Connie Brown
02-14-2005, 07:29 AM
On Kathleen's forum today, a member posts about the destructiveness of "fitness head" versus moving for the joy of it:
http://www.radiantrecovery.com/cgi-bin/bbs-new/webbbs_config.pl?read=188487
"Yoga and Exercise - The Beauty of Movement"
Hi SB,
There is something that I call "Fitness Head".Just like diet head it has a being of its own, its nature being destructive.
Diet Head interferes with our relationship to food, Fitness Head interferes with our relationship to our body.
When I was 12 years old I started Jazz Dance.I have always loved dancing!It was always about the movement!I kept dancing until I was 15.During that time never did I think once about losing weight through it or not doing it enough.There was such passion in it, it was beyond that.My love for it drove me to practice at home between classes almost everyday.When I did miss a day or so I wasn't thinking "Oh, you aren't doing enough!" I was thinking "Oh, I miss moving, let me go dance, do something, let me make time for it!"
When I turned 16 I started working out at the gym.Aerobics and choreography were really easy for me.It sorta became my "aerobics dancing workout".That is when Fitness Head started creeping in.All of a sudden I was moving conditionally... "If i do this, then I will get this and this." I did not even notice this because I was still having fun out there. To be honest I did not notice that I have been in fitness head until just recently discovering it through my program.
On Step three I noticed my fitness head interfering with my healing.I realised I had to figure out my base protein first before knowing what I need while exercising intensively. So I stopped all exercise to focus on step three.
And then just two weeks ago : I felt awful, my body stiff and itching to move. While journaling about my program I realised three very strong feelings inside of myself.
* I miss "feeling" my body through movement
* I miss connecting with her through movement
and
* I miss feeling so alive while doing those two things!
Bam! That was a huge insight for me.That is when I could see Fitness Head rearing its ugly head! That is when I started to move again.In the same way I moved when I was 12.It is about the feeling, the connection, the joy that my body lets me experience through being able to express myself through movement.
I took out my "Workout Journal" and realised looking at it, it was awful!Stale and rigid : "to do's and ought to's", "did not do enough and should do more 's", "conditional opposed to unconditional", "calculating instead of just joyous". Fitness Head at its best!
Right then I made a decision to feel the passion, the joy, the connection that movement can bring.The gift of my body, the beauty it expresses.And right then with that insight and decision moving became easy again.
I've been moving my body, shaking my butt, wiggling, feeling my muscles, stretching and flexing, connecting in this way starting last sunday.It did not happen every day! But it does not matter cause the joy, the fun I am experiencing while moving gets stored in my cells.Just like we rewire our brains by doing the food, we rewire our experience of exercise by moving in this way feeling joy, connection and beauty.
I hope that my trying to capture the experience of this will help you see that there is a beautiful body there waiting to be "seen", experienced, felt. "Ought to's and should do's" dissolve in that experience. They are no longer valid criteria.
Wishing you the beauty of movement, Nadia.
http://www.radiantrecovery.com/cgi-bin/bbs-new/webbbs_config.pl?read=188487
"Yoga and Exercise - The Beauty of Movement"
Hi SB,
There is something that I call "Fitness Head".Just like diet head it has a being of its own, its nature being destructive.
Diet Head interferes with our relationship to food, Fitness Head interferes with our relationship to our body.
When I was 12 years old I started Jazz Dance.I have always loved dancing!It was always about the movement!I kept dancing until I was 15.During that time never did I think once about losing weight through it or not doing it enough.There was such passion in it, it was beyond that.My love for it drove me to practice at home between classes almost everyday.When I did miss a day or so I wasn't thinking "Oh, you aren't doing enough!" I was thinking "Oh, I miss moving, let me go dance, do something, let me make time for it!"
When I turned 16 I started working out at the gym.Aerobics and choreography were really easy for me.It sorta became my "aerobics dancing workout".That is when Fitness Head started creeping in.All of a sudden I was moving conditionally... "If i do this, then I will get this and this." I did not even notice this because I was still having fun out there. To be honest I did not notice that I have been in fitness head until just recently discovering it through my program.
On Step three I noticed my fitness head interfering with my healing.I realised I had to figure out my base protein first before knowing what I need while exercising intensively. So I stopped all exercise to focus on step three.
And then just two weeks ago : I felt awful, my body stiff and itching to move. While journaling about my program I realised three very strong feelings inside of myself.
* I miss "feeling" my body through movement
* I miss connecting with her through movement
and
* I miss feeling so alive while doing those two things!
Bam! That was a huge insight for me.That is when I could see Fitness Head rearing its ugly head! That is when I started to move again.In the same way I moved when I was 12.It is about the feeling, the connection, the joy that my body lets me experience through being able to express myself through movement.
I took out my "Workout Journal" and realised looking at it, it was awful!Stale and rigid : "to do's and ought to's", "did not do enough and should do more 's", "conditional opposed to unconditional", "calculating instead of just joyous". Fitness Head at its best!
Right then I made a decision to feel the passion, the joy, the connection that movement can bring.The gift of my body, the beauty it expresses.And right then with that insight and decision moving became easy again.
I've been moving my body, shaking my butt, wiggling, feeling my muscles, stretching and flexing, connecting in this way starting last sunday.It did not happen every day! But it does not matter cause the joy, the fun I am experiencing while moving gets stored in my cells.Just like we rewire our brains by doing the food, we rewire our experience of exercise by moving in this way feeling joy, connection and beauty.
I hope that my trying to capture the experience of this will help you see that there is a beautiful body there waiting to be "seen", experienced, felt. "Ought to's and should do's" dissolve in that experience. They are no longer valid criteria.
Wishing you the beauty of movement, Nadia.