I have been exercising in a different way recently which has been life changing and very supportive for my body.
I have worked as a physical therapist for decades and ‘told’ lots of people what exercises to do. I developed many individual programs for people to recover from injury and return to their specific sport, and used to pride myself on their achievements.
When people asked me what I did for my exercise program, I would laugh and say “do as I say, not as I do.”
Slowly through my working life, I realised I needed to exercise: I could feel I was losing strength and tone as I was ageing. I’ve always been active during my day, and I used to think that was enough.
Not coincidently, a new gym opened very locally and had a special offer so I joined it. I enjoyed going at the start; I went swimming 3-5 times a week, attended some line dancing classes and an exercise class for over 50’s.
I also had a personal trainer who advised me which weights to use. As I went more regularly, I became more fit. I returned to the trainer a few times, until I thought that there must be a point where I am at my optimum and can stay there. I felt there would be a level where this constant increase of exercise would become harmful to my body, so I decided to plateau with the gym work and concentrate on swimming, which in truth I enjoyed much more.
But with the swimming, again I started to push myself. I managed 50 lengths over 1 week and then increased it to 60, then 80, which was a mile. Woo hoo!, I was swimming a mile a week.
Then I pushed to swimming 50 lengths a session and if I didn’t manage that, I felt I’d failed myself. By the time I’d reached 80 lengths a session, I could feel how I was swimming much less for pleasure; rather, I needed to complete the goal.
I would see people get into the pool and do a few lengths and exit quickly and think “how pointless was that?”
My membership lapsed as I had forgotten to renew it. Ok, I decided, it was time for a break. I stopped and did virtually no exercise at all to see how that felt… I was aware I could get away with this for a while.
I then had an episode of lower back pain. I was quite stressed at the time with work and emotional issues. I remember thinking, “for goodness sake, now this as well!”
I did not understand it as a stop moment – it felt like yet another thing I needed to sort out.
I had started attending some presentations with Serge Benhayon at Universal Medicine but had not yet seen how life changing this was going to be.
It took me a couple of years to start to honestly look at my life and see how the way I chose to live affected every area/aspect of my life. I tended to do all or nothing, and when I was in the ‘all’ I pushed myself hard with everything, and had done so for a very long time.
Over the following couple of years I learnt a different way of caring for myself. I now see the back pain was a great stop moment I was given to show me that I hadn’t been supporting my physical body and caring for myself.
I returned quite slowly to exercise, by walking and going occasionally to a local pool. My fitness level and muscle tone had plummeted in the gap of not exercising at all; my commitment to myself was also quite sporadic – I would exercise when I had the time, and if at the end of the day I had made no time, then it wouldn’t happen.
But as my level of self-care has improved, exercise has moved higher on the list of importance. And I am realising a very different way of exercising, by feeling what my body wants to do.
I started my new exercise program with a few core exercises and a little daily walk. It has taken time for me to feel the benefit of the exercises, but I have continued them, with more commitment to myself, and my health and with this my fitness, has improved.
I realised that this is my responsibility, to myself, to give my body more care and attention.
When I have been pushing myself, I was in disregard of the messages my body was giving me and at the time I wasn’t exercising at all, I was absolving myself of any responsibility of looking after my body at all.
The body is my vehicle of expression and I have been telling others to do exercises for years, but not lived my own words. This is a huge opportunity for me to now reflect to everyone I meet by example, at work or in my daily life.
I exercise gently now most days. It may be a walk in the countryside or my garden, an exercise class, a bounce on a trampoline, some gentle connective tissue stretches at the computer, some core exercises – or I can swim crawl (freestyle) for a few lengths in the local pool.
I now listen to my body and exercise it whatever way I feel to, with great joy and confirmation for the health of my body. It’s my connection to myself that guides the exercise I choose to do, and supports me and my body to be Fit for Life… and now I’m off to exercise!
I wish to extend grateful thanks to Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine for their teachings, which are a great support to my life.
By Gill Randall, beautiful woman, physiotherapist, Grad Dip Phys, Banbury, UK
Further Reading:
Serge Benhayon on fitness, physical exercise and the gentle breath
Exercise – it doesn’t need to be hard work
Exercise: Gentle and Flowing or Pounding and Pushing?
517 Comments
Although it may appear to be an inconvenience in our busy day – these ‘stop’ moments area blessing disguised exhaustion, illness or disease.
I love this because really the only way we can truly help people is by example – if we don’t walk our talk, as they say, our words are empty and carry no real support for anyone, least of all ourselves.
Gentle exercise done in connection with ourselves will support our body to remain vital, which is a very important ingredient towards having a harmonious and fruitful life.
Reading this article has been really helpful for me. Reading it has reminded me that swimming can be really enjoyable and so when I go nowadays I swim lengths but without the goal for how many and I also enjoy time playing in the water – this has bought the joy of being in water back.
For ages I thought about building a relationship with my body, or wanting to build one and not quite ever getting around to it – a nice ‘to do’ rather than an essential foundational building block to living more as who we are and in the solidity and consistency of that. Exercise supports this whole process of re-connecting back to our bodies and staying open to what we can feel – to the point that we actually feel like we do have a choice about how and what we feel and how we react or respond to that.
Our body is a beautiful and caring friend when we listen to what it has to say.
I so agree, Mary, the body is so supportive and always there giving us messages. The more we nurture and listen to it, the louder the messages.
On the lookout for inspiration of how to up my exercise, reading this has reminded me to use the body as a marker and take its guidance. All too often I can go into the drive and push to tick off my list that I’ve done my exercise for the day.
The power of some gentle exercise or a walk when done in true connection to the body cannot be underestimated with regard to the support that it offers.
Beautiful Gill, thanks for sharing this. I have also done the extremes of exercise – from pushing myself at the gym and having the goal of a ‘fit’ looking body, to no exercise at all. I have recently started walking in the mornings and this feels really supportive. I am very gentle with my body and it feels great to be outside in nature and to be moving my body with care and delicateness and I have noticed how I feel more vital and mentally more well if I walk in the mornings.
It’s amazing how our bodies let us know what kind of exercise we need to do to keep them – and us- fit for life. Recently I have naturally begun to stretch more and really enjoyed it so your blog is reminding me that to make space in my day to do some gentle stretches and stretch exercises would be really enjoyable and possibly encourage me to stretch in other areas of my life too.
Thank you, Gill, for highlighting our responsibility in keeping the body fit for life, as it makes sense to support ourselves for what our bodies need to do during the day.
Sometime when I have been doing the same exercise routine for a while it becomes automatic and my mind is often on other things, the day ahead etc, so this is a great reminder of the importance of staying connected to our bodies when we exercise and besides it is way more enjoyable when we exercise with connection.
It makes so much sense that if we make sure we are connected with our body before exercising, in fact doing anything, our body will very clearly tell us what it needs at that moment in time. Exercise organised by the mind can, in my experience, be very harming to my precious body, whereas allowing my body to guide me is always very healing.
A great article Gill thank you, I have been looking at exercise lately mainly using weights to strengthen my body, I need to remember to be connected to my body and feel how my body feels doing the exercise, so that I can stay with my connection and not check out or go into drive mode, which are not at all healing for the body.
We seem to have mainly two modes when it comes to exercise – excessive or non-existent, but perhaps the key here is intention – and what is the real reason for our exercising? Is it to have a body that is fit and ready and prepared for life or is it to relieve tension, or to have a better shaped body?
I often find that taking the time to do exercises or stretches is super important to not only my health and well being but also my solidness within myself. It is not about how much or how little I exercise but more about the commitment each day to being with my body and giving it what it needs.
That’s a great point Josh, I find that too – that stretching and exercises helps me feel more solid in myself which naturally helps prepare me for the day ahead.
We can support ourselves greatly with excersise being it walking or lifting weights. The most important key here is to connect to our body whilst we are doing this. Not to check out or become hard or claim an aim.. but to simply feel how your body wants to move.
Having always been someone who pushed themselves to go flat out with any exercise that I was doing which inevitably meant that I was not able to sustain it I have been inspired to approach exercising, by others including yourself, in a much more loving way of listening to what feels true for my body but I still struggle to be consistent with this so definitely still a work in progress.
Gill, I love this article, thank you for sharing your experience of exercise. It is very inspiring to read about the gentle exercise that you now do every day and how this is not a goal driven but is instead an enjoyable way for you to care for your body. It is very beautiful that you are now a true role model for others and that you ‘walk your talk’.
My relationship with exercise keeps evolving but there is a clear impact on the body depending on the quality I exercise in and the intention behind my exercise.
We can appreciate the benefit of regular gentle exercise when we realise that if we don’t clean our teeth regularly they feel furry and we know may suffer decay and it is no different with every part of our body.
I love your comment Mary and reminds me that there are certain exercises I have become lazy about doing. I love doing stretching and gentle exercises but am not very consistent with this these days and yet I still brush my teeth at least twice a day….no excuses really and I can feel that my body would love to have a more regular routine. Thank you.
Gill, this is interesting to read and makes me realise that I do this – putting work before me rather than putting myself first; ‘my commitment to myself was also quite sporadic – I would exercise when I had the time, and if at the end of the day I had made no time, then it wouldn’t happen.’
Its interesting to read that a person who is trained in physiotherapy and is fully aware of the need the body has for exercise , but has no real interest or commitment in implementing this wisdom in their own daily life. How is this , what is the benefits, or who benefits by this personal neglect that just about everyone has towards their body.
“It’s my connection to myself that guides the exercise I choose to do, and supports me and my body to be Fit for Life…” Exercising and dieting generally are way off the mark in supporting the body. When dieting and exercise includes the body you have a real lasting truth effect.
I know that one Rebecca, we can put exercise off until we are too late, too tired, and too busy, but in fact we are putting all the jobs before us when we do this. Knowing what to feels like to honour the body sets a new marker of looking after ourselves.. before anything and everything else.
Gill I love what you are sharing here; ‘I realised that this is my responsibility, to myself, to give my body more care and attention.’ I can feel how I have put exercising as low priority and that I get busy with work and other things and exercising goes to the bottom of the list -in doing this I am not taking responsibility for my body and caring for it in a way that would be really supportive.
Our bodies certainly are vehicles of expression, mine has been expressing this week with a back injury and pain that made me stop, and to go deeper with caring for myself, ‘I now see the back pain was a great stop moment I was given to show me that I hadn’t been supporting my physical body and caring for myself.’
Thank you for the link to Fit for Life part one and two – excellent reading.
I know the swing you speak of well, really going for exercise and then over-doing it and giving up, and neither extreme is truly supportive, and in fact in both of these cases I know I’ve not been truly relating to my body. So a new experiment to be with and feel how my body needs to move.
So often after 50 I hear many women talk about how they let themselves go and don’t worry about this but it is great to feel a woman deepen her commitment to herself at this point.
Thank you for sharing your experience with exercise, this is something that I am off and on with, I would like to be committed to a routine especially walking each day ,but at times I let myself be distracted. I love the words , “exercise to be fit for life ” this is what it is all about.
Certainly, in my body, I can feel the difference between exercising towards a goal or exercising in response to my body. The 2 are vastly different and this blog reminds me that the purpose of the exercise is to be fit for life – and that means honouring and respecting where our bodies are at.
“do as I say, not as I do.” This is a message we may not always receive verbally but nevertheless feel it and this is something that has an effect on what the receiver will do with it. To be a true role model, teacher or leader, to walk the talk is what is needed always.
Its amazing that we can be telling people how to do things and ignoring ourselves… and its great when we open up our awareness to include ourselves!
Exercising to be fit for life rather than doing so to achieve a certain body weight or image, takes the intensity and goal orientated approach out of the equation. This allows us to work in connection and in harmony with our body, so that it is fit and vital for our service here on earth.
Our body loves to be treated gently, and that includes when we are exercising.
Reading this Gill has reminded me that it is not good to age and let our bodies loose all the muscle tone. I like you have thought that being active is enough but what I am starting to realise is that the body exercised in a gentle and caring way can quickly show the benefits, and it feels stronger for it.
I needed to be reminded of this today, as exercising my body has been sporadic for a very long time. If I am putting everything else that needs to be done before the health of my body then what expression is my body giving out. I like the simplicity in how you re-turned to exercising your body.
It is true that not exercising or pushing ourselves are both not supportive of our bodies the one is not better than the other. Gentle exercises regularly are such a great way of caring for our body and it also is a lovely time to be with ourselves and enjoy.
It is so true Gill that our bodies are our vehicle of expression, and to care for our bodies in a way that honors and supports our connection to our body and being, is what has become for me a vital relationship to develop, as this is what allows us to be guided by the true intelligence that resides therein.
I love how this develops and grows over months and years. What I felt 2 years ago has deepened so much in my body, there is no demand or regime I need to fit in. Our bodies show us the way forward how to develop the exercise programme that supports us, whether it’s a gentle walk, some weights in the gym, or a swim. it is an absolute joy to exercise