What is joyful movement? Seven ways to improve your relationship with exercise
Woman engaging in joyful movement at home.
Which emotions come up for you when you think of the word “exercise?” Now, how about “joyful movement?”
If you’ve been conditioned by diet culture to do certain workouts, even if you don’t enjoy them or feel like doing them every day, chances are that you have negative feelings around exercise.
For this reason, the term “joyful movement” was created by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch, the authors of Intuitive Eating. They believe moving our bodies should be something that is fun, not punishing.
And even with the term “joyful movement,” it can still feel gross to feel like you “need” to work out. Plus, you might not even know what you truly enjoy doing to move your body because you’ve only ever done what diet culture says to!
In order to have a healthy relationship with joyful movement, we’ve outlined a few steps for you to take. But first, remember that joyful movement is what you would do if you were moving your body simply for fun, and not to change its size or shape.
1.Find your joyful movement
If you’re not sure what you enjoy doing because of years spent doing workouts you felt you had to do to lose weight, try out a bunch of activities. They can be as simple as stretching or as complex as training for a half marathon. It might also be helpful to participate in group and individual activities to figure out what you like best! Also, get rid of apps and trackers that take the fun out of moving your body.
Spending time with a friend, listening to music or watching TV are other ways to make physical activity more enjoyable.
2. Focus on how you feel after moving your body
Instead of counting how many calories you burned in a workout, a better motivator is to figure out how you feel after physical activity. For example, do you notice a difference in how you handle stress and difficult situations? Are your energy levels higher throughout the day? Do you feel more confident and determined to get done what needs to be finished that day? Are you able to sleep more soundly and feel better in the morning?
3. Disassociate movement from weight loss
This is a huge step in finding the movement we enjoy, because exercising only to lose weight is not a long-term motivator. In order to separate movement from weight loss, think about the other reasons why you exercise.
For example, physical activity is a great way to manage stress and avoid health problems later on, as it is associated with stronger bones, higher levels of good cholesterol and better learning and memory.
4. Avoid the it’s-not-worth-it mindset
With diet culture, it’s easy to fall into the trap of physical activity not being “worth it” if we didn’t participate for at least an hour or if we weren’t covered in sweat by the end. When that happens, many of us just don’t move our bodies at all. However, we miss out on all the benefits of movement when playing into this all-or-nothing thinking.
5. Remember that you can split up the time you spend moving your body
Research shows that we do not need to participate in physical activity all at once. We can split it up into smaller chunks, like a 15-minute walk at lunch and a 15-minute bike ride later on. The key is finding what works with your schedule and again, what you truly enjoy.
6. Watch out for the no-time-to-spare mindset
We all live busy lives, and it’s easy to brush off a workout when we’ve had a hectic day. But, we know that participating in joyful movement is one of the best ways to have good health! Knowing that, how can you make physical activity a set daily activity? That doesn’t mean you need to go to the gym; it just means you find ways to realistically include regular joyful movement in your life!
7. Be realistic
Over your lifetime, there might be times when you don’t exercise for several days, weeks or even months due to an illness, injury, or other event. That’s ok, and it’s important to remember that taking a break from physical activity will not ruin your health. Plus, sometimes the best thing we can do is rest, such as when we are running on a few hours of sleep or feel like we’re getting sick. Listen to your body, and trust that it will tell you when it’s ready to start moving again.
Finding your joyful movement can be a challenge, but it’s well worth it! Work on trying out different activities, either individually or with others, pay attention to how you feel on the days you practice physical activity, and consider the different reasons why you move your body. Challenging the mindset that exercise only counts if you’re covered in sweat by the end, fitting movement into your schedule, and taking breaks when needed are also ways to find the physical activity that’s right for you.
And don’t stop searching! There are so many options out there; don’t limit yourself to one or two. If a friend invites you to try something new and it piques your interest, go for it! The sky's the limit when it comes to what you can do to move your body and keep it as healthy as possible.
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Resources
Tribole E, Resch E. Movement-Feel the Difference. Intuitive Eating. 4th edition. St. Martin’s Essentials; 2020:216-228.
