move every day. This could mean a 5 minute stretch, followed by a five course meal, or it could mean a 10 mile training run, an hour-long weight training session or sweaty impromptu dance session with a friend at a local barn dance. We put way too much pressure on ourselves to fit into a set routine of what we think we should be doing, rather than feeling into what we need and following that. Moving every day, in whatever way feels right, allows us to build up a movement habit and acquaint ourselves with ways of moving that work for us. If you are new to movement, keeping it simple in this way might be extra helpful. Move every day. Using this as simple guidance helped me build a much healthier relationship with movement that works for me, my body and rhythms, and allows for variety and responsive to my energy levels, the weather and whatever else I’ve got going on that day. Cut out the noise and listen in to what your body is telling you it needs.
2. Tune into your body
How often do you sit there and listen to what your body needs? As in, really listen? It took me ages to do be able to do this. As someone who has always done a lot of sport, exercise and movement, I thought I was connected to my body. It turns out you can move a lot, but not be an embodied person. Being embodied is not something we can intellectualise; it requires us to feel into it. I had been doing yoga for years without really understanding what my body needed. Shifting myself into poses in an ego-led way rather than listening to my body, hearing it’s aches, and soreness, or it’s energy and vitality. We work best and can move more sustainably over longer periods of time if we listen to our bodies and let them move us. Being still and really listening to where our bodies are, can help us move in better ways. To keep it simple, find somewhere to sit quietly for a few minutes, long enough to start feeling and listening in to your body. Ask yourself how your body is feeling today? What’s going on in your nervous system? Do you feel tired, wired, full of beans? What does your body need? How does it want to move? Become re-acquainted with it. Like all practices this one takes time, but once you become used to your body’s signals you’ll start to ask these questions automatically.
3. Find movement that you love
It took me 32 years to find a form of movement that I deeply connected with. It took me an extra 3 years to build community around it and widen that community out. It’s taken me 40 years to get into a routine that I’m happy with and that’s ok. There’s a movement form out there for you. Allow yourself to explore what you’re drawn too. You’re never too old and it’s never too late. There are incredible people out there taking up things at all ages and stages of life. Check out Orbee Roy, better known as Aunty Skates, for some serious inspiration. I know this is hard, and it takes a lot of courage to try something new, or be a beginner, but if you’re keen to give something a go, then follow that urge, turning up once is something to be proud of!
4. Prioritise it.
I find this the hardest of thing to do, but since prioritising dance my overall wellbeing and quality of life has significantly improved. It helped me recover from PTSD, move through extreme anxiety, build my confidence in other areas, and finally allow me to feel like something was mine. It’s also supremely fun and playful, and we all need more of that in our lives. Of course, none of this happened overnight, but genuinely committing to my favourite movement practices have been life-changing.
I would love to know about your dance and movement practices, what you love and what you find hard? What new things you want to try, and what you can’t stand, and the ways in which you prioritise moving your body. Please share in the comments below, it’s always so great to hear from you.
Writing The Dance Floor allows me to advocate for dance/movement. I hope to explore my ideas, along with those of people much more informed than me, on the subject here. I have long been concerned that government cuts to the arts, plus more time spent online are minimising the importance of dance and the incredible physical, psychological and social benefits it can bring and want to do something to help stop that from happening. If you’d like to connect on these ideas, or have any recommendations of Substacks for people writing in this space, I’d be very grateful to know about them. Happy Dancing!
I pushed myself to go to a local Cuban salsa class last night even though I was tired after a long and challenging week at work. I'm glad i did. I've danced for years and it was a beginners class but it was good to move, even if my body already knew what to do without any challenge. For me it involved physical contact with others which felt lovely as a single person!