To feel as good as we can every day necessitates that we move our bodies regularly. But staying physically active over time involved making choices weekly if not daily to do so. Why? Moving takes up space and time in our lives, and time is our most precious commodity. So, if movement is going to trump something else it has to feel REALLY compelling to do.
On a recent Sunday, I had a sitter for “me time.” For me that means going to Zingerman’s, my favorite place to work leisurely and relax with good food and my laptop in a crazy loud environment. Work was great and I had some wonderful creative energy going. When I had about an hour left, THE CHOICE was staring me in the face. You know what I mean. THE CHOICE: The time period I had in which to decide if I was going to keep up my intellectually stimulating work in this wonderful place or take up some of my very precious time moving my body.
You might be surprised to hear this from me, the one of the biggest advocates of physical activity that there is. But it’s hard even for me to leave work to move. I love to work. It feeds me. It’s important self-care. So leaving work isn’t just about not finishing as much as I want to its leaving an activity that deeply nurtures and stimulates me. In other words, it’s a HARD choice to leave work.
But another key self-care activity is moving my body. Some days moving my body is something I do to acknowledge that I’m taking care of myself well, and honoring my life through my honoring my body. I don’t always get “high” from movement but even when I don’t, I know that I’m taking time to take care of my whole self. But other times, like on that Sunday, moving has the potential to be transcendental.
That Sunday was an unseasonably Michigan Fall day, in the 60’s and sunny, lighting up the red, orange, yellow leaves on the trees. (Live art, in other words.) Was I going to celebrate this gift of a Fall day by driving to the Arboretum and taking a slow jog or was I going to stay in this cozy place working up until the last minute? (I even had a window seat that had a beautiful view.)
I so completely understood and FELT THE CHOICE for self-care on that day: to keep working and tend to my work/mind self (which I wanted to do in a big way) or honor and pay some respect my physical self?
I knew I’d regret not going to the Arb and walking on this spectacular day. So, while it’s close, I rarely take the time to drive to the Arb these days. Which is a shame I realized at that moment. I had made THE CHOICE!
I packed up and drove there. (I was already dressed for it knowing that it was a possible thing to do.) And I walked. This turned out to be as special as I had envisioned.
Once I let go of “to do’s” and re-committed to caring for my physical self, the act of moving became kind of sacred.
I purposefully drove to the Arb, as a special space to spend time just BEing. This time wasn’t about accomplishing something. Instead it was about honoring something bigger than me, but also just honoring me.
So I walked through a part of the arb (Ann Arbor’s Central Park) and was so in the “self-care” vibe. I felt grateful to have access to such a beautiful place for moving. Looking at the river, the trees, and the colors – I felt such deep appreciation. I also felt profoundly moved. After about 10 minutes I turned around and in another 10 returned to the parking lot. WOW.
I got in my car to drive home. That had been a very good decision. Yes, there was that other 45 minutes of work I could have ticked off. But when I weighed the real value of those 45 minutes with the real value of my 20 minutes of moving in the Arb. No contest.
The movement wasn’t just an act of self-care, it was an act of affirming my whole life and my whole self. Affirming our whole selves isn’t something our society has taught us to do, but I believe this is one of the most important things anyone can do. It nurtures us as people and contributes to our humanity. But it also has high pragmatic value. Moving our bodies is an activity that’s exponentially beneficial. It lifts our mood, gives us more energy, enables us to focus better, promotes our immune system, helps us sleep better; ALL OF WHICH means we enjoy our work more and are more loving to our loved ones.
So, MY CHOICE on that Sunday turned out to be the right one. On that Sunday.
Here’s the deal, THE CHOICE happens almost every day. Choosing to move isn’t always the RIGHT CHOICE. It depends upon what’s going on, who needs what, and deadlines. The challenge we all face in that moment is to determine what’s most important for us to do IN THAT MOMENT.
Sometimes we make the right choice and sometimes not. But, what is most important is to notice if there’s any regret after wards or whether deep down you KNOW that for that day your choice was the RIGHT one. I have made the WRONG choice on many occasions. I just try to recall those every time I’m at THE CHOICE.
Our society, family and bosses don’t naturally and regularly encourage us to take up time to move and take care of our selves when we could be “productive” or “take care of others.” So, that means it’s up to EACH ONE OF US to consistently reaffirm the exponential value of movement and re-commit to our physicality consistently. Not an easy task, but an important one.
If you desire more inspiration, energy, and well-being all do you have to do is take a few steps and mindfully say “I do” to your whole self, regularly.
Please feel free to share this post with others who might find it helpful or interesting.
Your EssentialSteps Coach,
Michelle