Feeling Lucky To Move My Body
I’m going to tell you a secret you might be surprised to hear: I’m not a huge fan of personal development podcasts. There was a time when I would gobble them up, hoping to find the golden nugget of wisdom that would change my life. But the more I listened, the more I felt like I was hearing the same thing over and over, and that many framed the listener’s current reality as “not enough.” I started to get a little sick of hearing how our lives would all just be better if we just did one extra thing in the morning. And don’t get me wrong, I think many of them share valuable insights and can be extremely useful depending on your season of life, but for the past few years they have not been my jam. However, that has recently changed as I’ve been listening to the Lucky Girl Podcast with Les Alfred. I’m sure it says a lot about my current season that I’m drawn to a podcast by an ambitious thirty-something who is building her empire in public, but the one thing that sticks out to me about this podcast that I think is relevant to all of us across genders, ages, stages, etc. is the opening question for every guest: When do you feel the most lucky?
As I listened to last week’s episode I realized that my answer is simple: I feel most lucky in the gym. Before you roll your eyes, hear me out. The gym can be a place of amazing excitement and achievement – endorphins are flowing, people are hitting PRs and reaching their goal weight. But the reason that I actually feel most lucky in the gym is because it is a glaring reminder of my vitality. I have a body that is not only able to move, but able to lift heavy shit. My joints work as they should, my bones hold me up, my lungs give me fresh air.
I end all the workout classes I teach by asking attendees to give gratitude to their bodies. This is not a silly trope for me. We often take for granted all the things our bodies do for us. Besides keeping us alive, they do everything from getting us through our toughest days to allowing us to enjoy life’s greatest pleasures. They don’t just bear the brunt of a tough workout, they take on all that life throws at us (demanding work schedules, sedentary lifestyles, trauma, stress, and more) and they move us forward, building resilience and strength in the face of all our obstacles. To me, every day is a reminder that it is a privilege to move my body freely, to do everything I want to do and not think twice about whether my body will allow that. And so every time I step into the gym, I am a lucky girl.
Public health research has explored the relationship between gratitude and physical health in depth. A 2015 study published in Spirituality in Clinical Practice found that gratitude was significantly associated with better sleep, more willingness to engage in healthy behaviors, and lower levels of inflammation. A review in the Psychological Bulletin found that gratitude practices reduced markers of stress and improved overall wellbeing. By showing appreciation for your body, you are actively improving your physical, mental and spiritual wellbeing.
I’ve realized that the lucky girl feeling I get in the gym also gives me a new perspective on time. We are in an era where we’re both anxious for the immediate future and trying to connect to the present moment, which makes it hard to envision ourselves far into the future. Some research suggests that our ability to identify with our future selves diminishes as the time horizon extends. In practice, this looks like making choices for today's comfort at the expense of our health decades from now. I think about this often when I'm in the gym, especially on the days I don't feel like being there. Somewhere in a future I cannot fully imagine, a version of me would give anything for this day. For legs that carry me through a workout without pain, for lungs that breathe easily through a mile run, for a body that can squat my bodyweight, and for the joy and privilege of easy movement. Knowing that my future self will marvel at what my 32 year old body was doing gives me the extra push to savor the hard reps, the sweaty sets, and the shitty workouts.
So next time you’re struggling to get active, try this reframe & to see yourself as one lucky human filling their cup!
WELLNESS ROUND UP
The Latest on Explosive Diarrhea
I know what you’re thinking (WTF). Trust me, I wish I wasn’t reading this either. But there has been a large outbreak of a disease called Cyclospora, primarily in the midwest but it has spread across the country. This outbreak has come from contaminated produce and while it is not deadly, it does cause diarrhea and discomfort so it is better to be safe than sorry when it comes to prevention! Whether you’ve heard of it or not, I recommend catching up on the basic information to make sure you take precautions with your diet. I’ve been keeping up with updates from Your Local Epidemiologist who provides great, simple, and clear information about the issue.
One of my favorite sayings if you will, is that if you want a village, you need to learn to be a villager. I’ve loved the dialogue about how having community requires inconvenience, and the piece that I always like to add is that community is actually fundamental to your social and emotional health. The former Surgeon General has put out significant writing and research on the loneliness epidemic and what we can do to combat it, and I really enjoyed this article among others about what that looks like in practice (hint: it’s an excuse to “waste time”).
