This week BeautifulJobs chatted to founder of WeMove, Yoga Teacher, and Advocate for women’s health and wellness, Babs Chaney. She exclusively shared her top tips on movement practice and how to form healthy habits.
How to create an enjoyable & sustainable movement practice I’ve always been so curious about why some people could create good habits and stick to them, while others find it so difficult. Were the former just naturally more motivated individuals? Did they have more willpower, more energy, more focus?
In truth I was a little envious because I had years of trial and error with lots of different ‘healthy’ habits, most of which didn’t hang around longer than a few weeks, if even! But there is one area of my life that I found it easier to create healthier habits and this is with my movement practice. I like to call it movement because exercise feels like too much hard work and I instantly don’t want to do it!
Movement has been part of my life since I was a little nipper and It’s been the one consistent as I navigate this life of mine. It’s changed so much over the years, as I have moved through different stages of womanhood. My current movement habits are the fruits of lots of curiosity, experimentation and self-acceptance to create enjoyable & sustainable movement practices. As my life stage changes again, so too will my movement practices and so is the rhythm of life.
Below are my main tips that could help you create a lasting movement practice by understanding how to form habits which are right for you and which suit your specific stage in life:
1. Ask Why?
Let’s start small. List one new habit that you’d like to create in your life. Too many and you’ll get overwhelmed and fall at the first hurdle, trust me! It’s important to have a clear reason why you want to create this particular habit. For example; let’s say you want to start practicing yoga. If you’ve never done yoga before and your goal is to do a handstand in 2 months, then forget it. I’m 15 years practising and still can’t do that! Have a more achievable why. You might instead try a broader goal like, ‘I want to have a movement practice that connects body and mind.’, or ‘I want to create more flexibility in my body’. This way you’re allowing yourself to experience the full spectrum of what yoga can do for you. Once it becomes more habitual, you can start to focus on more specific goals or areas of interest. Or maybe you just enjoy it for how it makes you feel without focusing on goals – that too is just perfect.
2. Pick something you love.
You decide you want to try and improve your cardio fitness. So you download a ‘Couch to 5k App’, order your new runners, get your sweat pants out and you’re ready. But then you remember that you actually hate running and the thought of it makes you want to crawl back onto the couch and delete the App. Then for the love of God don’t start with running! That’s not to say you won’t come to love running in time. But start with something that appeals to you more and who knows where that will lead. If your reason for wanting to run is to improve your cardio fitness, then look at other options to achieve this. Do you love to dance? Then how about signing up for an online dance class? Or how about starting with some brisk walks, hill-walking or anything that will improve your fitness in a way that allows you to really enjoy the process. The real aim here isn’t just to achieve your goal but to enjoy the journey. When you’re doing something you dread, your brain will give you 10 million reasons not to do it.
3. Be realistic.
So this is a big one! The one I fell down on so many times. Don’t compare yourself to and replicate what others are doing. One of the guys I used to work with, did the ‘run every morning at 6am’ routine and I decided I would join him in the hope I’d look as fresh and energetic as him each morning. What I didn’t stop to think about was that he was 10 years younger than me, had no children, no family to look after and had no monthly cycle that sent hormones raging through his body from one end of the month to the other. My morning runs lasted 1 day and then I faked an injury to save face! Take a look at your stage in life, your family and work commitments, your environment, your sleeping habits and your diet habits. And for the women, I cannot emphasise enough the realities of how your monthly cycles affect your energy and motivation levels from one week to another. All these should play a role in how you incorporate a new habit into your life.
4. Consistency.
To build a habit you need a level of consistency. This doesn’t have to be a daily commitment but a few times per week is more likely to become part of your lifestyle consistently. My husband wanted to start practicing yoga and we kept trying to find time at the end of the day for an hour’s practice. Two fails there – the end of the day didn’t work for us; two kids and bedtime equals crazy evenings and an hour was simply too much for us at this stage in our lives.We’ve now created a yoga practice together that suits our lifestyles – we get up a few mins before 7am each morning, sneak downstairs before the kids are up and practice for 30 mins. We do this Mon-Friday and Saturday and Sunday are just whatever-goes days. Do we do it religiously ever Mon-Friday? Hell no! There are days I feel too exhausted, listen to my body and give it a miss. Other days his work needs to start earlier and so the yoga falls down the list for a day. But we do practice most days and that consistency is what counts. Now we both really look forward to it (at least I think he does!).
5. Accountability.
If you’re someone that needs to be accountable to someone in order to stick to something then get a partner in crime. Not a sergeant major type character, ready with the whip if you haven’t completed your daily practice. Just buddy up with a friend or family member, either in person or even by text to check in on each other. Write a journal at the end of the week and list the practices you did or join an online group to spur each other on. Choose whatever will help keep you motivated.
6. Go easy on yourself.
Life is hard, especially right now. Please don’t make your movement practice another difficult thing to add to your life! Your movement practice should be something you look forward to, something that makes you feel good in body and mind. If it becomes yet another chore, then question your reason for doing it or revisit your choice of new habit, maybe it’s not the right one. Or just take a step away and allow yourself the space to decompress and try again when the time feels right. It’s really not about achieving big goals. We’ve all imagined how we’d feel once we’ve achieve a certain goal, only to be left disappointed by our level of happiness once we got there. A habit will only stick if you find how you can enjoy the process. Don’t forget about your mind in this all – we can all focus so much on our bodies and forget the importance of keeping our minds healthy. I always come back to this quote when I feel myself starting to focus on perfecting body parts: “The primary goal of fitness should be your mental health. The physical side of it is a nice by-product” – Daniel Shellard, Fiit co-founder.
For more movement & wellness advice, tips and content, follow me at: Instagram: @wemovehq or @babs.c.yoga. Website: we-move.ie
