So you want to move more but are having trouble staying committed? I want to share four tips on how to start and stick to a movement practice.
1. Figure out your why. Why do you want to start a movement practice? It’s hard to build a new habit and stick to it without a strong sense of why you’re doing it. Without your why it’ll be way to easy to make up excuses to not follow through. Where do you see yourself down the line if you DO succeed in creating a new movement practice? Where do you see yourself if you never implement a movement practice? When you feel like giving up on yourself immediately think of your why. Call on your alter-ego if you have one but whatever you do, act right after you bring to mind WHY you wanted to start in the first place. Get up and move.
2. Have a back up. Whether you want to start a yoga practice, or practice parkour with a group in your city, or start going to a dance class, always have a backup because we tend to get caught up in the “all or nothing” mindset. Where, if you had to work late and you miss your martial arts class you end up doing nothing at all. If you couldn’t get a babysitter to go to the gym then do a bodyweight session at home or throw on a YouTube follow along and do yoga instead. A commitment came up and can’t go for your 5km run? Then go for a 2km run instead. If it’s too cold to run do some animal flow routines in your living room. You get the point. Wanting to master a specific discipline definitely has its merits, but don’t let not being able to do something specific stop you from moving altogether, especially if you’re in the stage of building a new habit. So have your thing, but be prepared with a back up plan because if you have to spend too much thinking about what you should do toreplace your “thing” your liable to just say f**k it and do nothing.
3. Make lifestyle changes. Identify what has been stopping you in the past from sticking to a movement practice? Too tired, not enough time? Then maybe you have to make other small adjustments in your life to accommodate this new practice. If for example you’re always too tired it may be that you need to go to bed a bit earlier so you have more energy to practice. You may need to look at your diet to see if it needs to be tweaked so you don’t feel so run down all the time. If you feel that you have no time it may be that you’re trying to practice at the wrong time of day. If mornings are hectic with kids vying for your attention then maybe that isn’t the best time for you to practice. Maybe you and the kids can do more to prepare the night before so that the morning is less chaotic and you do have time. And to all you women who are trying to do it all, if your kids are old enough to do things for themselves I say, LET THEM! The number of times I’ve met women who are run ragged yet are still making lunches for kids in high school is ridiculous. You matter too!
4. Start small. You don’t just install a new habit into your life. You build a habit, slowly but surely. So if you tell yourself you’re going to do an hour a day of movement coming from a background of not doing much you may be setting yourself up for disappointment. Start with 10 minutes a day or if its longer sessions maybe 2–3 times a week to begin with. You need to give yourself proof that you can do it so that natural motivation builds. Then you slowly increase the volume in an organic way!
