I have lately observed that there are certain times when my exercise rhythm is off or non-existent, and when I get so caught up in the ‘busyness’ of my day and the many things that I feel I’m responsible for or that need completing (ie. work, family etc.), that my exercise routine seems to be one of the first things that gets neglected.
I noticed that the busier I was, the more I was neglecting my exercise rhythm and routine… and the longer the gaps were between exercising. To add to this, I was also feeling more tired – which seemed to exacerbate the desire to even do any exercise in the first place, even if I did have time!
I was recently offered the opportunity to join a 4 week online exercise program offered by Danielle Pirera (Re-Connect Exercise), and even though I’ve enjoyed attending these classes in the past, my first response was “I haven’t got time!” There was no pressure to commit either way, however I was presented with the possibility that the exercise classes would actually be an opportunity to support me with everything else I was doing. I could feel that deep down this was absolutely true and that neglecting my exercise rhythm was neither feeling right nor supporting me in my day, so it became an easy choice to join the online program and make a specific commitment to completing one 45 min exercise group class each week.
What I have found most supportive is that the exercise program is presented in a way that encourages connection with my body – feeling how I want to exercise on each particular day – which I’ve found varies from week to week.
The exercise program has not been about doing the exercises a certain way, at a certain pace or level of intensity or how many reps or even doing the exercise the same way as Danielle, the presenter. In fact I’ve felt encouraged to simply feel my body moving, and to feel what’s right in every exercise. Led by example, the focus has not been on the technique of the exercise, but simply staying connected to my body and the quality of the movements.
In this, I’m learning more and more that exercise is not about what I do or how many or for how long, but ‘how’ I do it. And the other thing I’m learning is to not make my exercise routine so serious (!) …. to keep it light and playful.
With each exercise group I’ve felt how important it is to do what feels right for me in that particular session. By being encouraged to focus on this and committing to the exercise group every week, I’ve also found that my exercise rhythm outside of the classes is much more accessible and realistic. For example, if I had felt pressured or an expectation that I had to do ½ hour’s exercise every day, I would probably consider skipping exercise altogether! However for me, committing to 10-15 minutes, 2 times a week is something that is manageable and a great place for me to start.
This has also helped me realise that it’s the commitment and connection to myself that’s important as the foundation for exercise, not necessarily the amount of time spent.
I have found these exercise groups provide a true inspiration of a connected way of exercising, supported by the fact that they are taught by example. For example, it’s not uncommon for Danielle to express that her body feels a bit stiff and sore on that particular day and that she is going to move a little slower or not stretch so high, while at the same time providing support and suggestions for others to move faster or make their movements larger if that’s what they feel in their body.
In moments like these, I am being offered the opportunity and inspiration to honour my own body in exactly the same way, whether it’s to take the exercise more gently or increase to an intensity I feel is right for me. Exercising this way is a totally different way of exercising than I have ever experienced before. To have a fitness trainer teach and present this way – in a way that honours her own body – is not only unheard of, but is deeply inspiring as a true way to exercise.
I am still establishing the depth of the connection with my body, but am now starting to feel more of a quality and presence in my exercise routine and exercise rhythm.
With each exercise class I am learning how important it is to honour what I feel in my body, and not to exercise according to a set structure, technique or time frame or with an outcome of achieving a set result.
As I commit to my exercise rhythm I am experiencing more and more how this supports me in all of the other things I need to do in a day. I have more energy and am feeling less tired, supported by my exercise routine that is teaching me to connect to my body and be more present with Me.
By Angela Perin, aged 48, Brisbane
568 Comments
Well said Sue and when anything is made simple it is far more do-able and as a consequence the quality of all we do naturally goes up.
I have also found that nothing supports me more than a regular exercise routine, for me it has nothing to do with number of reps it is all about building a connection with my body and that means quality of movement and posture as I move, the support this gives me throughout the day is tremendous. Thank you Angela.
I agree Angela, for me the first thing that goes is exercise as well when I get very busy. For a long time this was fine but a couple of days ago I felt impulsed to start exercising again. It feels amazing and it is totally different again from how I exercised a month ago, it is way more playful and I fully enjoy it – making it playful and finding moves my body likes to is the reason for all this joy. Another reason for the joy is that I am feeling so much more at ease with myself and I find exercise really reflects the way I have been with myself.
Well well beautiful said and brought from your own experience. You brought to the table: that exercise is fun, that it is no drag or serious business, that our body knows what it needs and can and can not do, that it is not about ‘ticking boxes’, that it is not about a result etc etc. This is real tangible stuff, not only does it makes sense when you shared these factors, but actually it made me feel more able to breathe and give myself ‘space’ to feel what exercise actually means to me, and how I have been playing it down. Or actually how I have been playing down that my own body needs to exercise! Thank you Danielle.
I’m still breaking through the wall in my mind that exercises are there to shape the body. There’s a deep resistance against this consciousness – knowing in fact how good I feel when having taken myself the space to let my body exercise. I have had many accidents and that had caused a lot of pain doing any form of sport. The beauty of the movement coming from the inside – just to strengthen and stretch where and what’s needed: that’s true movement for my body. And my work is to simply keep claiming this strength. That’s the part that needs the workout 🙂
committing to any sort of supported rhythm in our lives is essential for building a foundation of reconnection with who we truly are… It is so easy to drive and push our bodies… Imagine if we put the way our body was feeling first and worked around this, and built up rhythms and exercises accordingly
I havent been to the gym in a while so your blog is a good reminder of the importance of regular exercise and I like you Angela have thouroughly enjoyed Danielles exercise classes
Thank you Angela, I really enjoyed reading your blog, and I am inspired to take up exercise once again, I have loved Danielle’s classes, and how she is so intone with what her body needs at any time. I love this line.
“This has also helped me realise that it’s the commitment and connection to myself that’s important as the foundation for exercise, not necessarily the amount”
Yes Angela its like we have our relationship with exercise upside down. I can completely relate to this cycle of feeling ‘too tired’ for exercise, yet when I exercise gently there’s a feeling that comes of being vital and alive. What if, what we do in our exercise classes is not the key but the choice to offer ourselves this connection to our body and how we are feeling is the main thing? Living this way exercises our power to make all of life’s events a healing session.
Honouring how we feel is an essential building block or foundation of self love, and it is upon this that we can evolve, or come to realize who we truly are, and what we are meant to be doing in this world.
Just the perfect moment to read this blog. I have been really busy last two weeks and the first thing that I skipped was going to the gym. Yesterday I could really feel in my body how much I missed this and I also felt a bit slobby. So I committed again and went to the gym. It felt wonderful. I have committed myself for the next two weeks to go regularty to the gym, even if it is for 20 minutes. Like you say, it is not in the amount of time, but in the quality.
Thank you Angela for sharing your experience, you have reminded me, of how lovely it is to exercise in a way that honours where my body is at, on any given day. I have done Danielle’s classes and found them amazing. Your blog has prompted me to again start exercising and really enjoy being with my body that this way of exercising brings.
It is so true that as soon as the rhythm or order in one’s day gets messed up, exercise can be the first thing to be let go of. The drive to get something done means disconnecting from one’s body and therefore its needs are not acknowledged or attended to. The natural urge to exercise regularly gets covered over. Over exercising can also cover over this natural urge, which is always to be gentle in exercise as a way to care for the body. I have found the way back is not to try to force exercise back into place in my life, but to use the fact that I am not doing it regularly as a signal that I have disconnected and chosen to not feel what is going on for me for some reason. So it is a time to re-connect, check in and acknowledge what is going on – seek help to feel it if not clear for myself, at which time Universal medicine healing sessions have been so supportive. The point is, the natural urge that has been buried, needs to be re-established so when I do go back to exercise, it is from that urge and not from my head.
What is also clear for me, that I need a body with some strength and fitness to hold the love I am developing. Feels like a strong pilar.
To move simply for the joy of moving, giving the body what it loves, not what we think it wants, having that relationship with our body as if its our best friend. I’m learning I can be my body’s best friend. Danielle was for me too, pivotal support in my re-connection to this knowing I’d long ago shoved in my back pocket.
This is a great reminder of the power of exercising in a way that goes against the ‘push it till it hurts’ mentality and focuses on gentle connected movements in honour of what feels true for you and your body at that time. Getting to know your body in this way is very supportive and a great way to build a steady quality and presence in ourselves to take out into our day.
Angela, I so agree with you when you say “is not about what I do or how many or for how long, but ‘how’ I do it”. I also had the opportunity to attend classes with an esoteric practitioner. I learned that my body does feel different on certain days, that it is ok to go slower sometimes, that my body dictates what I should do, not the instructor, that it is all about feeling what I really need. I now have a very different exercise routine than a few years back, one that pays attention to my body and a body that enjoys the care given to it.
Your exercise class Angela sounds like a perfect way to tune into what the body wants each day , and at the same time feels like the body responds just as well to this way of exercising, if not better, than being pushed or managed by numbers and goals. Thank you for your sharing.
Thank you Danielle for this powerful piece of writing. You have exposed an addiction that indeed dominates our society. How from a young age we learn how to ‘de-form’ ourselves to gain recognition, to fit in, to be identified. I am constantly learning and observing how this plays out when we leave who we are, as we then create who we are not only to fill the emptiness from leaving ourselves in the first place. When we are honest with ourselves about our need to be recognised we will begin to return to who we truly are and be our already beautiful selves.
Moving from sporadic exercise to a well established daily rhythm has been a profound shift for me that was facilitated by Danielle Pirera, for which I an my body are forever grateful
It would seem that when we bring trying into anything we do it brings us to an idea that is outside our bodies where we are pushing ourselves. When we bring exercise back to what we feel is deeply honouring to our body and what feels good and playful we are more likely to continue with this than something we have to push ourselves to do. Exercise becomes a natural rhythm rather than a burden.
Loved reading your article again Angela. I picked up exercising and swimming as a commitment to build a more solid body a couple of weeks ago. I felt my body getting weak with my commitment to exercise dropping at the same time. I lost too much muscles, and that did not feel right anymore. It is also a commitment to me, because I now know that I need a certain level of exercise to support my body in order to do all the things in life. I am now experimenting how many times a week this week is, in the mean time experimenting also with the amount of time spend on it. The classes of Danielle Pirera definitely present an inspiring example in my total exercising routine, not in what she does, but the way she does it. Whether I swim, go to the gym or exercise at home, I always check how long and with which intensity I want to do it, making it about being connected to my body first.
I have never come across an exercise class where we are to connect and feel our body first. It is indeed unheard of to exercise in this manner and is in stark contrast to the hard, pushing, completely ignoring and shut down of the body often to get somewhere eg. lose weight which I could never keep up as I simply didn’t enjoy it. Thank you Angela for showing us another way to exercise which truly honours and supports our body.
‘To have a fitness trainer teach and present this way – in a way that honours her own body – is not only unheard of, but is deeply inspiring as a true way to exercise.’ Thanks for sharing Angela. It sounds so beautiful. While we were doing a certain exercise in the gym I work out at, the trainer gave us the advice to think about our grocery list in order to keep going and not give up. True story. I still go to these excercise classes with my earplugs in to keep most of the music out and making sure I stay in touch with my body, keeping my own pace and refraining from exercises that don’t feel right. I feel that being part of the group is very important as I express what does not feel right to me and share how I honour my body which is very different then what they are used to. I prefer this connection with the group to exercising on my own but someday the music and the fast pace might become to much for me.
Your point about the instructor suggesting the class think about something else instead of the actual exercise made me think about the way I used to exercise, which was always to think about something else (anything else!) other than the actual exercise itself. I hadn’t really considered at the time, but it seemed this was the only way I could actually complete the exercise. I realise now this pattern of distraction was actually how I approached most activities I did, rarely with my body and usually in my head thinking about something else. Being present with my body definitely feels so much different, and is something I can now apply not only to exercise, but everything I do.
Thank you Angela. Using exercise to feel my body rather than pushing through to achieve some perceived fitness goal changes how I feel after the exercise. When I am driving myself to complete the task I feel tired and ready for a rest but when I exercise gently feeling my body then I am re-energised with no need to sit down and recover – the exercise is the recovery. I have just signed on for an online exercise class as it will be fun to share the activity with others.
Thank you Angela for this sharing on exercise and the importance of it for oneself and ones routine which i also find . As I started to read this I appreciated that I have also just started a 4 week exercise routine with Danielle online and the commitment to this feels so lovely and highlighted by your blog , it made me smile. Beautiful in every way the support and love for ones body to be committed to life.
Thank you Angela for your insight of exercise. It is an unheard concept in the fitness industry to commit to yourself first and move to your bodies consideration at the moment. My mind is in shock, but my body is saying thank you, finally some common sense prevails.
Appreciating what happened to my body when the push and drive to achieve an outcome in exercise is not there, is so easily felt when I exercise with myself focusing on my breath and the quality the exercise being done. The ‘wanting to achieve’ or outcome driven routines, would harden my body, and did not support me in my every day Livingness. When I removed these, my body became more energised. So, by simply connecting to myself with my focus on my breath first and then the quality in which I am doing my exercise routine, I have more natural energy during my day’s activities, and I also sleep better, which means I awaken more refreshed.
For the last two weeks I have committed to exercising everyday. Wow, what a difference that has made to my body and to my energy levels, to my confidence in myself and in my body. It has been remarkable and at first it did hurt, my arms killed when I did my cardio exercises, but it was for a short time and I was with my body; burn isn’t the bad guy it’s the disconnection that causes havock as far as I can tell. I did spend quite a few months just focussing on gentle exercise but although this was a good foundation to re-establish my relationship with exercise – having previously been very competitive – I found having a routine and going for a bit longer actually energised my body in a way that supported my commitment to my daily tasks that was missing before. I now am close to saying that I actually love exercise… wow that has never happened before!
This is inspiring vanessamchardy (!) and just re-iterates to me how complicated and difficult we can sometimes make things (including exercise!) for ourselves, but when we keep it super simple and bring it back to quality and connection with ourselves and our body, the results can be amazing – not only physically, but in how we feel about ourselves in general.
What a great question Shami! And to add further – what is really guiding (or driving as the case may be) us through our various activities and what source of energy are we choosing to connect to, not only with exercise, but with everything we do….
Hi Angela, something I have noticed lately is that when I do not give myself the time to exercise I start to feel more tired in the day, and for this I reach for sugar to give me a boost to carry me through until bed time. So this makes me question where does a sense of vitality come from and what is the source of living energy? Because if I feel vital from completing an exercise routine that is all about re-connection with my body, and tired with out it in my day, then doesn’t this show that there is a great source of energy already present within our bodies and all we have to actually do is connect to it?
Allowing for that important gentle exercise there is certainly a greater flow to my day. (more flexibility – pun intended). A lovely sharing with us all Angela.
I used tiredness as an excuse for not including exercise a space in my day – once I ‘clocked’ what I was doing a ‘space’ was there all along – whether its 15 minutes or 1 hour it is my quality of connection during that time whilst exercising that is making the difference and wow! my body is feeling much lighter. A lovely sharing with us all Angela thank you.
I’ve done this as well Marion, using tiredness as an excuse! However the interesting thing I’ve noticed is that when I ‘am’ using tiredness as an ‘excuse’, I actually feel worse for not exercising than I do if I actually had done some exercise. So the key for me is the type of exercise I choose to do in these instances, and sometimes this might mean more gentle exercise, or taking it slower etc. or perhaps focussing more on stretching etc. rather than avoiding it altogether…
When I am tired or ill I still keep my regular exercise time but in respect to my body I make it really gentle. just because I am tired does not mean I could not use the re-connection time.
Exercise is movement. Like every movement we have to do it taking into account where we are, what we feel to do, how we do it, how do we feel while doing it. Of course, we can always set our attention to the wished results and measure where we are in relation to where we want to go -a sort of constant competition with oneself. Two very different ways of exercising and two different conceptions of beauty. The latter way requires to leave yourself in the gym’s locker -so to speak- though.
So true Sue. When we make exercise about how we do it and not what we do its so much easier and more enjoyable!
It is no coincidence that one of the first things we let go of, when we are feeling too busy or some other way ‘out of sorts’ is our exercise rhythm. The reason I understand is because being out of sorts means we have disconnected from our bodies. The urge to exercise which is based on at least a degree of body connection would therefore be absent ( there may be a few exceptions to this – such as people who exercise so extremely that they have to do it totally disconnected because of the pain they would otherwise feel – but most people are no where near this category). I agree with the message in this blog that when we understand how important our connection to ourselves is before we do anything and how our quality of life is enhanced when we take that connection into any activity, then exercise takes on a playful and spontaneous quality, as one way to strengthen that connection.
I have not personally participated in Danielle’s on-line exercise class. But I have done her exercise classes before in person. Definitely loved exercising where you don’t have to stick to a specific set of exercises for a certain amount of repetitions, in a set time frame. Tailoring your exercise regime according to your day’s schedule and how your body feels takes the pressure off doing exercise for fitness. Feeling each movement and focusing on connection to the whole body leaves your body feeling spacious and vital, instead of drained and exhausted when doing conventional exercises in a gym.
Like you Angela I have loved participating in Danielle’s on-line exercise classes; she presents in such a refreshingly real and honest way which I would say is such a rarity in the fitness industry. Her honesty about how her body is feeling and the subsequent adjustments to her movements leaves you feeling in no way guilty if you can’t keep up – she actually doesn’t expect you to, but instead continually encourages you to honour how your body is feeling at every step of the way. Now, this is exercise that my body loves.
I have had similar revelations Angela. Exercise is often the first thing to go when I feel pushed for time, yet is something that I value and love to do. Exercise, even for 10 minutes supports me to feel productive, connected and vital through my day.
And adding to that Fiona I would say that it’s the lack of exercise that leaves us feeling we don’t have the time for it.
Too true Matts. It’s ridiculous when we think about it… the very thing we think we don’t have time for is the very thing that can often provide the space for us to do everything else!
Danielle’s classes are a great support. The way she exercises, asking one to listen to their own body is pretty much unheard of in exercise land… Usually it’s ‘you have to push past it’ or, literally ‘don’t listen to it you can do more’ when I exercise for my body it feels good and I have fun, and so I want to do it more and more ! I can’t stress enough how amazing Danielle’s classes are.