Why can't I be motivated to exercise?

How many of you came from a family who didn't prioritize exercise, or who didn't exercise at all? How many of you associate exercise with gym class or forced sports? How many of you associate exercise with punishment? How many of you associate exercise with pain or injury? Taking this a step further, how many of you tried exercise for weight loss and didn't see results? How many times were you told, all you need was a few weeks to create the habit or you will get addicted to the feeling, but didn't.

If you answered yes to any of these questions, this could be a reason exercise is difficult to start and keep up with. When we have negative associations to something, it can be easy to see why we wouldn't want to do them. If every time you did something and the result was a felling of shame, embarrassment, failure, humiliation or pain, why would you do it, why do it willingly?

Trauma survivors or those that have suffered great loss are often disconnected from their bodies. The disconnection allows us to effortlessly deny the body of it's needs. The body needs 4 things to survive:

• Water

• Food

• Oxygen

• functioning nervous system

Most trauma survivors, I might dare say all, have a dysregulated autonomic nervous system. Most of us do not get enough water. We have poor eating and diet habits. To top it off, we don't belly breath.

I started this blog talking about exercise, but we are really talking about self-care. The word self-care has been tossed around, over used and abused. But this is one of the most basic forms of self-care, taking care of your body. Those of us that don't identify with exercise in a positive way, need to look differently at exercise. We can start by changing our language, stop calling it exercise. For all intents and purposes we are calling it movement.

How often is there movement throughout your day? Movement can be anything. Thinking of movement with fluidity as the word itself assumes. I don't mean you got up from your desk and stretched a few times. If you did, high five! That's better than most.

When I talk about movement, I'm speaking in a more rhythmic and intentional manner. Running, which I'm not suggesting one take up, I'm merely asking you to identify the rhythm and intention of running as an activity. These things can come from many other activities like swimming, walking, sports (tennis, basketball). It can be fun like dancing, Hula Hoop, playing catch with the kids, or fetch with your dog. Maybe you like cleaning, vacuuming can be rhythmic and intentional. What are the things you enjoy that would feel like movement to you?

Remember, we want to enjoy these activities. We are creating a space for movement to have a positive association. Change it up, do something different! Change it daily, if it is what keeps you moving. One day, you might dance for an entire song, the next maybe go for a walk. Keep the mind and body interested and curious.

If movement is too much for you at this time, some somatic practices might be the way to start. If you'd like more information, book a free discovery call with me.