100 Days of Loving Movement

I went through most of my life never purposefully moving my body. Yes I ran for buses (and usually got a stitch) and walked from place to place, occasionally begrudgingly I walked up a hill in the countryside. I thought this was cool. When i was at school, the game for me was seeing how I could get a pass to be off games rather then taking part, I took joy in fabricating illnesses, long heavy periods or whatever else would get me out of it. Something about the competitiveness of sports and the pressure put me off and so I completely checked out. Into my twenties this continued. My lack of love for playing hockey, netball and lacrosse led me to fail to develop a connected relationship with my body.

I discovered yoga about ten years ago, and fell in love with it but so often going to the pub won over the choice of how to spend an evening. There was a time that i did get really into it, and then I got run over by that pesky truck. So I couldn’t take part for a while, I was advised against anything high impact for my knees. And yoga was much tougher with the injuries and trauma I had in my body. And so a regular vibe with it never developed.

Over the past couple of years I have been on a journey to fully come into my body. I re-engaged with yoga, finally learnt to ride a bicycle and found communities of people to move my body with that I really enjoyed hanging out with. I realised that moving my body gave me freedom in my mind and more energy. It literally changed my experience of being a human, being in a body and being in this world. I realised that through yoga and good alignment, thanks to accidentally meeting my teacher, Leila Sadeghee, that I could actually rid my body of pain and really find more freedom and joy. And so at the start of this year I started my yoga teacher training, so that I can help others discover this feeling.

Even with this love and knowledge, when things get “busy” in the city, it’s the exercise that is often the first thing to go. I recently came back from a yoga immersion with Tara Judelle in Greece, for three weeks I was doing over five hours of yoga a day and swimming in the sea. I made a decision that I would come back and make space for yoga asana every single day for the next forever. And then as I reintegrated into London life and caught up with all the things I had put on hold, and the random challenges like leaky ceilings that occurred, it was the movement that fell from my day to make time for other things. I was starting to feel frustrated with myself, and then I saw a wonderful post from my soul sister in California, Sarah Fina Connerley starting 100 days of loving movement.

She had decided to do this for herself, and in the beauty of synchronisity, her friend in New York, Amber Rae had at the same time started 100 days of movement. Both of them had started this inspired by the idea of moving just for the sake of loving moving. Not to lose weight or any other motivation rooted in fear, but to move for love. For me the fear hasn’t been about the external, but more the internal. I was scared of what being connected to my body might mean. I was scared of what was being held in my body, the injuries, the trauma, the muscles I had never used. This fear creeps back at moments, and I have to remember to transmute it, to move from love. Amber shares the mission for #100daysofmovement as “To *truly* move my body in ways that move my soul, and to do it in a consistent way that is rooted in LOVE – not fear.” 

100 Days of Movement  & above “what’ is my body asking for?” Artwork by Amber Rae

It’s great doing things for yourself but always more fun with a community, and this movement movement has already got an incredible group of people all over the world taking part. You can make up your own rules, for me I am committing to an hour of loving movement everyday. I am starting today Monday 28th July and will go through to November 5th, and who knows maybe for ever after that. Want to join in?

Ideas I have for moving include:

* Doing my own yoga practise at home or in the park

* Going to great London yoga classes

* Doing online yoga classes with great London teachers through Movement for Modern Life and American teachers through Yogaglo

* Wake up and Dance Party in my living room (inspired by Amber & something I do often)

* Riding around the park on my new vintage bicycle (story of the bike here)

* Hitting up the gym, sometimes the gym can be fun

* Going to Five Rhythms to DANCE

* Going on a run by the Canal

* Doing some Yamuna Body Rolling

* Doing some online Shrink Sessions with Erin Strutland

* Hitting up Morning Glory for a pre-work rave

* Walking and running a little with Balto, my friend Timothy’s Husky

* Share your favourite ways to move with me in the comments below

TO JOIN IN, SIMPLY GET MOVING FROM A PLACE OF LOVE. INVITE YOUR FRIENDS AND SHARE YOUR JOURNEY WITH THE HASHTAGS  #100daysofmovement #100daysoflovingmovement #moveyoursoul