Creating an exercise plan to support me rather than to attain a goal or an image is something that I would have laughed at years ago, back when exercise used to mean something very different to me. In the last few weeks I have been implementing my own exercise plan that I tailored just for me, as a support to bring all of me to life, to confirm the unique flavor my essence offers and me as being my own woman, not one dictated to by societal images.
In creating my new plan which includes some gym work and walking each or every second day, I am appreciating that the way I used to exercise and the way I exercise now and for what reasons are completely different, and feel completely different in my body also. You could say my relationship with exercise has completely changed as a ripple effect from the relationship with myself changing.
My Old Relationship with Exercise…
Exercise for me used to be about:
- achieving or maintaining a goal weight
- having a particular look
- being able to be fit and strong if I needed to defend myself
- a relief and false release of any pent up tension, anger, fury, frustration or suppressed/unexpressed feelings
- a way to deal with issues by checking-out of life and staying in a momentum
- a way to keep my body hard so as to not feel
- a way to fill the emptiness I felt, to keep me busy and not have any quiet stop moments.
The way I used exercise here, although it may have ticked a few people’s boxes, wasn’t actually healthy because there was an addiction element to it. It was much the same feeling as when I smoked – if I didn’t get a hit, I felt irritated. If I didn’t get to do my exercise, I would feel low or furious and a very tangible tension because I had not given myself the daily drug I used to relieve my undealt with hurts and emotions.
I was dedicated, focussed and had a good working knowledge of gym exercises etc. I used it as one of the things to make me feel I was ‘sort of enough’ and I would always make sure I had a ‘work-out’ if I could – to the point that I remember turning up late to an end of year teaching staff function which was held straight after school at a pub. I had to get in at least a half hour run at the gym. I then raced home, got dressed and caught the bus to the pub so I could drink – where I got wasted on a few drinks instantly. No part of me back then put two and two together saying healthy exercise should not be addictive and if you are healthy and looking after your body, you would not be putting a poison that destroys organs and alters you into it.
The fact is I was exercising to meet images and to feel I was enough, but not in truth to be healthy. True health supports you to be all of you and I was not using exercise back then to do that – I was using it as one of the ways to cover up insecurities by doing something or looking a particular way.
Deepening my Relationship with Myself
Through being inspired in a way I had not felt before, I started to deepen the relationship with myself and make supportive life changes immediately after I met Serge Benhayon over nine years ago.
From the presentations by Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine, and the reflection Serge offers through his responsible lived choices and his caring way of being, I have been constantly inspired to be more of the true me and stand in my own unique and divine presence, letting go of the false ideals, patterns and beliefs that have contorted who I was naturally born to be; from here I then bring the natural and true me into every facet of my life, more and more each day.
Initially when I first started to reconnect with myself and develop that relationship with myself years ago, I knew the way I exercised had to go.
The first shift or learning point was to let go of the old ways and reasons for exercising. I did this by just choosing to walk, focussing on my walk, the way I walked, the reason I was walking, practising keeping my mind with my body and feeling how my body felt as I walked.
This at times was as simple as feeling my feet and at other times it was feeling the flow or tension in my body, even though my mind or old patterns would try and jump in. My mind tried to be a trickster quite a few times with bringing rules into the length of walk or the pace of walk, or calculating the aerobic aspect of the walk in relation to weight, so it took me a little while to truly let go of the ingrained exercise patterns that I had adopted to the point where I am today.
My Relationship with Exercise Today…
Exercise for me is now about:
- remaining with and building the connection with my body
- strengthening and stretching my body in a surrendered way
- being present – keeping my mind with my body and the activity at hand
- confirming who I am and not losing myself to the exercise
- listening to my body and deepening that communication
- bringing gentleness, tenderness and playfulness into movements
- feeling a fluidity and flow
- quality of movement, not quantity.
The amazing part for me to feel is that even though many of the exercises are the same as I used to do many years ago… the quality of exercising is completely different. I have noticed the effect that has had on my body – before, during and after each session. Before exercising there is no drive now, no need for an ‘accomplishment feeling’ or need to ‘let’s get this over with’ feeling or to relieve anything – but really it is engaging with the quality of movement that then happens to affect the muscles. Me remaining with my connection while exercising, supporting the powerful and amazing woman I am.
During exercise I am always aware of my breath, having a surrendered feeling in my body and being aware of how my body is feeling as it is exercising. Sometimes I am more delicate, tender or present than others and I get to feel a spaciousness or stillness feeling. If I need to lessen the repetitions or change the order – then I do so with no attachment or regimentation. After each session I have not felt exhausted or drained, or that I have pushed myself. My breathing is fairly consistent and when I walk around during or after a session it is to confirm my connection to me and not to walk off the intensity I have just put my body through, as I used to do.
So now – it’s a miracle really… the same exercise but in a different and true quality that supports the body. The gorgeous part is that every time I make time to delicately practise presence in my movement, it builds and becomes a natural way of being in my general daily activities.
With deep appreciation for all the uniqueness and dedication of the whole Universal Medicine student body… for the applied understanding that I have come to has been because of many, not just one. I would say that is brotherhood!
By Johanna Smith, Bachelor of Education (Major Special Needs, Minor Psychology), Certificate of Early Childhood Education, Complementary Health – Esoteric Practitioner, Student of Counselling Diploma
Further Reading:
My Commitment to Exercise – My Commitment to Me
From Sport to Exercise: A Journey of Self-Acceptance
Exercise – it doesn’t need to be hard work
Thank you Joanna, as we learn to understand our bodies and the way we have treated them, so that when we do not replace what we have being doing with things that have been love-less with a Loving practice, then we will replace it with something that will be just as harmful.
‘You could say my relationship with exercise has completely changed as a ripple effect from the relationship with myself changing’… this is so true for me too Johanna. I used to walk to lose or maintain my weight, in frustration or anger or to lose myself for an hour or two. My trips to the gym were done with the same energy, with the intention to fulfill my ideals of how I wanted to look rather than to lovingly support my body. Nowadays, I exercise to support my body into my elder years in a more gentle and present way and not to tick the boxes and achieve an end result.
Quality not quantity is the essence of every move we make.
Love that Mary 🙂
And considering that every time we move we magnify the energy we’re in, it makes it even more important to clock the energy we’re in!
‘Working-out’ gives it away, as it is a ‘program’, which is another give-away word, when we work within exercise becomes a Joy, and twice a week is all that is required, but a ‘regimented-program’ feels like we have to do it where as a loving ritual leaves the door open to being connected and flowing with a rhythm that suites our bodies. And as you have shared Johanna, breathing and stretching along with much lighter weights is what is required.
“…engaging with the quality of movement that then happens to affect the muscles”. Thanks Johanna, this was a stand out line for me because it turns everything about exercise on its head, it’s about connection to you and expressing your essence in your movements, and the affects then onto the strength and fitness of the body. i know when I have vacuumed for example in my quality of Stillness and tenderness it had a very different effect in the body, it felt quite lovely and my muscles really enjoyed it and did not feel sore.
I really enjoy exercise these days because of the way I do it. There’s a belief that working out has to be fast and hard and intense in order to get results. But that’s not true. If there’s that feeling of not being enough, of course, your going to want to fill it up as fast as possible. But when you are enough you don’t need to push yourself to get somewhere fast and hard.
I totally agree Leigh. When I go to the gym it looks like I’m not doing anything! No puffing, no sweating and no pushing hard. Just gentle stretching and strengthening exercises, and with consistency I have noticed more of a difference than when I went all out to ‘improve’ my physique to satiate my vanity.
“Through being inspired in a way I had not felt before, I started to deepen the relationship with myself and make supportive life changes immediately after I met Serge Benhayon” Amazing how so many people have changed their lives profoundly when meeting with this wonderful man.
Meeting Serge was like coming home to something I innately already knew. That’s what makes it so fascinating Annoymous, we already KNOW who we truly are, it’s in our cells and our DNA, yet we do everything we can to avoid it by pushing ourselves to run marathons, pumping iron and competing against each other by track and field.
We can do any activity and use it to bring a deepening relationship with ourselves or we can use the same activity to compete, check out and ignore our body the choice has and always will be ours.
Excerise doesn’t have to happen at the gym, you can do a stretch whilst waiting for the kettle to boil or ‘high knees’ when running up the stairs.
Do you remember Jane Fonda and how she used to tell us to ‘feel the burn and do it anyway’! Funny how we get caught in the consciousness that there is no gain without pain rather than doing exercise in a gentle and delicate way whilst remaining aware of what our body is telling us and stopping when it hurts!
My relationship with exercise constantly changes and can tell me so much about how i am feeling and what is going on in my life depending on which set of characterisitics listed in this blog it fits into.
When we exercise to meet images we set ourselves up to fail, when we exercise to improve our vitality and out look on life we can’t go wrong.
Exercising that truly supports the body to build strength and stamina is a joy to do, but how often do we exercise because we want our bodies to look a certain way if we have ideals and beliefs we want to live up to? I have noticed that pushing my body in drive feels a whole lot different to exercising with purpose.
Building a new relationship with exercise has so many benefits. My relationship with it has been off and on for many years with an all or nothing type of attitude, mostly driven by how I want to look. Now I do it for health and vitality reasons and feeling the benefit.
The word ‘exercise’ has conjured up so much within me recently that for a short while I couldn’t relate to the movements I was making to the word ‘exercise’. Words have been tampered with so much that the true meaning has been lost however through the commitment to surrender I am renewing my relationship with such words as exercise and they are not only coming to life but very gently being embraced in my life once again.
It is a lie to think we can build true confidence without a connection to the body. Pushing and driving the body is checking out and is the way I used to exercise with absolutely no consideration for my body whatsoever. I didn’t care so long I fitted the picture I was investing in. There is no goal in how I exercise today – no losing weight, toning muscles or picture of a flat tummy or slim thighs. Exercising today is simply creating space to be and deepen the connection within through the movement of my body and by doing so building a confidence that doesn’t just temporarily fix how I am feeling but is constant within me everywhere I go and in everything I do.
I can relate with what is important for you while exercising today, ‘remaining with and building the connection with my body’ and, ‘being present – keeping my mind with my body and the activity at hand’, that way I can really listen to my body and honour what it is conveying.
I love my relationship with the gym, every time I leave it for a while and come back i realise how much more aware I am …of my body, my behaviour, my surroundings..it is a great marker and I love that I can deepen my relationship with my body and get to love and appreciate myself more in the process.
The hardest but ‘healthiest’ thing we can do in life is to let go of all the images that we hold – such as the need to look a certain way, or the need to be a certain way…for all this just gets in the way of our natural way of being in life which is one of the greatest gifts to self and all. I am gradually learning to do this, but keep finding this library of images tucked away in so many corners! It is a work in progress to let go and just be.
When we seek a purpose outside of our selves be it for exercise or for anything in life (eg. to lose weight, to look fit etc), then eventually this fizzles out and we drop the ball so to speak. But if the purpose is deeper such as holding a fitness that allows us to work more efficiently and do what needs to be done without tiring out, or to deeply care for our body and support our connection to self and our true expression…then this is a different ball game and so long as maintained and practiced with care and connection then will sustain itself till such time that it is no longer needed.
There are many ideals, beliefs and pictures I have taken on around exercise and as soon as I let go of one picture another comes to the surface. My relationship with exercise like every part in my life is a constant unfolding, surrendering and letting go of all that which is not true so that exercise becomes an activity that truly supports me and body and not something that ticks a box to make me feel better.
It is amazing the difference when we exercise to support our body rather than from an image or an idea as to how we would like our body to look. One rejuvenates and supports from within whereas the others yearns and longs for more.
Exercise can really suck you in if your not careful, suck you in with the sense that it becomes about the body and building it up to look good or to achieve something. When we actually approach exercise in a totally different way when it is about connecting and feeling the quality of your movements, the muscles your engaging the, this all sounds like the usual approach but for me I have been finding how subtle and deeply powerful this really is when truly connected to.
I agree, there are many subtle, abusive movements we make without even realising it when exercising and even when we think we are mastering exercise through the connection to the body more is exposed. However the relationship with exercise is not to be given up on which is what I have experienced in the past from time to time and when I read a comment such as Natalie’s I am inspired to take the next step to deepen my relationship with exercise because I know there is so much more to exercise than what I am living.
‘The way I used exercise here, although it may have ticked a few people’s boxes, wasn’t actually healthy because there was an addiction element to it. It was much the same feeling as when I smoked – if I didn’t get a hit, I felt irritated.’ Yep, I can attest to this too, missing a workout meant having to ‘catch up’ in some way, but on what? It’s great that these underlying feelings to do with exercise are being exposed as there is a whole commercial industry which has grown out of feeding this situation. The pushers and the addicts.
I can relate to what you write. Exercising without pictures e.g.outcomes, needs etc. brings a different quality to exercising. I experience it is just me with my body in the moment now. No pressures, straining, but more a gentle steadiness and presence with the body. It took me a while to let go of the belief that this is ‘enough’ as support for the body.
I’ve totally changed my relationship with exercise, gone are the days of pushing and driving to get fit and to be a certain weight and body shape. Now, I enjoy being connected to my body and stopping when I feel too.
My relationship with exercise is totally different now, gone are the days of pushing my body more and more to be super fit, which I wrongly thought I was, to now exercising in connection and honouring of what my body is asking for, which is very little gentle exercise.
My relationship with exercise started out with being all about performance and competition, it morphed somewhat as I became an adult into helping me to look good (which was actually the least committed I was to exercise at that point). But the transition into simply doing it so it supports me in what I need to do, so having a strong body for the way I choose to live… that is a purpose I have been able to commit to, and I find it does not hurt! (unlike the other forms)
Exercise can be a drug and an addiction if it’s used to give us a ‘kick’ e.g. a sense of satisfaction, recognition, protection or numbness.
I’ve been changing my relationship with exercise, or I could say my non-relationship with exercise – I would avoid it, and could get away with that attitude as from the outside it appeared that I was slim, flexible and naturally toned and therefore ‘fit’. Yet in truth it was a way to disregard my body and therefore dismiss my connection to and relationship with myself, and God. I am breaking that disregarding relationship and through exercise with gentle movement I am nourishing my body and therefore nurturing my relationship with my body and being.
It is quite a science to learn how to do exercise, especially weight bearing exercises that are harmonious with the body without leading to issues if repeated every day.
The thing that keeps me present is staying with my breathing – is it steady and breathing through the nose, or does it become ragged and gasping for breath with my mouth wide open?
Johanna, I can relate to this; ‘The way I used exercise here, although it may have ticked a few people’s boxes, wasn’t actually healthy’. I used to exercise really hard – not listening to how my body wanted to move and overriding any aches, pain or tiredness, I used to think this way healthy. I now listen when my body hurts and now love to exercise gently.
Johanna, this is really beautiful and feels like our natural way to move; ‘bringing gentleness, tenderness and playfulness into movements’.
Exercise used to be a brutal process for the body and something I endured to stay slim and be fit and healthy. Now that is all gone and in its place walking every night after work has become my normal. Now I feel its time to add some more gentle exercise to this in the way of stretching and some hand weights.
I exercise all day with my job and I can really tell how much a little exercise routine in the morning helps support that exercise throughout the day. I used to think that because I was so active in my job I didn’t need extra but I really notice the difference if I let my routine slip in the mornings.
I have added land based exercise to the water exercises and this combination works well. I’m not trying to lose weight but to support my body as it ages to remain flexible and strong and there is a subtle change occurring that I feel less lethargic in fact my body really enjoys the exercise and I feel very rejuvenated.
I’ve gone through stages with exercise, bringing deeper awareness of how I am when I do exercise, how it feels and what works and doesn’t work. What I have really got to feel is how that is forever changing and this means I continually need to be checking in and seeing what feel true in that moment. Sometimes I catch myself in a pattern a habit and just doing or focused one aspect of my body and it feels totally off and disconnected to my connection within and how I feel when doing my exercises.
“The gorgeous part is that every time I make time to delicately practise presence in my movement, it builds and becomes a natural way of being in my general daily activities.” it is the quality that we move in with connection to our tenderness while exercising that builds a deeper level of love in our body.
When we make it (and this can be applied with anything not just exercise) about quality we do our movements in, the end result is not it, it does not matter, this is in complete opposite to how I used to live where my focus would always be the end result as in this case I would exercise purely to have a slim and fit body. How I got to this goal I did not care so long as I had the body I was craving and seeking.
Exploring the quality of my connection with my body when I am exercising has been key to transforming my relationship with it. I no longer see it as a means to an end whether that be getting fitter or burning off frustration and instead enjoy being playful however I am choosing to exercise that day.
Yes, it is a lot of fun if it is not done as a boring kind of medicine.
There is a drive in our exercise when the way we are doing exercise is to avoid something or to gain something that is going to make us ‘better’. I am still experimenting with this.
I love this, it’s a new way to look at what you are building strength in when we exercise. Exercising not in drive is building strength in self love and self care.
Changing our conditioning that exercise needs to be painful to be ‘good’ to working out gently is a real shift in this consciousness.
I love the fact that you brought in walking as exercise every other day. I feel this would be something that would support me as well as I walk to get from A to B but not to just be with my body and for exercise.
As a kid I hated sport and PE (Physical Education), when I did do it it was hard and brutal on the body (doing martial arts against people twice my size). Last week I signed up to the gym and pool and I love it, exercising with my body rather than pushing myself to do X amount of laps/repetitions. I enjoy the exercise and want to return to it again and again, not in need but to have that time and space to support my body to be fit for other areas of life without tiring.
“remaining with my connection while exercising, supporting the powerful and amazing woman I am.” A beautiful exercise in building a body of love.
The fact that we have not been taught about quality, about the quality within, when it makes such a huge difference to everything we do, in fact it is the precursor to all we do, how we move and even our thoughts. Time to open the doors to quality and energy first.
Exercising every day supports us in so many ways. I’ve only started doing this really recently but I can already feel the difference: there are the obvious ones like feeling more strength in my body, but then also the benefits of committing to connecting to your body every day – to feeling what it actually feels like to be in your body and not your head, that stays with you throughout the day. That commitment has then extended to other areas, too.
Focusing on my connection with my body when I am exercising has been so supportive in building a deeper relationship with my body and as you say this naturally extends to other areas and supports a loving flow through the day.
Beautiful Johanna, for you show us that there is more to us, and that we need to give than deeper part of us attention. This is through all the things ; daily activities we do. So we do not stop moving, but changing the level of quality of our movements. A forever expansional evolution.
Recently I have just upped the level of exercise I do each day and I am surprised at the impact it has already had on my day, I feel so much stronger and ready for my day.
I found it astonishing how quickly my body changed once I had a gym in the house even though I only spend about 15 minutes a day on it.
Exercising this way has helped me to stay with my body and the activity I am in. I even have ear plugs in, so not to have to be distracted by the loud music ánd it helps me deepen the connection of my body and its inner music.
Exercise these days has become extreme, take cross-fit for example which just puts the body under such unnecessary stress but exercising in the manner that you describe here is both good for the body and the soul.
I also exercise differently these days. I am totally with myself, my body and my movement. It’s like an intimate relationship whilst my body is making movements. And I don’t have to be in the gym for that. Indeed it is like 24/7 – how I walk, take the stairs, open doors, make my food – it’s all movement and all possibilities to feel my body and make small corrections in my posture. It’s like mini-exercises but with a very deep effect on my body. Just love it.
It is incredible how we often ‘think’ we need to attend a gym to build the body when often the way we move and support our body through daily walking and errands around the house are another way where we are bringing this aspect to how we live where it is not seen as a chore but a way of being.
Yes I am really starting to feel the difference in my body for what you have shared here. It is not about understanding it from our mind, we can justify anything from the mind, but the body does not lie and therefore feeling what we do and how we do what we do lays much more connected seeds to feed us back that connection in other areas of our lives.
” listening to my body and deepening that communication ”
This is what gym work is all about listening to and implementing what the body needs,
Yes, and most importantly, not to overdo it.
There are things we do in life to ‘get by’ – essential tasks we tend to overlook and hope will end. Like putting out the bins for example. This is how I’ve seen exercise, instead of an opportunity to spend quality time with my body, and move in a way that loves my being to the max. Now I write this I can see this approach applies equally to everything I do, not just when I am lying on an exercise mat. Thank you Johanna for helping me realise that.
Wow, I could really realise it on a deeper level this time whilst reading this that how we exercise tells us so much about the relationship we have with ourselves. When it is one of never feeling enough the exercise is often used as a way to feel better about ourselves, like when we go we ‘at least do something good’. But when this relationship with ourselves changes and becomes more a loving one, exercise is not so much a ‘I have to because…’ but more a ‘love to go’ to nurture our body. It is how we are with ourselves that makes all the difference.
Exercising in connection with our body gets rid of the drive and need to push and achieve; it opens up new ways of doing the same thing if need be, in connection and with joy.
I wonder how many people exercise for this reason, without being consciously aware of the underlying reason, ‘a way to fill the emptiness I felt, to keep me busy and not have any quiet stop moments.’
Having never really been a ‘gym person’ but now going to use the equipment there I find it fascinating what is being revealed to me through my new relationship with the apparatus and environment. So what I get from my gym session is not the satisfaction of bettering a time or weight or stretch, but a reflection of life outside of the gym in how I am, with myself, in my regular day.
Exercise was all about moving and thinking is was healthy just because I moved my body to a certain beat and had muscle pain afterwards. I had to stop doing that because my hips would hurt so much every time I went to the gym. So the body does know and communicates quite loud what it wants.
I can relate with how I used to exercise being addictive, pushing my body hard and thinking I was being healthy, ‘The way I used exercise here, although it may have ticked a few people’s boxes, wasn’t actually healthy because there was an addiction element to it.’
I was talking with someone recently about quality and how when I don’t live a certain quality I then look for rewards as a way to get through life- do a good job and then reward myself with a certain food etc. When I do this I lose the quality of the job I have just done, however, there is a movement and way of being with myself that brings an appreciation and so care for myself in all of the movements and when I do this, there is not the seeking of rewards that follows.
Exercising out of a need or outcome is always going to be driven from the head at the expense of the body. Moving from the body’s own impulses is an entirely different quality – one which supports us in every way.
Absolutely the movements itself change, just by connecting to our body and the quality is different instantly.
Re-reading your blog Johanna has inspired me to get back into exercise as I have had some time not doing it because of study but feel my body really needs this support.
I just love being with my body and honouring what it is telling me when exercising – something that I was totally oblivious to, not even realising how it felt in my body. I would push and strive and compete every single time I went into exercise, even compete within myself. Funny how I never really dedicated myself to it. Now that it is a completely different relationship and I will always make the space to have this time with myself and it feels amazing.
Subjecting our body to a Loving and gentle relationship when we exercise is a great way to stay with our essence and when connected it does not matter what the activity is. In all honesty when we exercise it is a great way to practice our conscious presence so we can stay in our essence.
Exercising with presence and in connection with the body is a whole new ball game, very different from all the pushing and heaving and slugging it out of old. Why be absent from the body when what we are doing (exercising) is meant to support it?
I grew up and was addicted to exercise, I couldn’t sit still for long as i found it too uncomfortable to be with myself. I had to keep moving so as to not feel the hurts and awarenesses I was avoiding.
This has changed considerably, though the consciousness of exercise has still lingered. I don’t feel I pound my body but there is still something ugly remaining.
I used exercise to be better than others and was very competitive. I was intent on having a trim body and feared not exercising. I was so unaccepting of my femaleness, seeing women as vulnerable and fragile, that I wanted to have a super hard body. There was a very hurt child in there that was allowing herself to be dominated by these thoughts as a means of not feeling her preciousness, divine beauty and fragility. So today as I realise some of this is still there, I can accept and nurture myself to a much deeper level. I know I don’t have to be defended, it’s safe to love me deeply and know all of this other stuff is toxic and has no place in the world. I can allow me to be me.
I love exercise now that all the ideals and beliefs I had in it have been discarded, the old no pain no gain attitude never sat very well with me as pain is not something that I willingly subject myself to.
I have had a break from doing exercises after I got sick and my body just doesn’t feel as vital or light as it does when I do exercise so I am definitely going to get back into it again as it really is a truly lovely support for life.
I know that years ago when i used to hold myself restrictive and internally competitive to deal with stress and intensity at work, that to bash, push, squeeze my body through over exerting at the gym would be no issue at all…the harder i pushed, the better. Introducing the element of self-care and gentleness resulted in me not only enjoying work more through loosening the grip and taking myself easy, but it also changed the way i treated my body at the gym too. Because the way or quality we work, is the way we gym and ‘do life’ too – one part does not remedy the other if one happens to be out.. it’s the total or whole quality that requires changing to effect true change.
I have never been one for exercise, but I felt it would support me as I get older. So I started going to a exercise based in the water at my local swimming pool and it is great fun and my body feels so much more alive after the short session. And I actually look forward to my time in the water and with the presenter of this class as she makes exercise so much fun.
” bringing gentleness, tenderness and playfulness into movements ” This is wonderful and reminds me of how children move when allowed to play freely.
Exercise was a big one for me and I must admit at times in the past I didn’t really know what I was there exercising but I knew I needed it. As the article presents if I didn’t get it then I would be moody or frustrated and then push myself even further the next time. Exercise became almost like a punishment thing and I have put myself through hell because of it. I stopped exercising all together for a while to give myself a reset and now I do many of the things I used to but it’s with the full awareness I have now into how it feels. I don’t push weights for PB’s or to gain weight or to be bigger, I more use them to activate and strengthen what is already there. Most people comment and currently I feel in the best shape of my life and yet there is no intense work outs or sand dunes in sight. My “relationship with exercise” is now one that supports me truly and not a thing to do because I need it.
Realising that I don’t need an exercise program but further opportunities to develop a relationship with my body brings a fresh slate to my way of exercise.
Thanks Michelle. It’s fun to play with this. I have found that just having a consistency with making this time and space available Has been hugely supportive.
True health is an emanation of the love we are, of our connection to our essence, which is magnified through our bodies with our every move. As such when this is lived to the best of our ability, the way we are with ourselves, the way we support and confirm ourselves with exercise and the foods we eat, we naturally emanate vitality, well-being and vibrancy. Our connection to our body and being is what allows us to exercise in a way that builds and maintains our physical strength along with honouring and deepening our connection to our essence, so we can live and magnify through our day, the love we are.
Exercise should lovingly build us up to support our body throughout our days, not harden our bodies into simulating a Ken or Barbie doll.
Re-reading this blog has re-enforced to get back into exercise. I stopped a couple of months ago after an illness and then put other things in the way. It’s definitely a great support for the body all round.
What a change that now truly supports the body without an end goal and looks to bring more presence into your day to day activities. This is just gorgeous to read and confirms that exercise can be delivered in a totally different way – in quality first rather than pushing for an end goal.
I was reflecting this morning on how much my relationship with exercise has changed. I used to exercise with a drive to achieve, having done it, get my my body fit and now I realise I would go at it with quite some force. As I have connected to my body more and more to the tenderness and delicateness within me my exercising has changed greatly. I listen to my body to how it feels, how much to do, how to it, when to do it.. and I love the feeling I have afterwards from this.
I’m really enjoying exercising at the moment, before I exercised to stay fit, so it was a doing which was coming from my mind, and it felt like a drudgery something that had to be done a tick box exercise I could say. Now I exercise because my body actually feels better for it and the difference is completely different.
Exercising has been an pending issue along my life. I’ve had strong resistances to practice any kind of exercises. Now I understand that the resistances were not with the exercise in itself, but with feeling my body and claiming myself. Going out of the comfort of not being present is the best choice I have done in these recent years. Gentle exercises support me now to be fit for life, connecting with my physicality and expanding myself beyond/from it.
‘The fact is I was exercising to meet images and to feel I was enough, but not in truth to be healthy. ‘ Great to clock this, as no ‘diet’ truly works. It is simply about listening to our body and also loving ourselves to the hilt.
Recently I started to do some stretches for my hips for only a few minutes a day, and after the second day, I could tell a difference while walking up the hills where I live. What has surprised me is that in only a short time I can feel the benefits, and do not feel pressured to push myself to do more or try to achieve anything.
I guess a lot of people recognise the addiction to their exercise of fitness ritual you are talking about, I would have called it healthy back then although I have felt in my own body how I was pushing and making myself hard to come to the goal I had set for myself. Now I exercise very differently, I feel my body and honour what it is telling me, I still am learning that it is never about how long, how heavy or the repetition but always about the quality we do the exercises in, just as with everything in life.
I have never enjoyed ‘organised exercise’ until I encountered ‘Gentle movement’ from the presentations of Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine . It is completely different to any goal driven exercise moves which I found tiring, draining and tedious, and brings a glow and sustenance to the body that completely changes my day.
That’s true Elizabeth. With presence, we get instant feedback because we are there to feel it. Without presence, we are not actually there to feel the impact.
I have just done 10 minutes of stretching. In the past I would have said 10 minutes was not enough and not even bothered. I can see how ideals about how we should exercise keep us away from the benefits of doing small amounts at our own pace when it feels right for us.
” I did this by just choosing to walk, focussing on my walk, the way I walked, the reason I was walking, practising keeping my mind with my body and feeling how my body felt as I walked.” _ Yes work in progress still as I find myself walking as part of my daily rhythm and then realise I haven’t walked for a while – so thank you again for the reminder- as I revisited your blog again today this was what I was meant to see.
To choose the quality that we move in makes exercise a whole different ball game, one where moving our body to support our lived expression is the real purpose of exercise.
And what’s also interesting is that the so called ‘intelligence’ that thinks it is being healthy with the body when it is actually pushing and driving it – never lets it all be questioned. Until I truly started to care for my body I could not see the damage I was doing to it.
I have seen with my own eyes how you are so precise and delicate with every movement. Exercise in today’s age is about consumption and image. It is not about rejuvenating and healing the body. This blog really enlightened me to how much can be gained from how l approach my exercise. Thank you Johanna.
Me too Ryan, this blog is very supportive of evaluating our own exercise ‘regimes’ and adjusting to a more flowing and deeply supportive way of moving in all our exercises and stretches.
I so can relate to what you wrote- I was so addicted to exercise , I could not live without it. It was a compulsion for me, to go for a run, or doing weights, otherwise I would have felt fat and been afraid to gain wait. So it came definitely together with a eating disorder and wanting to achieve the ideal look my body should look like. On top I was a professional dancer and model so perfect set up to keep staying into this vicious circle of not feeling enough and achieving a certain look. When I feel me back then, I feel super empty and not in my body at all.
Wow what a sharing Stephanie. Sounds like there’s a blog in there. It is interesting how the what we choose in life can often be a set up to feed the behaviours, ideals, beliefs and thoughts that keep the emptiness going. What I realised about that time in my life is that it always needed to be ‘topped up’ where as I am far more content in myself and my body now and have a greater level of self acceptance and purpose in life.
Reading this again has inspired me to review my current plan. It’s not that I can’t look at exercise routines but a case of trial and error as to what does and doesn’t support my body.
Always adjusting and unfolding as we grow so does our ways need to adjust to support our body. This can be with food or exercise or even with the way we communicate. It’s awesome to be playful and experiment with this, keeping it light and fun.
I have just rejoined the gym. I am noticing how easy it is to get swept up in the push and drive of those around me. I am having to make a conscious effort to stay connected to me and to move in the quality that I want to move in. It feels quite strange to be doing the opposite of everyone else! But it feels great.
I found this in the beginning too and it was easy to get sucked in, to feel a competitiveness – however no longer now as I am for one breathing through my nose with all the exercises that I do which does not allow me to overstrain anything, and for another am deeply aware of how my body talks to me while I strengthen and stretch it and I have become a really good listener, which shows in the joy I feel when I exercise, and afterwards too where I feel my body has enjoyed the session as well, by feeling vital and strong and at ease.
Yes I agree Rebecca. I find the music a bit distracting and always too loud. This can really put me off so I really have to focus.
I used to knock myself around physically and mentally with exercise and sport to the point where my body would just be in different variations of ache. Running was a chore and mostly it was done to literally attempt to run away from what was going on in my head, I ran so I could sleep, I ran so I could get my mind off things and I ran to make it seem like I was normal. There was a lot of pressure and anxiety around exercise and the way I exercised. Fast forward to now and I no longer run but walk. I walk to feel my body, feel the tension and use the walk to ‘practise’ or get a consistent sense of walking with a true connection to how it feels to just walk. I used to have exercises as just a thing to do while you are thinking other things but no exercise is time to bring everything back into line and so when I exercise I am dedicating to be present with my body to actually feel. It’s a completely different focus and this exercise time not only supports me during the day but in life generally.
Serge Benhayon is leading a gentle revolution, inspiring people all over the world to look at the energetic quality in which they are living their life and providing tools to explore that in a loving non-judgemental way.
I went to the gym the other day and was feeling very tender, not tender sore but tender inside. I dropped all of my weights by half and simply used the exercise machines to do what I always do, to connect with me. Had I done my usual weight then i would have had to disconnect from myself in order to push through and that is something that I’m not prepared to do anymore.
Yep I got that message too and the body felt lovely when it realised I had listened and the exercises flowed smoothly and in connection.
This shows how important movement and quality is, and how we can do exactly the same exercise, but based on the quality and movement, it is totally different on the body. Thank you for sharing this.
I also have a very different exercise regime now as well, I used to exercise pushing myself with a ‘no pain, no gain’ type of attitude, no wonder I got sick a lot and injured myself at times. I am with you Johanna and have also come to feel the value in bringing quality in the way I exercise and not to worry about the quantity – amazingly I feel fitter and more vital than when 20 or 30 years ago.
I’m still always so amazed to see people at the gym, pounding away on the weights or running machines… drinking coffee. If we treated our cars like that – driving them at 5,000 rpm and pouring paraffin into the tanks – we wouldn’t be at all surprised when they broke down.
Haha and yes our vehicles wouldn’t be impressed at all. When we are conditioned or get used to a quality of behaviour that abuses or doesn’t bring to ourselves a true and deep care then we can almost do anything we please and think that it’s ok. Exercise was like that and it wasn’t isolated, exercise was just a reflection of how I treated myself everywhere and so when I changed the way I cared for myself in one area then everything else popped up and asked to be also treated with that same care. Deep down when I used to exercise, part of me was screaming no and yet I was ‘strong’ enough to push through this. This part deep down was a part of me that knew that pushing the extremes was just something that was making things worse and in effect at that point I was running from that feeling. When the ‘breakdown’ came it was no surprise to some as the fuel I had been putting in was toxic and you could say these same people were amazed I’d lasted that long. We all know that something isn’t right and it’s a question of when you are ready to admit it to yourself or honour that deep feeling.
I have just made a big adjustment to my approach to exercise and to my exercise routine; inspired by a strong feeling to really deepen my connection with my body and a realisation that much of what I was doing was purely function and box-ticking. The effects have been startling and profound and already I can feel a very big difference in my relationship with my body and thus what I am prepared to hear my body telling me.
I have never been a great fan of exercising, the only time I did have a regular exercise routine was after the birth of my child which was years ago now. However, I am appreciating myself and my body much more than ever before and with that comes a sense of responsibility that I need to ensure that my body is fit enough to actually do all the things I ask it to do. Carrying heavy objects such as heavy suitcases, briefcase, hoovers, shopping, going up and down stairs, working long hours. To do all this I realise there has to be a level of fitness and I actually do enjoy my exercise routine. This is a complete change around for me.
I have a new exercise routine that I am really enjoying. I have a 50 minute morning walk up and down a steep hill with my husband, and then come home and play a dance track from GM Records and bop around a bit whilst doing a variety of arm movements as I hold my hand weights. It is really fun and I get to do it in front of a big mirror and admire and smile at myself!
In becoming more aware of the quality of movements and the effects of exercise in returning to the gym checking in with and remaining present with the quality of my breathing while exercising provides so much support to developing a new relationship with exercise.
It’s great to read this, as many people are mislead about what they need to be doing to be healthy, the only images we get fed are of super fit bodies, and that it must be a commitment to tough times to get where you want. It is all such nonsense, exercise can and should be a lovely flowing process where we enjoy the feelings we get from the body moving, and even lifting weights it should not be hard but challenging in a very lovely way.
Even when we know that the old way of exercising is not the way we want to go, it is still easy to drop into the push and the drive. It takes constant awareness and consistent choices to choose how and in what quality we want to move.
I just started a new exercise regime to build my body up more so it can cope with more intense work – and I love it – it’s like being in training for life.
And joy and playfulness – the kind that oozes out of your expression!
Tip top read as I head off to the gym – gently building a body that is fit for life…and so, the kind of body that I build will thus determine the quality of my life.
Just recently I have finally started to see how awesome exercise is for me. After a while of neglect and ignoring my body I started exercising again. At first it was difficult and hard, but over the last couple of weeks I have noticed a strong correlation with whether I’ve exercised and how I feel inside. Whereas in the past I used to think ‘I’m a good person’ because I had ticked the box – this time I focused on the quality of how the activities felt for me. At the end my body felt so great. Reading this has made me realise that this way of being, focusing on the way, not the end goal, need not only apply to exercise but to everything. Thank you Johanna.
It is never ever too late to establish, or re-establish a connection with your body that Johanna writes about… And whenever we choose to do this, the results are extraordinary. Even in something as simple as walking can be a revolution of awareness.
I can really relate to what you have shared here Johanna. It has taken me a long time to shed my old exercise patterns and the addictions to the feelings exercise gave me. As I am more aware of my body and my love and appreciation for my body has grown my body has naturally changed shape and this is with a more gentle way of exercising. I can still feel the old pictures creeping in at times but I am so much more aware of my body that their hold on me is less tenuous. I still feel amazed that my body looks and feels great without the huge stress I used to put on it with my gym workouts!
‘it is engaging with the quality of movement that then happens to affect the muscles.’ Such a brilliant way of looking at exercise and the quality we do it in. Focus on the quality not the doing and this is then what we move our bodies with.
Having recently decided to exercise in a different way I thought that this would mean I had changed my relationship with it. I have meant that instead it is an evolving process and learning just as is the case in any relationship.
It’s great you share that Michael because one thought pattern of mine I have noticed around not only my relationship with exercise, but with anything I feel I need to change, is that I expect it will happen immediately and when it doesn’t, I can become disheartened and give up. Awesome to see it so clearly and to bring a deeper level of understanding to the nature and essence of relationship. Thank you.
Approaching exercise from reaction to ones body makes exercise look blatantly abusive, hard and exhausting because we WANT or NEED something out of it. When one exercises to enjoy the bodies movements and maintain fitness to be able to live wholly in life it’s pretty impossible to push the body beyond the limits of pain.
Yep absolutely – most people do exercise in reaction to their body and how they feel about themselves, it’s a totally different mindset to exercising so your body is fit and ready and prepared to fully engage in life.
It is 99,9 % of the people who are going for excercise in reaction to their body I would say. I used to be the same. The interesting bit is, that it feels, like you would connect to your body, and you get the label of being very caring for your body if you train like the majority of the people do. I can say out of my experience, I was NOT connected to my body, otherwise I would have not trained and treated it like I used too.
I find it amazing that we can have an ever changing relationship with exercise, this means to me that there are no closed doors and therefore anything is possible – even to build an exercise programme that is deeply and truly supportive can be a real and lived experience.
I have been amazed to discover how much stronger and more supple my body has become from working with the smallest of movements with legs and arms with occasional use of very light weights for only a few minutes a day.
Being aware of the rhythm of the body allows for a surrender to truly feel what is serving the body rather than tightening it up like a taut wire, with strong exercise routines.
Exercise has such a different focus when we make it about our body being the vehicle for our soul and what it needs based on this.
I used to think that by exercising I was doing good. Every time I exercised I thought I was ‘keeping fit’ and that it was good for my body no matter what or how I exercised. I even thought myself better than those that did very little or no exercise. What I find interesting is that the exercise I did back then where I hardened my body to relieve me of the hurts I was carrying in my body was no different to another getting drunk on alcohol to relieve themselves yet I held an arrogance that what I was doing was healthy and supporting my body! How we can be under the illusion that what we are doing is good if we do not discern where the thoughts are coming from!
What you have shared is to inspire many people. Exercise and fitness has skyrocketed in its popularity here in our city recently because there has been a report on training intensively and consistency (the story was of a female trainer) would de-age your looks. The trainer is going towards 50 but looks around 30.
Fitness has gained a lot of popularity when it is discovered that it could be a source of temporary relief for the tensions we feel everyday but having that added benefit of youthfulness, it is even better–but what we do not see in such a logic is that life is not only physical or superficial. A fit or youthful looking body does not always mean a loving body and the consequences of a hardened body from exercise take us away from the awareness that is our true gift in life.
When we develop our relationship with ourselves, pure interactions with people, objects and activities also change; they have a greater sense of purpose.
Exercise is very supportive for our health and body when we listen to our body’s messages. It will naturally let us know when to stop and when to rest, so we don’t hurt ourselves.
Walking is so important for our rhythm and vitality and it is something we all should do. Just tonight in discussion with a friend was sharing about their walk and it was a confirmation of the power of walking, which is so supportive for the body!
I am still letting go of the old way of exercising and so this blog is super supportive as it comes to me as I swam this morning. I wasn’t feeling 100% but felt a gentle lap would support me to be with myself in movement with my body
So this morning I surprised myself that I stayed with the awareness of how I was in the water even though I had clocked the water was very disturbed from the energy the swimmers were swimming in. Lots of people forcing themselves to do their laps – which is what I used to do knowing I would relax later in the knowledge I achieved my exercise for the day.
For me swimming very much shows me many patterns of how I am in life and is a great practice for change. So if swimming is how I am in the world and how I view the world, a question that i ask myself is, how do I swim without shutting myself off to what’s around me or if i stay open do i not take on all that is coming my way? What I learnt was I can stay with my body as a point of reference and feel what’s around me, and not my usual abandon my body to feel. This way of being aware whilst exercising is how I’m starting to understand how exercise is such an amazing way of deepening one’s connection with oneself.
We can exercise under the illusion we are getting ourselves fit when all the time harming ourselves or we can exercise in a quality that supports and holds the body. Unfortunately we often hold the ill thought patten of quantity not quality.
So true Samantha, I see this repeated often in many areas of life. I am learning to appreciate more the quality of things in life and not just the quantity.
‘Initially when I first started to reconnect with myself and develop that relationship with myself years ago, I knew the way I exercised had to go.’ The body is the greatest teacher.
The gorgeous thing is that for every moment of connection with our bodies we are offered the next level of understanding, awareness, respect and relationship… a beautiful, ongoing learning.
Spot on Matilda, it is also a deepening appreciation of what our body can bring when it is used with connection to our movements.
‘The gorgeous part is that every time I make time to delicately practise presence in my movement, it builds and becomes a natural way of being in my general daily activities.’ This is super inspiring. I don’t have to leave the quality in which I exercise or how I am living, the distinction between the two is now more of a difference in movement when once exercise was a definite work out then collapse and rest. Or, when I was really wanting the distraction and relief it brought me, to try to keep the intensity at my body’s expense going – until my body eventually did collapse.
My body still bears the scars of my abusive relationship with exercise in my youth – I was a super fit elite athlete for some years however the arduous training resulted in many injuries to my body which simply was not designed to be pushed that hard.
We can push ourselves to be so called ‘super fit’ and indeed on one level our cardio-vascular system can be trained to be super efficient but if this is done at the expense of the rest of the body (i.e. many athletes are super fit but have loads of injuries) then is this true fitness? Rather than compartmentalising the body and only choosing one measure of fitness we need to broaden our definition of fitness to include the whole body as one and also all of life as one.
Th way that we exercise determines how we will move with ourselves through the rest of the day. If we push and strain through exercise so too will we push and strain through our day. If we are gentle with ourselves and allow our movements to be flowing and free, it is then easier to allow this throughout our day. We ae effectively choosing how we are going to be in life when we choose the energy we exercise in.
Serge Benhayon was the first person for me to open the way to understanding about the ‘Quality’ we choose in which we live, move, think, our breath and every practical action we participate in. The quality in which I now hold myself has changed my life and I can appreciate how you can now do the same exercises and have a very different outcome – a loving one.
Lovely way of putting it and right on the mark Ariana – “Doing what is called for with love is where exercise comes into it’s own.”
Coming back to this blog again today it just reconfirmed for me to exercise in full connection and surrender to my body, feeling it’s messages throughout and allowing the flow that supports it to be the impulse rather than my mind driving it.
‘The amazing part for me to feel is that even though many of the exercises are the same as I used to do many years ago… the quality of exercising is completely different’. Such a simple change – staying with the breath and holding awareness of the body as we exercise everything about ‘whole’ health can be known and lived
I excessively exercised from a complete lack of self worth when younger. I can sometimes feel this push to go for a walk or swim can still come from an energy of not being enough and having to do something good and worthwhile to make up for this. I felt apologetic about myself and needed to achieve something. I took up sport in an attempt to feel a sense of superiority and did so when I was ok at it (ouch!) and devastated when I wasn’t proficient at it.
But exercising in that energy disregards the body’s communications – it’s an energy that feeds one’s lack of self worth, that lack is amplified so I did more exercise than my body was asking for. I was also polluting my body with this energy of not being good enough and having to make up for it (this energy vied to continuously re-create itself). I let this energy run me quite literally into the ground. If not stop until I was exhausted.
So exercise is about a connection with me and feeling what supports my body in its movements. Otherwise exercise I can feel is really harming – the quality in which one exercises is something I have never seen acknowledged by the exercise industries. So what a wonderful blog that’s very needed.
Exercising in a way that supports connection to the body was something I never conceived of. If I exercised at all it was with the notion to get fit, but this was done in a doing and pushing and was rather painful, so it was done ad hoc, very sporadically and I mainly gave up after a few attempts. However, gently stretching, walking and using light weights feels completely different to the drive I used to feel around exercising. I feel more motivated and its easier to be consistent with this approach.
I went to buy an exercise machine but it turns out that simply sitting on a ball and balancing, even at a desk and also sitting on a ball and doing some weights very much increased my core strength giving me more fitness.
I love the ball too as I find it very supportive and love the smooth and constantly moving aspects of it as I can feel so many other muscles that are being activated by using these big balls.
Exercise should support the quality of movements we want in our lives and not be the result of what we have absorbed from our day – this lesson I have felt in how I have exercised in the past.
“So now – it’s a miracle really… the same exercise but in a different and true quality that supports the body.” I fully agree its quite life changing that we can approach the same thing in two different ways, one revitalizing and supports us and the other covers up whats really going on.
“The way I used exercise here, although it may have ticked a few people’s boxes, wasn’t actually healthy because there was an addiction element to it.” I can relate to this, if we don’t use exercise soulfully we are actually creating more harm.
Yes, we may feel good afterwards from the relief it is over but the exercise itself often requires force to do when we overdo it.
Very true. And further perpetuating that quality in our bodies and reflecting something that is not in line with our truth.
Your new exercise support plan shows a new way of relating to the body that is very different to how most of us see our bodies. Most of us drag our body around expecting it to do what we want, and seeing it as something to get from A to B. It is seen as purely physical. Whereas you have shown that the body needs to be exercised according to the needs of the individual, but also for the purpose of having a body that supports the being to be fully lived. This change in perspective has made all the difference to the way I exercise too and it feels fantastic. No more pushing myself to achieve a certain body type!
Yes Johanna, my old way of seeing exercise, was like yours one based on ‘should do’s’ and thinking that I was a ‘good’ person if I ticked the box. But did I actually enjoy the physical act? No I did not. Contrast this with today where I know exercise offers me the opportunity to reconnect and see where my body is at, and to truly care for my physique as if I was taking an amazing tonic. The only reason I resist exercise today is not because it isn’t fun, but because I sometimes don’t want to feel just where my body is at. But why resist when you can then help support, nurture and nourish?
I can relate to that resistance at times too Joseph. When we realise there is another way and what that way entails (eg. Exercising from connection or that exercise now provides a register to where our body is at) then it can be quite exposing when we are not at the marker we know we have previously felt. This shows me just how much we read energy by the fact that we resist and avoid exposing or feeling where we are at. A blessing that we can not escape.
The more I go to the gym and work out the more I get to feel how it is so easy to fall into the ‘pushing’ energy of the body. It is something that I am constantly checking in on and when you do a work out where by you are engaging your muscles and feeling every move and then not going beyond a certain weight or how many times you do it and honour the body it feels amazing.
I just love swimming as a form of exercise, because it brings me back to myself, my breath and my movements thereby showing me how I have been living.
What a beautiful awareness and reality to exercise so supportive and loving an so different to what is put out there for us all to follow. “it’s a miracle really… the same exercise but in a different and true quality that supports the body. The gorgeous part is that every time I make time to delicately practise presence in my movement, it builds and becomes a natural way of being in my general daily activities.” very inspiring.
Being Objectively Humble is the way of doing everything so that what we bring is our divine Soul presence and this is being in the place where exercise feels expansive. This is us exercising for our body so it can be placed in the best position for us to be of service to all of humanity equally.
So then exercise is for the divine purpose of bring in connection with our Soul then we can be in service to humanity to the best of our ability.
What I love most about bringing a deeper quality of connection to myself as I exercise is that this connection stays with me wherever I go thereafter. Such a contrast to my old way of exercise to gain relief from the stresses of the day.
Oh I relate to this too Jane – exercising in connection and feeling that connection then for the rest of the day is such an awesome feeling; yes very different to how it used to be because when I used to exercise overriding my body, that type of feeling also stayed for the rest of the day… much better now being connected while working out.
Having just joined a gym again last week I was amazed at how easy it could have been to slip into an old pattern of goal driven exercise – how many minutes on the cross trainer, how many lengths of the pool. Whenever my head went into those thoughts I could feel my body tighten in reaction to it but kept bringing it back to the quality of my movements. Feeling that quality was so much lovelier than reaching any target my mind might have chosen if I had caved into its game.
There is nothing quite like moving and exercising while being fully present with your body, because you then get to spend quality time with yourself and how that feels is amazing. Beats doing exercise purely for aesthetic reasons or to just think, I’m doing my body good without even being present with it while you do exercise, as you miss so much of the experience that way.
The quality with which we do anything with our bodies (moving, exercising, talking…) is of great significance and note… are we being respectful and caring or dismissive and abusive… are we building a body of love or a body for show and performance?
Great point – the motivation and drive behind all our actions is well worth pondering about to get a true sense if we come from mind-driven ideals and beliefs or if we are impulsed by our Soul for growth and evolution.
This is a great example of exercising from the head vs exercising from the body. It is the body we are exercising so it’s crazy to think we would let the head lead the way.
I am a little surprised at how slow my return to exercise is after exercising in a way which is not true for my body and being caught in the gym consciousness. The feeling after exercising yesterday morning was amazing in my body, so connected and alive.
I have been very intimated and resistant in joining the gym forever because I do not want to submit my body to the norm of what training is being defined in the world today–which is about results and drive. But eventually I joined and today I am really enjoying my gym experience and all it took was my honesty to communicate to the trainer what feels true to my body and he has been very respectful of my needs and feels the confirmation of this truth when he sees the result of being gentle and honouring of my connection to the body, my body and muscles have responded very naturally and deepened this connection.
” True health supports you to be all of you” If we take this statment of truth and apply it to many of the exercise programs and regimes out there then many would go out of business.
Hahaha – yes so true Samantha – many gyms would be no longer and the ‘boot camps’ definitely would be non-existent.
Great reminder that the relationship with have with ourselves influence the relationship with have with everything in life especially how we move and exercise.
Isn’t it amazing that when people meet Serge Benhayon they can feel the things in their life that ‘need to go’. When you’re in the presence of someone who lives his truth absolutely and presents a quality that we recognise as being true, we cannot but feel the areas of our lives that do not match this, and if we are honest with ourselves we will make a commitment to letting them go. In this instance it wasn’t exercise that needed to go, it was the quality in which you were doing it. A minor switch which made a huge difference.
Johanna, what you are sharing here is really interesting; ‘After each session I have not felt exhausted or drained, or that I have pushed myself. My breathing is fairly consistent’, what I have observed with exercise is that often it is considered part of it it to feel drained and exhausted and breathing heavily – that then it has then been a good workout, this push never felt good when I had a workout and so it is refreshing to read how you now exercise gently and supportively for you without the push and strain and need to prove anything, this feels so much more loving.
Too often we do things to tick boxes or do them the “right” way without first connecting with the purpose and letting that be our guide – without drive or expectation to achieve certain results.
The drive often comes from the mind and when we use the mind’s drive to override our body’s impulses or messages then we are not connected any more and are run by result-driven expectations.
Exercise is a consciousness, that is a big word literally and metaphorically but it is important to state. I have come to realise as someone who exercised with a lot of push and drive, that I had to work hard to strip away the ideals and beliefs about what exercise should look like, how it should feel, every aspect of how I did it. And it is ongoing, because as I become gentler in my exercise routines, I recognise that there is more gentleness to explore, and that the desire to push is still there and needs to be accepted and rebuffed.
The suggestion of being surrendered and delicate in our bodies when we exercise is such a revolutionary one. More so because it actually works better than any other way of exercising in supporting us to be fit for life.
Johanna, it is very timely reading your blog today as I joined a gym yesterday and this morning am about to go for the first time in a while for a gentle gym session and swim.
‘a way to fill the emptiness I felt, to keep me busy and not have any quiet stop moments’
Just recognising this in myself is a big step in confirming I do not need to do this and have actually turned exercise around to be a space where I choose to really focus on me staying present no matter what is going on around me. Today it was busy at the swimming pool and my focus became staying with my rhythm and breath rather than go slower or faster in accordance of those around me. It wasn’t that I was unaware of others, of their pace or got in the way. It was a claiming of my space and rhythm.
Usually I would be so worried about being in the way, or of other’s splashing into me and with the waves I would invariably take water in through my nose or ears. I could feel how I have let other’s agenda’s ‘bully me’ in that I would be so concerned with what they wanted and try to keep out of the way that I would have lost myself. The more I stay with myself the more I am learning that no matter how much others are intent on their need to train, get fit, let off steam, try and feel good about themselves, this energy doesn’t have to be part of me if I am choosing to be with my movements and making them of a quality that supports me – even though we are swimming in the same pool. The bottom line I decided today was that people can swim around me if they want to overtake and I can do similarly.
I am not quite doing enough exercise, especially weights. I should be able to do something about it!
Haha Christoph this is a great and humble observation to make ????????????
After a break from exercise I am missing the support I feel from it and can feel the urge from my body to bring it back with a structure.
I can relate to that too as I have not been to the gym for the past 3 weeks due to travel etc, and my body is telling me it’s time to support it more in exercising and stretching according to where the body is at.
I have come to realise that if I don’t connect with my body and listen to what it is saying the exercise or movements can be counter productive to what the body needs. Rather than imposing on the body any more than I do to just function when I want it to, I now appreciate how it needs to be supported so I can be fully engaged in life.
Great observation Jenny. Exercise without connection is just going to magnify the quality of disconnection and separation in our bodies which harms not only is but everyone else too.
I’m just embarking on a new exercise program because my job has become much more physical, and so it makes sense that increasing my fitness is a great way to support my body and everything that it now needs to do. Exercise can be such a great tool to us if we look it at from the standpoint of what does our body need to do in a day? And are we fit enough for life?
I now exercise to support and strengthen my body and this includes gentle exercise at home, walking and swimming. No haste, drive or goal to be achieved, simply connecting with my body.
Kehinde, that is beautiful
Exercising in respect with our bodies rather than in battle changes everything – the love affair with our greatest ally and guide begins…
I come back to this blog with a sense of my lack of commitment to exercise, its one area where I choose to not embrace for I have a million excuses of no time.. the reality is it would help me greatly and is something for me to just get on and do, but from the basis of a love for myself like I am worth taking care of.
I am swimming at the moment and I love that the only focus I have is the quality of my breath and the surrender of my body. The drive to achieve is completely absent.
“The drive to achieve is completely absent.” – Powerful statement and one to be practised not just in exercise but in all areas of life too. Rather than being driven by the mind to achieve, it would be so much more supportive to allow the impulses of our Soul and body to guide us in our expansion and evolution, be that in exercise, work or all our relationships.
I recently joined a gym which is a big thing for me to do as I do not like gyms, it has taken me right out of my comfort zone. I have committed to going at least 3 times a week as I know my body loves exercise and I have literally been starving it from this!! What I have found/felt is quite amazing. Whenever doing exercise at home during the wind down exercises my whole body would feel completely still, a quality would emanate from me and this is exactly the same as with the gym!
After walking on the treadmill or other machines or doing floor exercises my whole body feels very still that most of the time I cannot believe how it feels. Writing this has helped me to see this instead of a belief … appreciate what I am feeling and what my body is emanating.
I can relate to the turn around, Johanna, in viewing exercise as a means to support and strengthen the body so it is fit for life and purpose, rather than forcing myself to do it in order to have an attractive body shape.
Yes and that goes for everything we do in life, be it in work or social gatherings or our daily living – anything we do in connection with our selves has enormous benefits for all that we are and all that we come into contact with,
That is the same for myself Johanna – “I am appreciating that the way I used to exercise and the way I exercise now and for what reasons are completely different, and feel completely different in my body also. You could say my relationship with exercise has completely changed as a ripple effect from the relationship with myself changing.” Nowadays when I exercise how I go about it, my motivation behind it and how I feel afterwards bear no resemblance at all to how I used to exercise. These days I am with my self, listening to all the signals and adapting accordingly and it feels amazing.
Learning to love my body and not force it or push it to do anything especially exercise is such an awesome place to be. Checking on everytime to see where I am at and the quality that I am bringing to the exercise is a great starting point each time.
Being in the process of redeveloping my relationship with exercise and my body, it is awesome to reflect on this, thanks Natalie.
Yes, and when we feel we are a bit out of tune with it, so easy to check in, listen to the signals and start over.
It is incredible the way most people exercise these days more from a mental approach attained from outside sources and usually resulting in injuries or discomfort in our bodies, it is only until we take a whole body approach that we can start fine-tuning our way back to true health and joy.
I agree Francisco, so often we ouch our bodies in the gym to look a certain way, never being satisfied with how muscly or toned we are as we always want more. And because it is coming from wanting to fill a need we never stop to appreciate ourselves and so we are continually trying to be better. It is crazy really how far we push ourselves as somehow if we achieve our goals suddenly everything will be fixed. It’s a trap I have certainly fallen into and can catch myself going into, so It’s great and important to be aware of why we are doing something and for what purpose.
Bringing some form or exercise into my everyday life has made such a difference. It is not something I do every so often where I really push myself and go to extremes, rather consistently connecting with my body and strengthening areas which need it. I know for myself doing weights, not particularly heavy ones, helps support me feeling strong within myself not just the physical strength. I also find stretching super supportive as with walking. My job is fairly sedentary so I do not need to be super fit and strong but I do need a body that can support me with what I am doing.
This blog really blew the bubble of conventional paradigm of the Gym and health. Exercising for a goal and pushing the body makes body hard and is rather harmful than healthy. I could feel a flow and rhythm when exercise was described in the latter part of the blog. It was beautiful to feel the flow. Thank you for sharing!
Walking is so simple and being on our feet every day and walking is never the same as walking with a focus on being connected to what we feel in the body.
Hear hear, and I can do totally more of the walking with me…
I am finding it very interesting how resistant I am to be going back into exercise having been doing so in previous disregard of my body. It feels there are elements of not wanting to slip back into old patterns at the same time as holding back from the benefits of extending my developing relationship with my body through exercise.
For our entire lives things will need to be adjusted and refined depending on our age, job and relationships, and exercise is certainly something that can massively support us through consistency, but is also laced with a lot of ideals and beliefs. It should never be something we ‘should’ do but something we have the impulse to do, and commit to as part of our rhythm.
“The fact is I was exercising to meet images and to feel I was enough, but not in truth to be healthy. True health supports you to be all of you and I was not using exercise back then to do that – I was using it as one of the ways to cover up insecurities by doing something or looking a particular way.”
How many of us do it for this debilitating reason?
It seems to easy to disregard the body by subjecting it to exercise or movement that just hardens it and yet the body must wear every ill movement and seek to return to harmony.
And it does that no matter what, and we may experience the body seeking to get back to harmony as great discomfort…
My observation is to train muscles like you describe in connection with oneself are much more effective than doing it in a checked out or automatic way. My observation is that the muscles are reached on a much deeper level.
It would be incredible to develop a world wide movement that resets exercise from one of body image and sporting performance to being something much gentler that just supported people to feel stronger and more vital in their day to day lives. It would mean exercise need not be associated with pain and discomfort but with fun and feeling more open and at ease in our bodies. It is something definitely worth exploring.
For sure Stephen.
Its beautifull read the word delicate when a woman (or anyone) is talking about exercise as we normally relate exercise with push, got to do, targets etc. Throughout all of this what I could also feel were the words ‘quality’ and ‘movement’ again taking exercise to a whole different level.
Really loved what you have shared here Johanna, I can relate to a lot of this, the old relationship with exercise versus the new. I can still drop back into the old at times, even so far as neglecting my exercise, but then I come back to connection first and build from there.
Our heads can be such bullies if we allow in those driving thoughts, and when it comes to exercise and an exercise program, it can feel like just wanting to tick the box and move onto the next exercise. Whereas when you make it about how the body feels within each exercise and not the end result, you get the loveliest feel for your body and a much deeper appreciation of our kingly bodies and how gorgeously engineered they are to helping us be all that we are.
I am finding it interesting as I make moves to be more in connection to my body to the objections that my mind is seeming to raise – it seems it does not want to let go at times.
Yes old momentums die hard.
How thick the fog of illusion that binds us with a lack of awareness for the most common sense things.
“No part of me back then put two and two together saying healthy exercise should not be addictive and if you are healthy and looking after your body, you would not be putting a poison that destroys organs and alters you into it”.
Spot on Elizabeth.
The focus on my breath and body has turned my whole world upside down in a good way and has worked miracles with my body.
Exercise is just another way to be with ourselves and to enjoy being with our bodies. It was never meant to be there to punish the body.
I love this awareness Johanna. The difference with walking ‘with you’ to exercising ‘without you’.
“My breathing is fairly consistent and when I walk around during or after a session it is to confirm my connection to me and not to walk off the intensity I have just put my body through, as I used to do”.
It is impossible to compartmentalise areas of our lives as one area affects another yet even though this makes total sense I too hadn’t put two and two together until I came across Universal Medicine. Exercising to burn calories so that I could eat cake was what I used to do… how could this way of being be a healthy way of living?
I reckon a lot of people shy away from exercise because they observe the drive and the harm and the competition a lot of people use it for, but exercise and being fit for life is super important, it’s through exercise that we keep our body supple and fluid and strong enough to handle the daily jobs it needs to do.
It’s so sad that we’ve completely changed the way this is perceived, how today “taking care of the body” equals how much weight one can lift, or how long one can run for…
Following reading this blog, I began to either go for a walk or go to the gym, and when at the gym I really don’t force myself to do anything – I leave the gym feeling a lot more connected and at ease with myself – it’s a beautiful change to go to the gym for that reason!
Yes it’s interesting the drive behind why we do certain things. Exercise is something my body is screaming for, and right now I’m in that in between phase of re-defining what it means to me to exercise. Aware that I am relatively young and yet have Osteopenia is a very good reason for why I should be supporting my body with weight bearing exercises to build my bone density. At the same time, I am also carrying some excess weight that I would like to lose. I don’t want the weight to be the focus, but also feel that if I work on supporting the health of my body, the weight will sort itself out. But not without my commitment to me.
Very interesting sharing Johanna and a subject that I can relate too. The way I exercise these days is very different to how I used to exercise before – I am much more attentive to my body’s needs and I often adjust my exercise routines accordingly. I am learning a lot to honour my body whilst exercising and your sharing gave me some insights to play with. Love the playfulness in exercise!
Developing a gentle exercise plan with ones body in relationship with the whole and lovingly done with our presence and natural flow is simply beautiful, and our body responds with flow and vitality and a gentleness we all come from and know inside.
What a shift Johanna. It’s amazing what we can put our bodies through under the guise of being healthy and caring for ourselves. But when we really take a look at how we are doing these things, often it is box ticking and comes from the head saying what we should do, rather than the body saying “Hey, this is what works for me” and staying with that connection to the body.
The whole idea of making it about quality first before even moving a finger takes into consideration that everything is energy before physical form and defines what the body will experience and express. Understanding the body not just a mechanical and biochemical ‘machine but as a vehicle of expression for the energy/quality it is governed by also requires a new approach to exercise as you very practically describe.
My body loves exercising in a gentle present way as opposed to making it do unnecessary harmful movements, and now I can enjoy as I exercise instead of hating each moment.
Since reading about playfulness in exercise and how I can be so serious I went for a swim this afternoon and remembered this. My movements were much more playful and fun and to my surprise what was exposed was judgement and could let go of this which is lovely.
Exercise is such an interesting one – there is so many ideals and pictures of how you should do things and how you should look. I still have moments where I can feel these creeping in and then I remind myself to really connect and feel my body deeply as I exercise and these simply disappear.
I agree Natalie. I too have to pay attention to old ways of exercising and remember to exercise in a way to support my body.
I went to the gym last week, something I have been putting off for months. I felt anxious as I had not been to the gym for over twenty years but the feeling of going had been building and I just had to go. I signed up and the emotional feelings became more intense bringing back old memories as I walked to the gym. As I let go of the ideals and beliefs associated with exercise and indeed there are many. Even though others surface one thing for sure now is that going to the gym is not such an ordeal as I had made it so. Earlier I was attached to an image of how to work out and chose to not listen and connect to my body.
i have a similar experience. As my body changes and becomes more and more tender my way of exercising changes as well.
‘…bringing gentleness, tenderness and playfulness into movements.’ Thanks for this. I realise I am very serious about how I exercise and to be playful is a wonderful way to be; bringing the joy back into life.
It really is like everything we do in life, we either do it to better ourselves on an endless journey following the carrot or we do it from a true place within that knows it will support us back to the already amazing being we are.
I like the way that you have developed your own exercise routine to support you in being your own woman, this feels like a very powerful commitment to yourself and to bringing all of who you are to life.
It is a beautiful thing to excercise to bring more of ourselves to life, and not to better or exhaust ourselves.
Exercising or doing anything to attempt to ‘meet images’ we have created or bought into is dangerous and yet we are all caught in it, work, marriage, parenting, gender, none stop ideas and pictures about what that looks like, rather than feeling it for ourselves. Time to take another approach and come back to the quality the body feels in situations and all moments and live from there.
I have found the same thing with yoga. I was never really into the usual forms of yoga, but when I dipped into it the focus was always on achieving certain postures. Now I do Esoteric yoga, and the focus is all about the quality of movement. It provides me with a platform for life. It helps me to stay with myself, remain connected to my body and to move in a way that honours myself and others. It is not goal orientated. So very different from pushing the body into shapes!
We do. There are many beliefs, ideals out there that we choose to take on to not be with ourselves. The problem is when the masses seem to make it all ‘normal’ we loose our ability to question. Hence the importance of feeling, being present and listening to our body.
I always feel so much more solid and stable when I go to the gym regularly and observe my body.
Absolutely Michael. I feel the same when I do my execise programs.
Brilliant, Fiona… this was a big change for me when I realised that exercise was a foundation for my day, something to take into my day, not an isolated event to achieve and tick a box with.
What I love about the relationship I am developing with my body and exercise is that it is ongoing and seems to be beautifully endless… there is potential that has been untapped for so long and this feels very inspiring.
This feels beautiful Matilda. Ever growing ,not something static.
“The fact is I was exercising to meet images and to feel I was enough, but not in truth to be healthy. True health supports you to be all of you…” – absolutely Johanna, without the pictures or images, we are left alone, to see ourselves and the result of all of what has obscured the natural beauty of our true selves from being there; us being all of us as you say. Mostly we don’t want to see what we see or feel what we do feel, and the image becomes a handy replacement, though a replacement that covers so heavily eventually it makes us crack.
Getting over exercise habits is quite difficult, I was also somebody who was addicted to the gym a few years back. Recently I have tried going back to the gym and reimprint it all, however it’s proving difficult. It’s almost like I have no idea how to exercise because everything I know is used to lose weight or Harden my body, it really is a learning process.
Thank you Johanna for sharing you experience with exercise, it is amazing that you are now doing much the same exercises as you previously did in the past but with a huge difference by feeling into and connecting with the body and the quality of what each movement brings, no push, drive or addiction, just loving care.
I used to go to the gym to justify drinking and going out. And it caught up with me and my body pretty quickly. To see exercise as a true support and not an identification was a big shift for me.
Not only do you describe a different way of exercising but also the science of clearing oneself from images, ideals and beliefs that keep us from feeling and being who we naturally are and thus do whatever in life not by dictation of any pictures of how we should be but from an inner impulse that is in harmony with the body and a well-balanced state of being.
The more I exercise with presence and feeling my body, the more I feel the absolute beauty and wonder of my body and how enjoyable it actually is to spend this quality time with myself in this gentle and honouring way.
Yes, it’s mind-blowing! To walk out of the gym not out of breath but very connected and content that I didn’t sweat is something very new and amazing. Although, sometimes my brain kicks in and tries to convince me that I shouldn’t be feeling that way haha.
I was never really addicted to exercise, I went because it was the thing to do. I went later in life, after I had the children when I felt I needed to work my body a bit again. I never enjoyed any of it then. Nowadays however, when I go to the Gym and I work out in support of my body, strengthening and listening to its messages as I work out, feeling the flow and how I feel afterwards, it is such a supportive thing for me to do, and the way it changed for me, the way I exercise these days and most importantly the why, is due to the presentations by Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine, which have let me feel the beauty that my body is and supported me in understanding that my body is the house of my soul – and it’s great to have a solid house built on a good foundation. 🙂
Finding a new and true way of exercise and movement from a real quality and way of being with myself has changed my life also and is an ever ongoing way of honouring my body and all I am and allows a flow and harmony whilst working with my body and a more loving approach to everything in my life
Johanna what really comes through is the fact that its not what we do but our relationship with how we do what we do that truly makes a difference, things that can be supportive for us can be harmless if we approach them without a true quality.
No matter what we do, even exercise if the quality we engage in it with is one of trying to cover up our insecurities instead of supporting and confirming who we truly are the routines are never sustainable or even health-full.
Just what was called for today Johanna! I can feel that each time I lose my purpose and get distracted, the process has started when I lose my dedication to my relationship with my body. Such a simple, yet profound, lesson.
I can so much relate Lucy. And it’s amazing to see how the body loves cominng back to some physical activities!
Exercise can be used to fortify our protection and barrier us from others and the world or it can be turned to in order to support ourselves deeply and to build a body that can support the expression of Love that we are and is needed by others.
There are many activities that are considered to be healthy or good for us, idealized and practiced with fervor for all the good reasons we think we are doing it, but only too often this is not in harmony with what would be truly healing, harmonious and supportive for our body, wellbeing and essence. It is not before we know how to connect to, feel and understand our body and expose the ideals and beliefs that otherwise keep us from such inner knowing that we can practice true health, wellbeing and expression of who we are.
In the past I would have said I enjoyed exercising. But now I would ask what part of exercise was truly joyfull when I was pushing myself well beyond my bodies limits to the point of physical pain. The only true enjoyment in exercise can come from experiencing it all from the lovely way the body moves from within and the support the exercise is offering it.
Yes! I remember one time I almost passed out when after a run. When I started training in netball my team mates were always very worried for me because I used to get very red in my face and looked unwell – my body was screaming at me to stop, but who was listening?
“Creating an exercise plan to support me rather than to attain a goal or an image is something that I would have laughed at years ago” And I think you are not alone in this. It would sound like common sense that we exercise to support our bodies but in reality this is not always the case. Exercise is often used as a tick box exercise ‘that we have now burnt so many calories so we can have this unhealthy fatty snack now’. Looking at the body though this totally makes no sense as an unhealthy fatty snack will always be unhealthy and fatty to the body independent of how many calories we burn. Not to mention that exercise is to support the body not loose calories or excess weight we are constantly putting on by a particular way of living. It is then wiser to change that way of living first.
I was observing some men exercising in the gym today. The strain on their faces was extreme as the weights they were lifting were clearly too heavy. They had to use every accessory muscle to move the weights and the strain on the lower back was obvious. As I contemplated this, it seemed there was a mix of pride and pressure from the other men to lift heavy weights rather than isolating and exercising the specific muscles well with a lower weight. The only way this can change is if we really get to know and value our bodies over anything outside ourselves.
It is time to redefine what being healthy is, to be that which comes from within and allows us to function on the physical level with whatever we do but also takes into consideration the quality we relate to with others and the way we meet the world either from a constant reaction or with a deeper level of understanding and love.
Health is certainly been approached to date as an outer attainment and goal and seldom if ever is the focus truly inward or considering of the bigger picture of which we are part.
Having been re-inspired through conversation with friends and reading these blogs, I began to exercise again yesterday after a break of a few months. In this time, I could feel a releasing of the accumulation effects of how I had been exercising and eating prior to now. Yesterday felt totally different, I was far more aware and able to be guided by my body in what to do and how as I exercised. Love it. I can feel how this is new relationship which can develop every time I exercise and in truth every time I move.
I find exercise really supports me throughout the day. It prepares my body for what is ahead allowing me to be on the front foot. My job is not very physical amd I sit at a desk most of the day so doing some stretches, weights and walking keeps everything flowing. I also feel more of a strength in my body both physically and energetically when I exercise – it is as if the focus brings me more into my body and less in my head.
“a relief and false release of any pent up tension, anger, fury, frustration or suppressed/unexpressed feelings”
Johanna, this is a big one, its so often that i hear people telling me how much better they feel after exercise, I too remember using it like a momentary relief. Despite the aches and pains in my body, I used to feel quite high and elated after my daily cycle ride across London, not only because i’d arrived home alive but because the adrenalin pumping through my body would give me a sense of elation that overrode the negative/given up feelings that pervaded much of my life.
How much of exercise that people get into these days is totally abusive to the body and harms totally in the quest for the ultimate body? We only have one body so why do we put it through so much unnecessary abuse? We do have to ask ourselves that question over and over again until we can answer it honestly and then move on to start to rebuild the body of love that we all truly desire.
How gorgeous to exercise in celebration of ourselves – that is an exercise program worth sharing with the world!
That is going to be my focus as I exercise from now on – whether it be weights or walking, or whatever my body feels it needs at the time… thank you for your inspiration Johanna 🙂
When we have an outcome, something we are striving towards, there is a tension in our bodies. And then we move with this tension whilst exercising which puts an enormous strain on our muscles, ligaments, tendons – in fact our whole body. Compare this to exercising in a way that honours how our body is feeling in that moment, in a way that is gentle with no expectations, creates a harmonious flow within our body that not only supports our body but brings a warmth and vitality that nourishes us through and through.
It is deeply honouring of ourselves to connect before we exercise or move… indeed before we breath, for if we are not discerning and present with our every movement, we are not truly living life and breathing our own breath.
Exercising with fluidity and flow in true movement is a needed re-evolution.
I love exercising now because I can feel my body and what it is working and how my body feels when doing it. Before I was totally checked out, abusive and disregarding. Today though I have deepened this connection and it starts to become obvious what is not loving. Our intent is key and quality in the way we are doing things, exercise included.
I love what you’re sharing here, Johanna, about the old way you used to exercise and what exercise means to you now. I too used to exercise in a way that showed a complete lack of true appreciation for my body. I wanted it to ‘look’ a certain way, but felt quite dis-connected from it. I used to exercise with a tremendous drive, pushing my body to ridiculous limits. I was particularly touched by your point about now ‘bringing gentleness, tenderness and playfulness into movements’ – feels deeply honouring of the body, and, therefore, of you.
This is a clear exposure of how most of us human beings approach many things in life, and exercise is a great example; what is a natural and basic function for the body becomes an ideal and a “have to do” bound by rules, and so becomes an obsession. All in order to make us feel good about ourselves. But the body is a flowing moving organism and gives us all we need to feel and know if we listen to it and follow it, so ultimately the truth is to get to know it intimately and how it loves to move rather than trying to control it and driving it to achieve things our minds think they want. Practicing being present, mind with body, as you do Johanna, is how we return to knowing our true essence and living with harmony within ourselves.
It makes such a difference when I listen to my body and do the amount and type of exercise that feels true for the day. What I used to do and can still at times, is exercise to tick a box…yep, that’s done for the day… rather then make it a natural part of my daily rhythm for the sole purpose of caring for my vehicle of expression so my body does not hinder my service.
There is a big difference between being ‘strong’ and being hard. Strength is found in connection with the body, whereas hardness is an external fortress that appears solid, yet is void of this connection.
Rote repetitions and working to an exercise plan just in order to tick the boxes – what are we really doing to ourselves here? Is it possible that it is just the mind that gets off on such ‘accomplishments’ and that we are doing our physical body a disfavour?
Exercise is one of the most loving things we can do for our bodies. If we exercise in a way that truly supports the body it is then able to support us within our life and work. It makes total sense to look after it in this way.
I often hear people saying that exercise takes the stress away, makes them less tense and relaxes them. The thing is though that this is a temporal solution in which the body is actually under even more stress, adding to the compounding in our bodies. It is no wonder some people are addicted to the feeling of exercising. It would be far more wise to address the root cause of our stress and anxiety rather then to seek exercise as a way of escaping them.
I used to feel that too, when in truth, I wasn’t connected enough to know how I was feeling in my body. Rather than being relaxed, I was exhausted and wanting to ‘check out’.
As I bring exercise back into my weekly routine this week, this blog offers a great reflection of making of true support and not a false purpose.
The intention we have behind anything is really important, and choosing to do exercise specifically to strengthen the body to do what it needs to do and not for a look or to check out from the body, is very simply to support the body and confirm how amazing it actually is through appreciation of it.
Staying with the body during movements is truly enjoyable to do and nourishes the body beautifully, with our own self love.
I too have been addicted to exercise or more accurate addicted to the need to have my body look a certain way. If I didn’t do my regular workout I too would get irritable and tetchy. I was so attached that I completely ignored my husband suggesting that my discipline to exercise was not healthy. I eventually gave it up and stopped exercise altogether until a few years ago when I introduced gentle stretches into my day. But exercise like everything is about evolution and so I began to exercise with a focus on my body changing the intent to being with my body as I exercised; a very different approach to hardening the body to achieve a desired look.
Thank you Johanna, I too used exercise in a way to get a relief and to achieve a look of what I thought was being healthy, it might have worked on the outside as people commented on my physique, however, it was a different story of how I was feeling on the inside and the level of insecurity and anxiousness I lived with. It is a different story nowadays when I exercise from a connection and deep appreciation of my beingness not to achieve a look but more of a celebration of who I am.
I love how this blog offers a refreshing look on exercise – that exercise does not have to have the focus of ‘having a tight bum’; ‘to be fit and sexy’; ‘to be a part of the gym crowd’ ‘loosing weight’; ‘dealing with stress’ etc etc…rather it is about developing a relationship with ourselves that honours the needs of the physical body and our general fitness and well being. So first and foremost it is about our relationship with ourselves, and then second it is about being fit and healthy etc. The being is being honoured here and met first prior to any physical activity taking place. After all there is more to us than the physical aspect, and when we meet and greet this deeper part of ourselves, who knows where we can take it on all levels?
Johanna your blog describes how I once used to exercise and it was not supportive for my body. I’m in the process of re-imprinting my relationship with my body, exercise and the gym. Being present with every step I take has really assisted me being present whilst I’m at the gym.
I observe other people especially women huffing, puffing & jarring their bodies as they workout and it hurts my ears when I hear this and once I was no different to them. I continue my routine, which has no set routine anymore that supports what I fancy on that day.
It’s lovely reading your blog so supportive of where I am with my ‘new’ way of exercising.
It certainly makes a huge difference on our bodies and on how we feel when we connect and move with our bodies during exercise, or anything really. I used to exercise strictly to get fit, look good and to numb myself years ago, and when I first started to do exercise again, I could feel the drive start to come in as I got into an exercise. So great to feel that and bring myself back to feeling me and how amazing it feels to give myself the space to feel my body and the loveliness there when I move.
Love what is being shared here about true exercise and the way it tunes the body when the focus has been on the quality of the breath and movements so that the body can regenerate whilst exercising.
Reading your blog again today has brought a deeper clarity to me on why I exercise and how I can approach it differently. I still have that “I’d prefer to avoid it/it’s a drag” mentality when in fact it brings so many benefits to my day and I do enjoy doing it. I am still reacting to how I used to exercise instead of appreciating the changes I have made, and the new way I can approach it – your dot point list on this was very helpful to clarify things and being in a new sense of purpose.
I love this… as a confirmation that it is not what but how we do things that makes the difference and the fact that with this insight I am empowered to make respectful and loving choices for myself.
Yes, it can beautifully complement the rest of the day or be quite disruptive. It can be fun and enjoyable or hard work.
My main exercise is walking, alone or with a partner. Doing it everyday has been very supportive.
‘During exercise I am always aware of my breath, having a surrendered feeling in my body and being aware of how my body is feeling as it is exercising.’ This way of exercising is beautiful and I have found it has amazing benefits as I move back into my day with a deeper connection to my body and to everything around me.
Absolutely Jane its sets a solid marker for how we move through our day & makes it easier to clock when we have stepped out of this flow and into drive or reactions.
It is an awesome feeling when we have exercised in this way and what is then on offer through this deeper connection which encompasses all we come into contact with.
Thank you for what you have written here Johana as it is very similar to my experience of Serge Benhayon.
“From the presentations by Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine, and the reflection Serge offers through his responsible lived choices and his caring way of being, I have been constantly inspired to be more of the true me and stand in my own unique and divine presence, letting go of the false ideals, patterns and beliefs that have contorted who I was naturally born to be; from here I then bring the natural and true me into every facet of my life, more and more each day.”
Being fit enough to respond if attacked was always a driving force within me for many years… and then to address the core fear and to feel that heal has been such a revelation ( and great for my body as well ..:-) )
Great point Chris – I too have always had this drive to be fit for reasons outside of myself. In fact much of my exercise was done in a way to harden myself so I would not feel all that was going on around me. And I still find that it is hard for me to fully claim a different relationship with exercise, today and am working on developing this, giving myself the opportunity to explore just being with me and heeding my body’s needs rather than an ideal or belief to exercise a certain way.
In all the years of intense training I really never felt satisfied or that I had done ‘enough’. Now that I am much more connected with my body, my quiet walks, moderate gym weights and slow stretches feel deeply satisfying.
The out of reach goals of performance and outcome based exercise versus the fulfilment and sense of completion from exercise in respectful relationship with our bodies… the latter for me please!
Exercise and how I was brought up in approaching it was all about the doing of the exercise and no connection with the body at all. So to bring my awareness to my body and how it feels and not overturning it and pushing it I can feel how lovin and caring this really is.
It is so easy to fall into a familiar pattern of behaviour because it relieves a tension in us, but it does not mean that we experience true wellbeing.
So great to read this again, and be inspired to reengage with my body with exercise and deepening my connection to movement and how that will support – everything!
Even just your first point about what exercise means for you today is amazing, ‘remaining with and building the connection with my body’, the key being the words ‘remaining with’ and ‘building’… Exercise doesn’t have to be a struggle to attain a completely different body shape, look a certain way and achieve something. but can instead be a way to develop and more easily maintain a high quality, integrity and focus throughout our day.
It is beautiful when we deeply appreciate our bodies because then we exercise for a different reason and in a different way.
My body has been naturally fit and strong throughout my life – I have always done a lot of walking – but now I am getting older I am building a new relationship with exercise that keeps me connected with my body and what it needs in the most beautiful expansive way.
What I have found is an important development with exercise is to constantly adapt to the body, so on a day where I may feel excessively tired, it may be most supportive to still exercise but knock back the intensity, making it more about feeling the body in the movements.
What a beautiful way to exercise and honour your body a delight to read and an inspiration for all of us learning the true way to exercise for our body with the harmony within.
This is beautiful what you share, being aware of our bodies and the movements, honouring the movements and surrendering into the exercises and stretches feel more loving and supportive than having a drive to complete some moves. Thank you for sharing.
I’ve been working Sundays for a while now and for some reason because its Sunday I don’t do my morning exercise and am paying the price for the first thing I did on Sunday was to twist around lifting something and not being completely present I pulled a muscle in my back. This shows me how important the exercises are and the older we get the more gentle and present we have to be.
It is interesting you raise the addiction element here. The thing is – if you are addicted to exercise no one questions it. We see it as a good thing and healthy but any addiction is still
an addiction.
“….my own exercise plan that I tailored just for me, as a support to bring all of me to life, to confirm the unique flavor my essence offers and me as being my own woman, not one dictated to by societal images: – what a program Johanna, and also what freeing inspiration too — to exercise in such quality brings that quality to life, and what a way to live!
Being on online dating sites lately I have become aware of how much drive there is in men to present a body that is considered ideal to a woman. You get photos of abs and bare chests to display this, rather like a wild animal puffing out its chest or displaying mating behaviour! I have also noticed that one of the first things that they mention is that they are fit and active. It is great to take good care of your body but not just so you meet the approval of men, women or society. You can feel such a vast difference when someone exercises because it is part of their self-care and love of themselves.
I find exercising to support my body rather than trying to achieve a goal is a real game changer. It means I enjoy it and the benefits are with me throughout my day. I feel how when I use weights to build my body to strengthen my arms and open my chest how much stronger I feel within my body – im not using crazy heavy weights as my job does not require that but they definitely give me a great grounding in my body. I also love playing about with different stretches freeing up my body to flow more when I move and walk.
Johanna, this feels like a very nurturing and beautiful way to exercise; ‘bringing gentleness, tenderness and playfulness into movements, feeling a fluidity and flow, quality of movement, not quantity.’ This is so different to what I observe with exercise in our society and very different to how I used to exercise – which was to look a certain way rather than to connect with me, how gorgeous to exercise gently and playfully.
What exercise means for you today is glorious. I’ve started swimming regularly and it’s a wonderful way of observing my relationship with me, others and the universe. If I get distracted, my rhythm goes and I instantly get buffeted by other people’s wake and breathe in water. As I develop my relationships with others I notice how I am with people swimming is less protective as I feel we are all equals. I’m noticing how my shoulders are feeling more free and moving not as one block but individually.
Reading this reminded me once of a time that I used to do an exercise walk, and on that walk, stop and have a cigarette! Crazy now when I look back on it…actually I knew it was a bit crazy at the time but I also got some ‘enjoyment’ out of it as well…I enjoyed being one thing and then the opposite. Not such a fan of consistency in those days 🙂
I enjoyed returning to this blog as I felt so much joy a couple of months ago introducing a supportive exercise routine. These days I feel what worked then doesn’t work now. Like in the exercise my body knows when to adjust/change movements, updating my exercise routine is no different. Thank you for this reminder.
I can relate to this Leigh, if we listen its amazing how the body is constantly asking us to refine our choices and adapt to the cycles that we are energetically aligned to and supported by.
‘So now – it’s a miracle really… the same exercise but in a different and true quality that supports the body.’ This feels so important – it seems that we often assume we cannot do something if we have been doing it and felt negative effects, it is possible that in changing how it is done it can be truly supportive. (Of course, this is not always the case, depending on what it is we are doing.)
So interesting how the OBJECTIVE of exercise can change the whole experience and whether it harms or heals our body… It sounds strange that exercising could be harming, but it’s not uncommon these days to wreck/push ourselves to gain muscle, lose weight etc. and this can actually cause health problems, exhaustion, strain or pain.
When we talk about exercise these days we wouldn’t normally associate – “Deepening my Relationship with Myself”, but that is exactly what you are sharing here. It is really wonderful to read an account of someone really developing a loving relationship with exercise, versus it being about hard work, sweat and tears. But honouring, love and a relationship with you. Very inspiring.
Geeat article, Johanna. This is the way to be with exercise to bring it into a movement supporting the day.
I have been allowing myself the care required to deal with a recent health issue over the last two weeks but now am looking forward to gradually reintroducing exercise in a supportive way – will be coming back to this blog.
It’s amazing how much we use exercise – to give us relief, escape, a change in our body shape, time out, a way of feeling like we’ve worked hard, or a way of working off or feeling better after we’ve indulged… and all if these things seem like a very ‘normal’ relationship with exercise – yet none of them are really about building a quality in our body that sustains us in life.
Exercise is used in so many ways in society today but very few of them are true and nurturing for the body.
Interesting how when we exercise for a particular look, it essentially is saying that we do not like how we are or how we look already and so we seek to change this. Hence this form of exercise will only confirm that how we are is not OK, rather than celebrate who and how we are and build upon this. Thank you Johanna for helping to explore the motivations for exercise and busting some well needed myths that stop us from exercising in a way to really support the body!
Exercise mostly always had a focus on how my body looked. That was the main motivation behind it. It could be very subtle but that was why I exercised. These days, it’s my body that leads the way and is based on how my body feels. How long my morning walk is is based on what my body dictates. The desire to stretch and what stretches I do comes from my body letting me know what it wants. It is quite a glorious feeling to be in connection with the body and to work with the body.
What a beautiful place to come to. I remember being hard on myself and judging myself to look a particular way. When I am with my fullness it is my movements, my silliness and my quality I feel and enjoy. Knowing this is emanating from my eyes and my walk and my touch and my quality is walking heaven on earth.
A truly inspiring blog. I definitely lost my way with exercise and was very competitive until I discovered Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine, who taught me to look at everything in my life from a totally different angle. Awesome!
Feeling my body become stronger and fuller from the inside, inspires me to take care of this precious body of mine even more.
Many of us did not exercise to support our bodies in truth, so then we gave it away. We now need to re-imprint our attitude to exercise and get back to it, as many, particularly women’s bodies, are not strong enough to handle all of what we need to do in life.
Mary Louise – this is spot on. I have been feeling that I really need to develop an exercise routine to really build my body. Exercise in a way that supports the body is no different and just as important as eating and food choices – if we avoid food or we eat poorly then after a while the body begins to show the effects of it. However, it is never too late to begin to build a basic exercise routine that then has room to expand as our body needs it.
This is a very confirming blog as I also made exercising more about quality instead of quantity . Your sharing suppots me to more appreciate it.
It’s interesting how we tend to want to push our body beyond its limits and somehow we think that this is good for us. Taking the time to slow down, connect and be gentle with our body can help us to feel our true quality, and once we feel this we would never want to push our body again.
I agree Ariana, and whatever we chose to do, I find is changed when I choose to do it with connection to my body.
Making exercise about supporting the body, gentleness and love completely transforms our relationship with it, making it something we want, not have to do.
The distinction that the old way of exercising was about trying to meet images, covering up insecurities and feeling enough, and that the new way is supporting you to be the whole of you with a focus on quality instead of quantity, is huge. We can apply this to all aspects of life: how often do we sell out to quantity and ticking boxes rather than a quality that truly supports us in every way to be all that we are?
When we go into drive to achieve a goal our body cops it. We are not working with our body any more, we are working against it.
‘….to confirm the unique flavor my essence offers and me as being my own woman, not one dictated to by societal images.’ Although I’ve been aware of how I exercise and the quality I am when doing so I hadn’t quite got that this is also about confirming the unique flavour my essence offers. Recently I realised that I haven’t valued myself or what I bring so how wonderful to open up exercise being able to bring this to my awareness too.
Wow, a (currently) somewhat radical but entirely beautiful purpose to exercise, that lets go completely of exercising to be more, fitter, stronger, and instead is confirming of everything we already are “Me remaining with my connection while exercising, supporting the powerful and amazing woman I am.”
The massive change in how I exercise has been that I used to exercise to try and find myself and bring myself confidence or find myself but now I connect to me first and use exercise and movement to confirm and expand this knowing.
“So now – it’s a miracle really… the same exercise but in a different and true quality that supports the body.” Being aware and present with every movement has totally transformed how I do exercises and how I feel about it at the end. I really love doing my exercises in the morning, it gives me an opportunity to connect to me and how my body is feeling so that I am aware of this as I go through my day. If there is pain in my back or I feel more fragile than usual them I can make space for this in my day and make sure that I honour this feeling and don’t override it.
The old consciousness of exercise is alive and kicking in swimming pools too. A conversation with one of the regulars at my local swimming pool with one to the regulars was revealing. He shared that he timed his swim speeds, the goal being to achieve faster times. He also swam in competition with other swimmers and felt less and disappointed with himself when other swimmers raced passed him. I was shocked, I had no idea someone would enter the pool with all these ideals and expectation in their heads and be pushing themselves and competing instead of simply enjoying the swim. And then I remembered when I swam with a goal in mind, to swim a certain number of lengths and also feeling disappointed when others swam faster than I did. Now I swim for enjoyment and practice being consciously present with myself as I swim.
This is a great point Kehinde – there are powerful consciousnesses around exercise, fitness and sport which I know for me I have recently found myself taking on in exercise. Great then to observe them and nominate them so as to distinguish what comes from them, as opposed to from the body.
When we are connected to our body we naturally understand and honour how precious it is and would not allow any form of abuse to occur. We would move very differently and more lovingly to when we are disconnected to our body.
Yes, Johanna, I could say that a lot of my life looks similar to how it was many years ago, but the way I choose to live and carry myself is entirely different, and is of a quality that just gets more and more beautiful every day.
I love what you’ve shared Johanna and it highlights that we can’t just have an exercise program that we do each time we exercise but more a series of different exercises that we do depending on how we are feeling. I know some days my body wants to stretch and other days some light weights or walking.
“The amazing part for me to feel is that even though many of the exercises are the same as I used to do many years ago… the quality of exercising is completely different.” Yes, it is this quality that is key here and which supports us to be able to really make true changes to how we treat our bodies, and the same quality can be applied to absolutely everything that we do.
The body is supported by Movements; We cannot get anywhere by staying stagnant.
Johanna thank you. ‘every time I make time to delicately practise presence in my movement, it builds and becomes a natural way of being in my general daily activities.’ to have consistency as you have shared supports bringing those qualities to other areas of our life.
Simply allowing our bodies to tell us what is right makes a massive difference to how we treat them. This morning I did some simple stretching exercises and in listening to my body I realised just how much it really knows about what is support and what is a push or drive coming from somewhere else – I have spent a lot of time involved in sport, exercise and fitness but felt unsure of how to move forward with it now but simply listening to my body I do not need to know this, just be guided by my body for it knows already.
The exercises may look the same but when we change the quality and intention with which we approach them, everything changes. I agree, thank you Johanna.
It is amazing the difference it makes to be consciously present whatever the activity is. Without it we deny ourselves the opportunity to experience life fully: much passes us by when we’re completely lost in the world of the mind.
A amazing understanding of exercise in true harmony and flow of our bodies and such a game changer to the long established exercise trends and beliefs out there . A beautiful relationship with the whole way we live and move and the effects and energy we use that shows so simply the real support and way of living we as humanity can adopt and live that would change our health and relationships with everything.
There is so much to delve into with this blog. The quality that we do what we do and “not to walk off the intensity I have just put my body through” were two areas that have stopped me this morning. How often do we pay attention to the ‘moment’ of activity and then go phew, got that bit right – I was so present, and then walk off and forget to take that into the rest of your day? How often are these moments built into bigger moments to end up being an analogy for going days/weeks/months perhaps even years without being aware?
I am seeing a pattern with many things in life and exercise is a great example where we can often turn it into a tool for relief of life’s tension or a tool to abuse our body. Yet, exercise can be very nurturing if we use it in a gentle and loving way. We are blessed with many things in life but how we use it can be either supportive or harming. Your blog Johanna shows us that everything relates back to the quality of energy we choose that matters, is it healing or harming?
‘exercise can be very nurturing if we use it in a gentle and loving way’ Yes it can Chan and blogs like Johanna’s expose existing beliefs around exercise and offer a new way to be with ourselves. Imagine your words lit high on bill boards or videos made showing just how beautiful and nourishing exercise can be. It’s unfortunate so many people are caught in an abusive cycle and harming their bodies without realising it.
‘even though many of the exercises are the same as I used to do many years ago… the quality of exercising is completely different’ – We have good days and bad days all the time, but what we don’t often realise is that we do thereabouts the same things, it’s just the QUALITY in which we do them that changes.
‘True health supports you to be all of you’, the moment we make love the focus everything changes. One of the greatest supports I have found, like you started with, is walking. I find it is a great tool at bringing me back to feeling what is going on with my body and how I am feeling.
Like you James, I am supported by walking when I do so with conscious presence. A walk always marks where I am: with my body or mind and offers a great opportunity to bring myself back to my body. Imagine we have this great and free therapy-walking-and yet the majority of people, as I once did, walk without awareness and understanding of its healing potential.
Exercise is something I have done in the past and the next day felt completely smashed wanting to eat the entire fridge!
It took a while of exercising like this and then feeling awful the next day to realise it doesn’t have to be that way, now I am much more likely to take it very easy while I am exercising by making sure I connect to the quality I am in rather then overriding the screams from my body.
I think it’s awesome to be able to build an exercise plan that is in response to the body. This is so different to the trend of us wanting the industry to tell us what to do.
“My ‘Old’ and ‘New’ Relationship with Exercise” – when i look back on my former exercise days with various cardio and burning exercises, i essentially [unknowingly, or willingly blindly] exercised for a host of imbedded ideals, beliefs or pictures about myself over exercising [now, these days] truly for my body and to support it/it’s ease-full harmony. The two are very different; the difference boiling down always to quality over anything.
Exercise is often used to get us somewhere or bring us something – whether it be relief from the day, a look, a level of fitness, a level of protection etc – But rarely is it simply a part of our self-care and a way of supporting our quality during the day.
The quality of connection with our bodies is key in whatever it is we do.
I can so relate to your old and new ways of exercising Johanna… it is great to lay it all out on the table so to speak, and then the clarity, understanding and healing this offers inspires us further.
Life, and the way we live it, completely changes when we let go of all the pictures of how we think it should look.
Having had a break from exercise due to checking an ill momentum I was in with it and now due to health I miss it for it’s support of having a body which is supported by being strong and flexible. Looking forward to exercising in full regard of my body.
I found that if I do things from my body, be they exercise or even working on a computer, they are transformed when I am doing them from my body – higher quality and more enjoyable, especially while I am in the process.
Thank you Johanna, quality of movement is surprisingly powerful, I recently did a one hour online Esoteric Yoga and Esoteric Connective Tissue Therapy class and even though I barely moved the vitality, clarity and feeling of wellness in my body afterwards was astonishing. This was definitely from the way I moved, not the amount of movement.
Supporting our true e expression requires of us a true, strong body – a foundation of loving movements and preparation for all that we are to bring forth.
excercise is a very important part of our lives, to keep ourselves fit and able to take on life. Doing this in connection to our body is bringing the true support.
The more I come to love and appreciate my body the easier it is to exercise in a way that supports that loving connection. Exercise then changes to something that is light and fun and a truly loving thing for the body.
Yes, it is quite amazing how something that is hard work can be fun!
Exercise alone is not a way to lose weight – I remember years ago, when I was overweight, I went to the gym 3 times a week for a whole year and my weight didn’t change. There are so many factors that affect our weight and how we feel about ourselves is one of them. How we feel about ourselves also affects how much we choose to exercise – it is possible to get into a very sluggish way of being where our whole life becomes one big slump. Making a small decision to do just a few minutes exercise each day can make a huge difference as our body responds to the care we take.
I’ve gone from “I wanna look good to attract women” to “I want to build my body to support me in all my work and feel strong and vital”. What a difference UniMed and Serge Benhayon have made!
When we re-connect to the truth of who we are more and make it about love our relationship with everything can change including our relationship with exercise. I have changed so much in my life with the support of Universal Medicine but what I am feeling now is how this change and movement of love is forever deepening as I can feel where I am still allowing things in my life such as food that no longer support me and hold me back from being all that I am … time to love myself more deeply than I ever have done before and only I can do this for myself.
‘The gorgeous part is that every time I make time to delicately practise presence in my movement, it builds and becomes a natural way of being in my general daily activities.’ Thank you for sharing the true power of exercise Johanna. Beautiful.
When I used to exercise it was very driven by outcomes – better my time, beat my opponent, lose weight or get fit for an event. In all the drive to achieve what I had set up to do there was a severe lack of caring for my body and simply enjoying my exercise at the time I was doing it. If you had asked me back then if I enjoyed exercising I would say I did but the truth is I only enjoyed the fact that I was heading to a goal. I now know there is a very different way of exercising and this way of exercising my body and I love. Bringing a deeper awareness to my body and feeling it let me know what truly works for it or not changes the quality of the way I exercise and that feels so beautiful.
Thank you Johanna for inspiring me to re-assess my relationship with exercise. Until the last few years I have avoided exercise – I had a great resistance to sport and exercise in general and was so closed off from my body that I would deny the resistance I was feeling. Gradually I have come to enjoy my time spent with me – which over time I too have tailored to support my body and to appreciate this time of connection – as I do my exercises I allow space for me to come back to stillness and to marvel at how much my body appreciates the gentle stretches and rhythm, as I can feel the expansion that the exercise allows.
I have come from being gym and exercise phobic, to actually offering advice on these subjects to the people I work with…amazing..how could this change…not because I suddenly became a gym addict or wanted to lose loads of weight…it is because I began to understand that the body responds to exercise well, if we are supportive with it and we do not need to do the pushy forceful sort of exercise it can be gentle, purposeful and sustainable. I love it now.
My relationship with exercise is all evolving and I still have much to learn. What works for me is staying conscious of the fact that the purpose of the exercise is so much bigger than just me and my body. How I exercise and the strength, fitness and condition of my body directly relates to my ability to serve.
It’s so common for people to use a ‘workout’ to sweat out their emotions. It s used as a relief. But why do we need a relief? If we are living in a way that honours the body then there is no relief needed.
‘The gorgeous part is that every time I make time to delicately practise presence in my movement, it builds and becomes a natural way of being in my general daily activities.’ It seems like a contradiction in terms to exercise delicately but I know just what you mean. Letting go of the hardness , the push drive, or even just trying, out of exercise and bringing a truer quality of gentleness and steadiness makes for a consistent level of loveliness that builds inner strength and confidence in the body. Allowing a quality of delicateness in our movements brings appreciation and a sense of worth and purpose.
“Deepening my Relationship with Myself” – is a thing a great beauty… when we deepen the relationship with ourselves and namely its self-loving quality, everything in life changes. For what is loved truer, deeper, is compromised less to none at all.
“The gorgeous part is that every time I make time to delicately practise presence in my movement, it builds and becomes a natural way of being in my general daily activities.” This is such a great description and foundation for how we choose to live life and it is amazing where and when these choices can show up. Perhaps there are little jobs we might have done in the past where it really needs two people but decide to push our bodies and ‘just do it’ because it seems easier.
But easy can come at a cost to our well-being. When we ask for assistance it opens up possibilities beyond completing the practical task. We open up to others with the truth that our bodies matter and how we care for them is important.
Sandra thats such an amazing point to consider, that the level of care we take in the details of the everyday has incredibly powerful consequences either towards us being more loving or less loving and in that everyone we know and everything we do gets affected.
‘True health supports you to be all of you’ Yes, true health is about all of me being healthy – not parts. True health is not about working on the body to be fit, and leaving out our connection to our body, therefore not listening to the body. It is the body who can guide us to true health – when we connect to it.
The more I connect with just how sensitive and delicate my body is, the more I appreciate how my old forms of exercise where completely inappropriate. Without a second thought, I asked certain parts of my body to bear my body weight, regardless of whether they are designed to do that or not and only now is the impact of that damage truly coming home to me, as parts of my body begin to show the real signs of the past wear and tear as I grow older.
“True health supports you to be all of you” – I like this definition of health. It feels all encompassing, not leaving anything behind (like aching knees, or sore backs…)
‘Quality of movement, not quantity.’ this is something I have always felt in exercise and in sport. It has then been performance which take me away from the quality. Performance can be seen as serving either end depending on your intention but therefore can easily be where you get lost when performance becomes about an outcome rather than the process.
‘ If I didn’t get to do my exercise, I would feel low or furious and a very tangible tension because I had not given myself the daily drug I used to relieve my undealt with hurts and emotions.’ We can use almost anything to make us feel secure in life – and we don’t associate as a coping mechanism as such when something is what we consider ‘healthy’.
Very true. There is much hidden under this guide Kylie.
When every time we make time to delicately practise presence in our movement, it builds and becomes a natural way of being then our general daily activities become much easier, and support harmony in the body.
The key to an exercise program, is to not call it an exercise program. Make it fun. There are many ways to move, trust that when you are moving in the right way you, your body will tell you, it will feel good.
Then it becomes just part of your life.
With exercise and movement I have learned I can connect to the wonderful feeling of me in my body. This has been and still is a revelation.
Exercise and the way I do it is one of the big things that has changed for me too since becoming a student of the Way of the Livingness. I was never addicted to exercise, as I didn’t enjoy it enough! But I did do it to achieve a look so I could feel better about myself. That way of exercising now that I know that I can do it in connection and respect of myself, and my body, is like day and night. It is something that brings me joy, as the entire focus is on feeling the real me moving, feeling the flow, grace and loveliness that is naturally within us all.
I agree our minds can be tricky and it’s necessary to master the mind and bring it back in line with the body. Building conscious presence and moving with awareness deeply alters how the mind runs us, it is possible that the mind is brought to an obedience that benefits our whole well-being.
This sounds delicious, Johanna -” strengthening and stretching my body in a surrendered way”- and something that I am definitely going to do today.
‘A way to deal with issues by checking-out of life and staying in a momentum’. Our current view of exercise is that it is good for us and yes a gentle walk is but how many are prepared to be honest and say that they are using exercise to withdraw from life.
We are so used to driving the body towards an outside goal that we completely lost connection to our innate wisdom of how to live our lives soundly from our bodies. So even when that goal is health, because it is still a picture that we are trying to achieve, the way we get there is not actually in sync with the body and therefore not truly healthy.
Brilliantly exposed. You would have thought that a process that was supposed to support the body would first involve a dialogue with the body? ! But no, we crash into whatever program, diet, regime or movement without even first checking in on the very thing we are seeking to improve. Would you start fixing a car engine without first properly diagnosing the problem? Of course not. So why do we not do the same with our bodies?
Thanks Johanna, I have been struggling with getting a new and consistent exercise routine in place, for a lot of the reasons you mentioned, I am still looking how to build a rhythm that is both loving and supportive without going into a drive. So reading your blog has been very inspiring, thank you!!
I agree – the body can actually communicate to us what exercise is most supportive and needed. I spent a long time ignoring it but actually now that I am responding to my body, it makes such a difference.
Yes I agree with you Michelle, it is incredible how much we have not trusted our feelings in life and though there was something wrong with us when all the time what our bodies were saying was actually true.
I agree Johanna, quality of movement over quantity keeps us connected to our body.
What you have describe Johanna is that the quality how we move our body is so much more important and healthier than the quantity we can achieve in sport. Most of us have forgotten this as our way of doing sport is normally to function and to achieve a goal even if this is disrespectful and disregarding to our bodies.
I too have been implementing a new type of exercise program that is about supporting me to be all that I am and not trying to reach a target or set outcome. I can confirm Johanna that this does make a huge difference. Now I want to exercise whereas before it was an effort and a struggle. Exercising to feel where my body is at on any given day is a joy and I learn so much about myself from doing it. It really does support increased awareness.
The quality in how we exercise, work, sleep, eat, and so on does matter. When we do things to tick boxes, to achieve a certain look/image or with push and drive, there is no joy and as a result our body suffers greatly. But when we move and do things with a quality that truly connects and supports our body, we can feel the expansion and joy in everything we do.
Johanna, I find it amazing how you have made the jump to true exercise – apart from walking I am still not keen on exercise. Perhaps something to consider.
It’s a lot of fun when all the tiles around it are taken away.
Building our body indeed supports us no end – a foundation of the true us that supports our every movement and expression.
And this is applicable throughout our whole entire day. We can actually nurture and support ourselves or drain ourselves in any moment – in how we move, how we work, how we walk etc
It is not what we do but the quality in which we move, our intent and whether we are present in our body at the time that deeply counts.
I have never been a fan of exercise and after the birth of my child, I felt I needed to get back into some sort of shape, so I did a lot of running and mountain biking up and down the big hills where I lived. I found running such an effort and much preferred my bike because I would cycle through the woods which were particularly beautiful whatever time of year.
Today I gently exercise my upper body with light weights and will bring in something for my legs in a few weeks time, what I have noticed is that the quality has changed – I am far more aware of my body and like you have said, there is no sense of ‘lets get this over with as quickly as possible’. I actually enjoy connecting to my body and feel how it responds to the exercises and how supported it feels.
It is such a heavy consciousness around ‘getting our body back’ after childbirth. And an even bigger one that lets many women let themselves go while pregnant. I returned to martial arts 3 months after having my daughter and in that time I did a lot of damage to myself while my body was clearly telling me it had not healed or was ready for such intensity. And I overrode all that because I was driven to look a certain way.
It’s very gorgeous how you exercise today Mary.
Mmmm Exercise….. a life long relationship for us all. One that I have used for extreme abuse (once watched my legs go purple I’d pushed so hard) and now one of enormous support for the way I live now. It’s taken some time, a lot of support, mistakes from falling back into well worn patterns. But that connection to the body is so important – a backbone to being who I am.
Just like food exercise is to support the foundational aspect of connection with your body. To open up to the space of feeling more and being aware of that connection to your body differentiating it from the mind.
Feeling space in the body is just one confirmation that everything is energy – including every cell and particle of us. Yesterday arvo I did a woman’s esoteric yoga recording for a six week program I am part of and to feel the space in my body, the surrender and deep self acceptance after one hour is amazing. Especially after a day of teaching. It was also a great confirmation and appreciation for me just how much connection I held with my body yesterday to surrender so. The session felt like it added to my depth with only some residue letting go from the day.
Yes indeed, I can see there is much for me to come to in this blog, patterns of behaviour for me to re-imprint. Thank you for the reminder and the inspiration – as you say, what an incredibly supportive team we make.
It is gorgeous to get a sense of the different impact the new way of exercising has had on your life. I find that whenever I am present with my movements regardless of what I am doing the quality of that activity is increased immeasurably.
Yes and not just in exercising – that goes for all our daily things and is a great reflection of our movements throughout the day, no matter what we do.
Thank you Johanna your new relationship with exercise is a supportive and honouring way to treat the body and to feel the rewards that flow back to us when we bring this quality and love into anything we do in life.
Love this – “… for the applied understanding that I have come to has been because of many, not just one. I would say that is brotherhood!” Indeed, thank you and it feels just yummy!
Yes. Feeling our unique qualities and flavours and when they all come to offer something together is absolutely amazing. It leaves not an iota of room for comparison or jealousy but a pure appreciation and acceptance.
This is so beautiful – “The gorgeous part is that every time I make time to delicately practise presence in my movement, it builds and becomes a natural way of being in my general daily activities.” I am well on the way to maintaining this as well, there is a bit to go yet;-) Thank you for this awesome sharing.
This is quite a big thing to appreciate. For the time we use to consciously build a surrender and connection with ourselves in movement supports this to be our ‘normal’ way of being. For me it is really lovely to clean my house or having a chat with someone or walking around a school yard at recess duty or cooking dinner with this level of surrender, presence, awareness and connection with myself and body.
You write about how during exercising you are aware of your breath and how the body feels for each movement. I have started that as well quite a while ago and the difference it has made to my exercising and how I feel during and after is remarkable. My body gets stronger yet maintains its delicateness and tenderness, my breath is no longer laboured and forced and I feel the communications of my body in all I do while exercising, which is just awesome.
Some of your old relationship with exercise points apply to me too – especially the one about having a particular look as I was finding I was not liking my body much, yet I was slim and everything. Nowadays I train in a much more gentle way to maintain my strength and core so my body can support me in all I do with ease.
This is such an inspiring opening to your blog Johanna – ‘ In the last few weeks I have been implementing my own exercise plan that I tailored just for me, as a support to bring all of me to life, to confirm the unique flavor my essence offers and me as being my own woman.” As I also regularly exercise and go to the Gym and although I have adapted my exercises much more to what my body is telling me, this is another step you offer here and one I am going to look and feel into for myself too, thank you.
I never did a lot of exercise when I was young, I felt I didn’t really need to as my work was quite physical. The problem with this is that in a physical job you tend to use the same muscles and there can be a strength in certain areas of the body and other areas get neglected and can be quite weak so there is a general imbalance in the overall fitness. Now even though I am still in a physical job that requires me to stand for long periods I have noticed that gentle stretching exercises and a few weights have helped support me in my job and I don’t get that tired flagging feeling by the end of the day, that I used to.
It is interesting to think that today we see exercise as a separate thing we do and do need to do to support our body yet years ago people were just more physical in life, ate natural therefore being physical in life was a part of life and enough and not separate.
Thank you, Johanna. I LOVE the list of what exercise now means to you. What a different approach that feels full of love and joy rather than the dread and pushing of the past.
Thanks Janet. Exercise has become something quite detached for many. For example the other day I heard about women talking about their guns and how there are even virtual reality classes. So no longer do we have a person even taking a class but a recoding on a screen. This blew me away.
A key word here is ‘support’ as from this place we are less likely to want to get competitive or go into over drive to reach an outcome.
A great activity to do is to observe our consistency with exersize to see what it is actually revealing.
Yes I’ve noticed this Vicky. When I look at exercise and me over say a 2 month period then another package is being revealed for me to understand. We have so much shared with us when we read and choose to be aware. We can read what’s in the detail and we are also offered to see what’s there over a time period. Things to learn, to appreciate, to confirm, to adjust and so on.
Inspiring to feel how your relationship with exercise has completely changed now that the focus is on building the communication with your body for a wider purpose rather than pushing your body to get to an end goal to fulfill a pre-conceived picture of how you should be/look etc
The bullet points in your old way of exercising highlight how fitness and exercise has become very much influenced by image. Whereas what you show here is how exercise can actually be about connection surrender and presence – which ‘builds’ the body in a very different way, taking us back to a more natural way of being, ready for the day.
Quality is everything. How different exercise can be simply by changing the quality.
That is true; and how much more fun it is, too.
By bringing the surrendered feeling in our body before exercising, we allow our selves to become more tender and gentle, and in this our way of being we won’t cause any strain or harm through the exercise.
And it’s then easy to feel when we are deepening and being with us during exercise or if we are in drive and using it as a relief of tension or to fill our emptiness.
What struck me is the ridiculousness of exercising and then going out drinking. I’ve done this many a time or the same thing with yoga or a massage and then got drunk so quickly. It’s really quite absurd when you think about it.
We have so much to re-learn about how we exercise. I have come to realise that anything I do that makes my body hurt is not actually supporting it. We can stay very fit and healthy with a gentle, steady and consistent fitness regime without having to pound the body for hours each week. When we exercise gently, we allow our body to constructively build upon its strengths rather than having to spend valuable resources rebuilding the damage we have done after our work out, run or intense gym session.
I remember how much force it took me to go and exercise, I found it so tedious and like such a hard slog. For this reason I was never very committed and opted to numb myself with alcohol instead. It became something I really didn’t enjoy and even less so if it was in a gym with music blasting. I currently don’t have a rhthym with walking but when I go for walks I absolutely love how my body feels, there is no dread before hand and I feel connected and able to concentrate afterwards. I must look again at how I can build this into my weekly rhythm.
Our relationship with everything, whether that be exercise, food, study etc. is always changing. How we do something one day will be different the next if are having an evolutionary relationship with life.
I used to hate exercising as I was from the thinking of the no pain no gain regime and if I’m honest, I’m not really into pain and wouldn’t knowingly cause myself it when the choice was mine. I had found by the way I lived pain was forever coming at me through so called accidents, putting my back out or illness so to give myself more pain on purpose wasn’t an option. When I started looking after myself and exercising with true wellbeing in mind life certainly isn’t as painful.
I have always been a walker and over the years have incorporated weights to develop upper body strength and core strength. What is interesting to note is how these words can be misinterpreted in wanting to bulk up the body yet it is far from true. The sole reason is to support my body and the work I do. These exercises give the fluidity and flexibility to move my body effortlessly through my work office without feeling any pain or discomfort and feeling recharged at the end of the work day.
I have never been an exercise junkie but I love a walk a few mornings a week. This I do with more focus being placed on my whole body. Since being connected to Universal Medicine I have learnt to listen to what my body needs and I also follow gentle exercises morning and evening that keep me flexible.
“I have been implementing my own exercise plan that I tailored just for me, as a support to bring all of me to life, to confirm the unique flavor my essence offers and me as being my own woman, not one dictated to by societal images” – how inspiring Johanna, not only to put yourself on a program but one of renunciation. Fabulous.
Yes. Thanks Zofia. This is definitely a claim and knowing of what we and our bodies are here to do- our true purpose – and supporting our bodies for that purpose is all that matters. The exercise ideals and beliefs really have no avenue when we bring it all back to true support of the body and our purpose in life.
Johanna, it’s an awesome discussion that you’ve started here. I can completely relate to the ‘checking out’ aspect and using exercise to ‘feel good’ about myself only to then abuse my body with alcohol or over eating. I feel I also used exercise to punish myself, treating my body like a machine and going for really long bike rides of 40km, the more depleted I felt, the greater my achievement. It makes no sense to me now as I have a very different relationship with my body, I want to support and nurture myself and work with my body’s natural flow, rather than imposing specific exercise regimes to achieve a certain outcome.
It’s all great learning. I had an experience over 8 months ago when I went for a family ride and my body felt solid to the point I couldn’t believe how easy the ride felt but what I discovered the next day is that even though I didn’t push through while riding and it was pleasant, I did feel tired the next day and my body wanted a pick me up food – I then clocked that the length of time did affect me even though the ride was casual and fun. So I got to learn that reading where my body is at all the time needs even more attention and detail brought.
‘You could say my relationship with exercise has completely changed as a ripple effect from the relationship with myself changing.’ – beautifully said, Johanna. As we deepen the relationship with our selves, peeling back the layers, what served us yesterday no longer serves and supports us today. Recognising this and allowing the space and commitment for refinements takes us to a whole new level of understanding and expansion.
What I love with your sharing is how it shows that its not about what we do but about the quality and intention we have towards what we do that really counts. It’s something for me to be super aware of as I often go to complete things rather than look at the quality I am in when things get “busy”. I love how exercise and your relationship with it ripples into all areas of life.
I have been out of rhythm with my exercise routine lately, finding reasons/excuses to keep putting it off, which is crazy when I know by choosing this loving self-responsible choice how flexible, strong and balanced my body feels by making this a part of my daily rhythm. Thank-you Johanna this is a timely blog to inspire me to re-commit.
Exercise to build our body to support our true and natural expression is the revolution of our future.
Exercise is one of those things where without realising it, almost EVERYONE has a workout routine they think they ‘should’ be doing based on what they’ve seen others do… Comparison central! But as you’ve posed, what if instead of looking at others’ physical shapes or routines and saying ‘I want THAT’, why not feel how WE can be and exercise in a way that supports this incredible us.
This is so helpful to read as I once used exercise as a means of saying I was ok and was doing something useful. Reading this I feel I can appreciate more how exercise is about connection with my body and supporting it in a loving way.
That is a great point that the more we exercise with presence then the more we are building it for our everyday living. It makes it easy to see why that would be so supportive.
This is a great point Vanessa – we have to not be present with our body in order to exercise in a way which is not in regard. This is something I will work with in exercises from now on.
“Having no attachment or regimentation”, this as someone who has exercise religiously through my life has had to work at this aspect of letting go ideals around fitness and exercise. I find there is a balance for me between setting a program so I am not vague, and not overdoing it by being strict or harsh in my movements. The very act of committing to the exercise is a wonderful feeling in itself and it is great to leave aside any feelings of perfection. Thank you Johanna for writing so eloquently on your experiences.
All the reasons you listed for why you exercised are pretty much what’s drilled into us from day one. I can relate to exercising like that for many many years. Once I realised I was conforming to a way of being that took me so far away from myself, I actually had to stop exercising all together to give myself the space to approach it from a different angle, one that was about supporting my physical body, not punishing it.
Bringing in true quality and presence when exercising is the most enjoyable way to exercise your body, and the body absolutely loves it. Sometimes just before I start to exercise, there can be a feeling of not wanting to, but as soon as I move my body with me, I’m reminded of the huge benefits of this and what I am actually saying yes to by doing it.
As anything else, we introduce activities (e.g., exercise) in our lives in a way that suits how we live and feed the momentum we are in. We use the activity to keep a type of movement going. Although, we may assure and re-assure that it is US who are at the steering wheel, the truth is that more often than not, this is not the case. Everything changes when we realize this and decide to get in charge of our life for real.
I’ve certainly noticed that there is a tend to slip back into the “push push push” attitude when surrounded by people doing that at the gym.
There is a momentum rife within society of push, drive, compete and improve… a lack of self-acceptance that is deeply apparent at the gym with many subscribing to the false adage of ‘no pain, no gain’.
I love reading how it is possible to do the same exercise but in a totally different quality. I love exercise – I always have – and I am now slowly learning the difference between pushing my body and responding to my body with exercise. This is a very inspiring sharing.
It’s awesome having the register and memory of these two qualities in my body because they are both markers and reminders of where I currently am at. And from here I can then determine if it’s true or not and how I need to adjust my movement.
Your example of going to the gym just before going to the pub and drinking alcohol is really great and gives away so much of the extent we can do something for a picture or meeting a goal. If we do exercises to support our body and be fit for life, it does not make sense to then afterwards have a drink (alcohol) or reward ourselves with a snack or cookie.
What a turn around in a relationship with exercise, one that can be experienced with all aspects of life. Bringing more of a connection to our body and bringing the mind to what we are doing.
Two words stand out in this blog today, and they are surrender and delicateness – with these two words in consideration we are less likely to go into hardening ourselves and setting ourselves up to achieve a goal and overdo it, at the expense of our bodies.
I exercised for quite a few years in a gym but then lost interest in it – that was worse but I didn’t enjoy the exercise, only how I felt afterwards.
I enjoy walking every morning and doing a few gentle weights just before my shower. It sets me up beautifully for a day in front of the computer!
“So now – it’s a miracle really… the same exercise but in a different and true quality that supports the body” this is awesome Johanna, it shows that anything we do, if it is done in the true quality, we are healing; anything that takes us out or offers us that addictive quality just isn’t it.
Such a stark difference Johanna, just reading your two lists there is no question which is more loving and therefore ultimately more supportive and sustaining. I came from a similar exercise background to you, using it to achieve and maintain a certain body image. Today I love my body so much more than I ever did then, and I don’t exercise madly anymore, my body is the shape it is through the lifestyle choices I make that look after every aspect of me, body and being.
When we make loving choices, our bodies are able to return to their natural shape which feels amazing compared to battling to achieve a certain look. It’s interesting how powerful our resistance can be to accepting and appreciating our true selves – no editing required.
It is amazing to feel the difference in the same activity when we activate a different quality. Exercise has become for me a listening love affair with my body rather than a task to achieve an outcome, and the impact of this, in terms of my overall awareness and presence, expands into my whole day.
It amazes me what a variety of means so many of us use to block out what we are feeling in our body; in fact some people I have met actually are very proud that they are able to do this. I never used the gym or exercise as a numbing tool but there was a whole range of other things that I did use regularly; food, alcohol, reading, the list goes on. I am so inspired by your new relationship with exercise so much so that I can really feel that it is time for me to get moving, lovingly so, more than I am doing currently; I know that my body will thank me for it.
Many people use exercise for all the wrong reasons, as you have outlined in your blog.
Exercise used correctly supports our body to work long hours without getting tired or stressed.
People work out for a variety of reasons – for many it is to slim down, but more than ever, particularly with men, it is to bulk up. As the skinny kid growing up, all I wanted from my workouts was to beef up. It’s never really happened, but that’s cool. I’ve accepted myself for who I am and my body for what it is. That’s a pretty great foundation to have before entering the gym.
Gyms and workouts are full of pictures in terms of how we want to look.
Spot on Nick – I’ve noticed a real difference between when I exercise for the way I look, or to support me, and even better when I exercise so this body can support others as well.
Johanna, I feel inspired to make my own exercise plan, ‘ I have been implementing my own exercise plan that I tailored just for me, as a support to bring all of me to life, to confirm the unique flavor my essence offers and me as being my own woman, not one dictated to by societal images.’ I love this, it is so rare I hear people coming up with their own plan; feeling empowered and trusting ourselves enough to do this and not thinking someone else knows better than us what our body needs, such as a fitness instructor, I feel inspired to give this a go and work with my body finding what type of exercise and how much would be supportive for me.
Is most exercise, based on the guise of how we want others to see us? We can say it is to lose a few pounds, get fit, tone up. But, how successful is it when it is not done just for caring for our body’s?
The very simple learning of staying with the body through constant connection with the breath has changed everything about the way I live. When I am with my body it is impossible to go into the harshness of exercising or any movement that is in disregard. It has been too easy in the past to just ignore the body and get caught up in a momentum that does so much harm to our body. Today I celebrate my breath, my growing awareness and my growing appreciation for the miracle that is the body I live in.
Preparing our bodies for purpose and service feels so different to exercise to look good, lose weight etc. Being fit for life feels infinitely more important.
“I have been implementing my own exercise plan that I tailored just for me, as a support to bring all of me to life, to confirm the unique flavor my essence offers and me as being my own woman, not one dictated to by societal images.” I love this Johanna. Having an individual exercise programme makes so much sense – as we all have different dietary requirements too – and don’t all eat the same foods.
Exercise is a true support for the body when we are committed to all aspects, the complications come when we have idealised versions of what we should achieve in excercise, projects etc and not the pure relationship with the body and it’s abilities.
So many of us get addicted to exercise, although having said that, it was one addiction that I didn’t have and was maybe a little less harmful than the ones I did, but an addiction is an addiction and the underlining thing is that we have to look at is why we have them and more often that not is so we don’t have to face what has hurt us so deeply.
There is still the perception that any exercise is better than none, but perhaps more discernment is needed that the level we exercise to is important. We still seems to be a way of accepting the dose and method of exercising and its importance for long lasting sustained health.
The quality of our connection to our bodies every movement will lay the foundation for all movements thereafter. Exercising and moving in this way brings a whole new meaning to living with purpose and expressing who we are in a ful committed relationship to our bodies every move. Thank you Johanna.
I have never been big on exercise or going to the gym, I like more the gentle kind of exercise. I didn’t like how my body felt during a really hard workout, where my lungs felt they were burning, when my muscles hurt to the bone and when I felt absolutely exhausted. But I have heard of people say they need their exercise otherwise they go a bit crazy, it helps them release tension and even anger after intensive exercise. They feel more energised and happy, but is it really supporting our body to exercise intensively no matter how much our body is screaming for us to stop? I never used to question this but I am realising now that people’s addiction to exercise can be a bit like an addition to drugs because it gives people a similar kind of relief and feeling of being high.
It’s common for me to go to have a session with a practitioner and via their support feel renewed. Exercising the way you describe Johanna is like having a session too – but it’s like the body is the one advising you. Shut out, ignored and over ridden for so long, finally we have a chance to spend some quality time together and find out that our body is our best friend all along.
Super post Johanna, so many points to comment on here. Love the honesty about the various exercise beliefs and ideals we do get so caught up in; that can creep back in, and how in you etching those out has completely changed the entire quality and attitude towards going to the gym and exercising. Inspiring.
That’s so great that you have that relationship with exercise Johanna. I too used to pine for a toned body and strong muscles so that girls would be interested. I now work out to support my body in all its daily movements, and it feels amazing!
I’ve bought many expensive gym memberships and never gone or have gone addictively and relate to that feeling of being terribly annoyed if I missed out on going. I saw exercise as achieving goals, getting fit and looking thin and I pushed myself until I had nothing left. Now I do love going to gym when I commit to exercising my body, if not gym I will go for a walk instead. Observing the intensity and driven energy of the gym I appreciate how much I have changed and am quite happy and content to stand there going at my own pace and doing only exercises my body feels to.
I had a love-hate relationship with exercise for about 4 decades. I loved the way it made me look when I was into it, and the rest of the time hated it, and my body. Turning that around in a way similar to what you describe here Johanna has been something of a minor miracle. Actually what prompted me to return to exercise with dedication and true purpose was also my body, when I manifested a condition for which exercise would be a very helpful practise. Thank goodness for the wisdom of the body!
Gorgeous Victoria.
Exercising for the purpose of building a body of love to serve with, is very different to exercising to build a body to look good, to show off to the world.
Very true Mary Louise.
Very important when you write that it is about “quality of movement, not quantity”. It feels like we have exercise upside down and when I see what other patrons are engaging in at my local gym, I can’t but wonder whether it is actually good for the body or even healthy. This perceived ‘goodness’ might come entirely from the mind and not from the physicality but at its expense.
To exercise as confirmation of who we are rather than what is dictated by any societal pressure is very beautiful. Our movements which are an expression of our essence then expand into the next moment and out to the world.
When I feel it the term exercise seems almost removed from the activity you encounter at many gyms now where it is about, working out, lifting, cross training, fitness and looking good etc. as opposed to exercise and wellbeing. Worlds apart.
Thank you Johanna. Many years ago I was deeply into competitive running and looking back I can see I abused my body to get relief from the stress I was living with – of course any relief was only short lived and so I went through years of cycles of stress, run, relief. Now I don’t run but when I do exercise through walking or swimming it is a very harmonious affair, in celebration, consideration and confirmation of how gentle and responsive my body is.
I love what you share here on the rules of exercise. No wonder it can be so off putting. What has taken me a long time to let go of is the automatic count of repetitions when I’m doing a certain exercise. This is a sure reality check that I’m not actually with my body as I move, I’m in autopilot! The only thing that is getting exercised is my ability to count to ten therefore possibly rendering the movement naught in its purpose to truly support me. I may as well just sit and count if that’s what I want to do – perhaps I might try this next time!
Heartfelt thanks for sharing your experience Johanna – it’s incredibly supportive.
I love how you bring your inspiration back to brotherhood. What a truly beautiful way of living, to be inspired by each other instead of the competitiveness we have made so normal in this world.
Beautiful sharing Johanna bringing true health and fitness, is bringing quality to our movements, which can only be in ourselves when we stay in connection with our body. I love this one; ‘The gorgeous part is that every time I make time to delicately practise presence in my movement, it builds and becomes a natural way of being in my general daily activities.’
What I am finding with developing my new relationship with exercise comes from the opposite side, it comes from doing nothing to starting to introduce exercise in a way that helps support my body. How I feel in myself when I exercise is a greater care and love for myself.
Your article illustrates Johanna that we can find our medication in anything, whether it’s a socially sanctioned activity like exercise or an obviously ill activity like drinking or drug use.
I love the idea that we can exercise in a surrendered way – letting the body dictate what it wants to do – I have never been great at doing regular exercise, despite all my resolutions to do it, but I have many different things I have been shown and every now and then I can do them. So I leave my weights out handy and if I pass them and feel to do a little bit of exercise for a few minutes, then that works for me rather than a regimented routine. Or while I am boiling the kettle, I can stand on tiptoe alternate feet. We have a responsibility to keep ourselves reasonably fit, especially as we age, so gentle exercise is essential.
Exercising to cover up insecurities, who couldn’t relate to that for surely we have all done it. Changing our approach and using exercise as a support for ourselves in a knowing that we don’t need to look this way or that is so much more powerful than being at the mercy of outside images that do nothing in truth for us. Great article Johanna
Yes, I can relate to exercise and using my body in a way to cover up insecurities. Recently I watched some dance performances and was observing the outer confidence this brings to the dances while performing. Their whole body changed and became larger and was drawing the audience’s attention. Off stage, I observed how the bodies of the dancers changed, and the insecurities couldn’t be so easily hidden.
I never used to exercise much and always wished I would. In the last years since I have developed a deeper connection and love of my body, I have naturally started to exercise more in a gentle way to support myself and my body.
Yes, and it was really good to watch.
Staying with your body and moving in a way that supports and confirms it is truly enjoyable and also a far cry from years ago when I used to just zone out, get my program done and push through never once feeling when to stop or feeling how my body actually was travelling during exercises. Not the most loving or responsible way to exercise.
As our relationship with ourselves changes so our relationship with every aspect has to adjust and exercise is a crucial one to maintain our health and wellbeing but one that can often get overlooked.
Thanks Johanna for sharing how you have completely changed your relationship with exercising and are still doing many of the same exercises but in a totally different way and with a deep awareness of how your body is feeling. I have avoided doing exercises that remind me of past driven attempts to ‘get fit’ but have been feeling that it is time to start an exercise programme to support me and reading your experiences is very supportive.
I agree. It is amazing to apply a totally different approach and quality to the same activity and see the difference. It confirms for me that it is not what but how we do things that is important.
Who can be put off exercise when it is described in this way, this is true body connection and can only be a confirming and satisfying experience that we want to come back to.
The way I see it is our bodies are our instrument for life, so preparing our bodies so they’re fit and ready for life is essential, and it has a very different feel to it to exercising to lose weight, or maintain a body shape. Instead it’s taking care that they are strong enough and supple enough to be able to cope with ease with whatever task is needed.
I agree Meg, it is our responsibility to build a body that can handle what ever task is needed.
You could really feel the huge difference in how you exercised before and after. I could feel how the before reasons were damaging for the body, that is the push and the drive to achieve and check out, whereas the relationship you now have with exercise feels truly supportive because you are listenting to your body and not your head…And this is where I am at; ‘making time to delicately practise presence in my movement’, this makes a world of difference to the quality.
In this society when image is so important and burying, or denying, our hurts is condoned by distraction, acknowledging that exercise can be, and for so many is, an addiction has the potential of being hugely healing.
Exercise can be used to strengthen the body physically to enable it to do its daily tasks, but also strengthen the connection between the mind and the body which enables a fitness to deal with life.
I have found the same thing Joanna in my gym program. I also used to be addicted to exercise in the past and used to work out hard in the gym a lot. These days I do similar exercises but in a completely different way – focusing much more on quality rather than quantity which has made all the difference.
Same here, Andrew. I went from counting the repetitions out to just going until I feel I have done enough. I would up the weights to the point of really straining myself to dropping the weight and actually enjoying what I was doing. So in many ways my workout is about the quality, not quantity.
It is incredible to allow ourselves to shift from outcome driven exercise to self-awareness developing exercise; building our relationship and care for ourselves through observation and commitment; being guided by the wisdom of our bodies.
This is a whole new way of exercising, at least for these times we live in, especially as everything is geared up to pushing the body to it’s maximum limits at the expense of the body. We seem to have gone into the mentality that the body is a machine and can be trained to respond to the harshest of movements, and look a certain way.
Yes, it is interesting how an exercise regime can become an addition like any other. And the same exercise done in a different and true quality can support the body, physiology and the mind. When the body leads it is impossible to override what it communicates through feeling.
Formal exercise was never part of my daily life as I arrogantly believed all the exercise I needed was in what I did in the day and I did not enjoy going to the gym. However, since becoming a student of The Way of The Livingness and learning to take loving care of myself I have started to incorporate exercise as part of my daily rhythm. To my some what surprise I am beginning to enjoy it.
Johanna your new list of how you do exercise is one that I too have been exploring. I didn’t realise I was so ingrained in a way of approaching it and had all these pictures of what I needed to be. Now letting go of these and some days I catch a glimpse on one that I have not fully let go of and work with the new found loving connected way of exercise and I actually love exercising now.
I remember doing martial arts and while I was fit I felt very hard in my body. I prided myself on how high I could kick. These days, after just over a month my flexibility has increased far quicker than any forced or straining stretching exercises ever did. Without pushing myself, introducing light weights and stopping when my arms feel to I feel stronger without feeling rock hard, it’s beautiful.
That’s beautiful Leigh, something I’ve realised too is that there are some ways of exercising that my body just doesn’t need to do for what is needed from it during the day. I had this belief at one stage when I was younger that I needed to be able to do a chin up or be able to do push ups but my body just doesn’t need to.
Johanna, this is a very different, very natural way of exercising, I love that it is not outcome based and that it is about connection to you and so you go with what the body needs rather than having a mental picture of what exercise and how much to do, very lovely to read.
Thank you Johanna, a rich expose on the paradoxes we live by, on the one hand exercising hard and on the other poisoning our bodies with alcohol, cigarettes, caffeine, sugar and worse. Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine offers us a new way to appreciate that our real health lies in the quality of our movements not the quantity or force and that looking after our bodies applies to every aspect of our lives, not just a slice of it.
There are many, many ideals and beliefs around exercise and I am finding it a process in letting go of these false images I had become attached to, to the point where I was put off exercising altogether apart from my daily walks. But there came a point where to not exercise was not true for my body either and so gentle, daily stretches and exercise became part of my daily rhythm too but it doesn’t stop there as I now feel and this impulse has been growing to introduce going to the gym once a week. Exercise like everything else is a constant refinement as to where I am at.
I used to exercise so I could feel good about myself for pushing, striving and having achieved something by having worked my body hard. It felt quite good at the time, but it did wear out my body and it only ever temporarily masked the underlying tension that I always felt. In fact it probably exacerbated the constant anxiety as I was always racing everywhere, not just when I was running. Exercising in a new way, where I actually want to connect to my body and feel it, instead of running away from it, feels totally different and so do the benefits: feeling more of a connection with my body supports feeling more connected to and present in life – and there’s so much more joy in living that way.
It is amazing to read the transformative affects that re-connecting to your body in a delicate way can have on the exercises that you do. This confirms for me the true quality that our bodies prefer to be held in, to be moved in, and to be cared for.
“True health supports you to be all of you.” So true Johanna and exercising with true purpose is one way to bring ourselves to be all that we are.
My relationship with exercise was similar to your old one. There was a lot of push and drive in my workouts and I stood on the scales every day because I was always trying to obtain or maintain a certain weight. I pushed my body to a point where I started to get injuries that didn’t heal quickly, and I knew if I continued I could end up with serious permanent damage. I too took up walking for a while and recently have introduced a gentle exercise program. It feels very freeing not to be doing it for any other reason than to look after my body. Its not about how I look, or how much I weigh any more, but simply how I feel.
It is super sweet to honour that you are doing exercise ‘for no other reason than to look after my body’…building a relationship with it rather than trying to manage it into a perceived ‘ideal’ shape.
It’s all about images again isn’t it – it feels so clear and such a relief to let go of that and truly connect to our body and how it moves for the joy of it.
One day we will all greatly appreciate that how we feel about ourselves is the way to a healthy weight, that punishing routines only do that , punish. A hang up about body image is like a block on the connection to a healthier body, so we either have the choice to hate ourselves or love ourselves, and the latter is definitely the way to a healthier body.
Thanks Johanna. A beautiful exercise in it is not what we are doing but how we are with ourselves while we are doing it.
Johanna, this is an important conversation to open up as the vast majority of people have fixed pictures of what exercise should be and feel like. You present two different approaches side by side in a way that helps us to become aware of motivations that fuel the way we exercise and how each style impacts on our body. I read a newspaper article the other day that asked, ‘ ‘Since when did exercise become training’ the writer bemoaned the fact that exercise had become competitive like training for an olympic sport, and asked what happened to the joy of exercising. The quality of movements and breath as we exercise is at the heart staying connected to our essence, and not simply checking out.
These fixed pictures of exercise and also of what we think exercise should deliver us is the problem. With connection to myself I have found these false pictures can not be fed to me and I don’t look outside myself.
I have to admit I never really exercised much at all apart from when I played sport because I do a physical job and that was all I needed or so I thought. When it was introduced to me that exercise would support my work, it took me a while to come around to this concept but since doing so the benefits have been huge. Exercising to support the body for the day ahead is like topping up the tank and never driving around on reserve and never actually running out of gas.
I have found the same Kev, even though I work hard I feel a huge difference when I do exercises, and the support that this gives my body is a feeling of much more vitality in my day.
Walking is the doorway to our true vitality and when done for only 10 minutes every day a walk is what they used to call my constitutional or what gets your bowels moving. Then you add some stretches and Esoteric Connective Tissue Exercises on a daily basis our bodies come to life. When a weekly exercise program is added and the exercises are done with our connection being the focus then a strength is felt in the whole body. Add to this a swim where once again the breath is a focus, and if this is done a few times a week, our body respond in the most loving way. Great Blog Johanna, this is a much-needed conversation, as we all need a program of exercise that suits us.
All these are movements with our body are done to the best of our ability with conscious presence, which is being with the body as our body is doing any task. The vitality that can be lived by being with our body in the awareness of what we are moving plus the energy we are moving it in, is amazing to feel.
And walking is a brilliant way and tool to develop presence with our body – and this doesn’t always need to be done in an exercise session but every time we take a step in our day is an opportunity to develop presence.
Thank you Greg
It is amazing how the intention we do things with can change the quality of it so tremendously. What you present here Johanna, is unknown to many as they are still in that old paradigm you were in too, to do anything from an image, with a certain goal instead of from the inside out, impulsed to support a body to stay healthy and sound in the delicateness and tenderness it is.
And it’s that paradigm that keeps us locked in patterns and consciousness that are unsupportive. Thank god for true reflection and those who make the commitment to do so.
A real stop-you-in-your-tracks moment, thank you Johanna.
“No part of me back then put two and two together saying healthy exercise should not be addictive and if you are healthy and looking after your body, you would not be putting a poison that destroys organs and alters you into it.”
True health comes from knowing the difference between that which heals and that which harms. All is not as it would first appear on the surface.
It’s amazing in a crazy way how these two disparities can exist in the one person eg. thinking one is healthy, knowing the other is not yet not joining the dots and understanding true health.
I’d agree Liane, it’s remarkable how much the apparent safety and assurance of something being branded healthy or normal can lead us to live with such disregard. And yet we can choose what we make our own normal in our own personal way that most regards our bodies.
I love the concept of delicately practicing presence in your movement…. There is an exquisiteness to this that is not usually associated with exercise and a focus on a quality that is often ignored. It is gorgeous that moving in this way provides a foundation that you can not only hold but deeply supports you throughout your day in all movements that follow.
It’s also a great way to confirm how I have been in the day or if I need to bring more attention to my movements during the day.
For so many of us exercise seems to come with an agenda to get something. What I have been exploring and you share here Johanna is an experience that is completely different – where the act of exercise in whatever form becomes a joy in every step and move. Now I think of it, this doesn’t just apply to exercise but to all of life too. Perhaps that is the purpose of us being here? To see it’s not about the place we are getting to, but the quality we choose.
Sometimes Joseph when I’m walking on the treadmill for a little warm up I let myself feel surrender or delicateness or even have a play with strutting my power in my walk. And sometimes I have a little dance to my favourite song ‘Hornz in da house’ by Glorious Music (Michael Benhayon ) honouring and being playful has also been key. Different expressions but same quality.
To enjoy an exercise session without feeling exhausted or drained – this would seem like an impossibility if you didn’t know any other way. Your clear explanation of a different way to exercise and the benefits felt is very inspiring Johanna. Thank you.
Thank you Johanna. I used to throw myself into exercise because I thought it was something I ‘should’ do. I usually hated it and my body hurt afterwards but I thought that was a good thing. Now I know how lovely, productive and supportive it is to exercise in connection with myself and it has been a revelation.
So true – exercising doesn’t always equate loving and taking good care of our own body. I can think of many other things which we would claim our love or enthusiasm for but in truth there really is no love, and often very likely we are in total disregard.
True Fumiyo. I see many people who exercise hard and end up in pain and with injuries. But mostly I notice the hard closed way they carry in their body when relating to others.
Well said Fumiyo. If exercising is just done to tick the ‘I’ve done my exercise’ box then it is likely that it won’t be of a quality that will truly support the body.
Great blog, very detailed and descriptive. I have a long way to go with my current relationship, or should I say, lack of relationship with exercise. I went away to the city for a couple of days with my husband recently and we did heaps of walking around, we were tourists after all, plus we didn’t have a car, my legs killed after!
Sarah likewise it’s one area of my life that I know is stopping me for deepening my presence for the rest of my day, when I exercise I feel deeply enriched yet I avoid it at all costs. I’ve almost accepted that’s me when in fact my body is asking for more loving exercise.
It’s crazy the regimes we put our bodies through to meet the parameters and pressures of untrue pictures or ideals. All that while we are missing out on what supports us best; our connection to who we are and the appreciation of how amazing our bodies already are. In allowing our connection to our bodies guide us to make choices that truly support our well-being and vitality, be it exercise , food or lifestyle, we strengthen our connection to our body and being as we move through our day. In being truly fulfilled from within, through holding a loving and honouring relationship with ourselves, we exude through our bodies a vibration that reflects vitality, health and well-being that far exceeds any picture of health that society currently imposes.
I love this sentence Carola. ‘It’s crazy the regimes we put our bodies through to meet the parameters and pressures of untrue pictures or ideals’ the regimes that we put ourself through are another step further away from ourselves after already falling for the ideals and beliefs. These all come from a place of not feeling enough and to fill that emptiness. Yes it is crazy when we consider that we are already everything within.
I can see that when we exude through our bodies a vibration that reflects vitality, it is far more powerful than any words. It does not need justification, it simply is and it is known solidly in the body.
How beautiful to exercise in a way that honours and supports our bodies, that works with our bodies, rather than against them.
Love what you share here Johanna… I have been considering how to go about exercising in a new way – one that is more supportive for myself and my rhythm in life, and so reading this today is very timely – thank you 🙂
I understand what exercising to truly support your body means now and that the way in which we exercise is really important. For me exercise has fallen way off and I have dropped it completely even though I know my body loves it and it really supports me. Recently I felt just how important this was for me to start again and visited a local gym to start a membership. It just goes to show how even the so called ‘healthy’ things in life we can become addicted to and use to not feel what is really going on for us.
Thank you Vicky. It doesn’t always mean a membership to a gym though. Exercise can be done at home at any time for any amount of time with some simple weights and/or using the body’s own weight. There is much scope here. What I have found is that it is also supportive to build upon the ‘little steps’
I find Johanna, by going to the Gym my commitment is stronger as I actively go there. Doing exercises at home I have not been able to get happening as of yet, there is always something else ‘to do’. By going to the Gym I make time for me which of course I could do at home too, yet have not done it as of yet …
For me this is another hugely inspiring blog because of the stage I am at with my own exercise patterns, Thank you Johanna.
I find this too Michael, it offered another step-up for me as well to even check in much more with myself and my body than I already am doing. Love this blog.
Likewise Michael and Karina, I feel just how supportive exercise can be but I’ve yet to fully commit to it in a rhythm that supports me. Very inspiring.
Hi Johanna. This brings a completely new understanding of exercising and exposes the beliefs that exercise has to be hardwork, forceful, pushing and applying of pressure forcefully to get results. Who would ever have felt the following statement could apply to exercising – ‘bringing gentleness, tenderness and playfulness into movements’. Huge expansion is available to us all in bringing loving commitment and presence to our exercise plan.
That’s exactly what is brought to the body – expansion.
Love this – yes and so feelable too 🙂
A great revelation it is to exercise to support and nourish our body in order to support our true expression of light rather than for outer influences, images and at the expense of our very body we are moving.
When we bring the ‘to nourish the body’ way of being in then it literally applies to everything, to food, to daily movement, to exercise , to the way we parent, to relating, to the way we work and are in all of life.
It is amazing how we can be doing the same exercise but that it can a) feel miles apart and b) produce miles apart different results! The intention with which we come to exercise makes the world of difference. It guarantees the quality we then put into every movement, a quality that then circulates within our body. It is so simple yet profound.
“Exercise for me is now about remaining with and building the connection with my body” – I love walking for this reason. You can build conscious presence with each step and feel how your body is and how it moves.
I really like what you have shared here Johanna, and can definitely relate.
I used to do various forms of exercise, including boot camps. On one Saturday morning beach boot camp, amongst many other exercises we had to do a series of 100 sit-ups. It was hot, the sun was beating down, I had just carried a tyre along the beach, and here I was, pushing myself to do sets of 100 sit-ups. It was gruelling and left me exhausted.
My relationship with exercise has also changed a great deal and now I exercise much more in connection with and to support my body – not to push it beyond its limits. When I do that, and I do say 5-7 sit ups in full conscious presence (the mind and body all as one), I find it much more effective and strengthening than 100 sit-ups. And I am far less drained by it all.
It’s amazing how much more supportive exercising in connection is with strength physically and in vitality. And it takes less time. I also used to spend lengths of time exercising and doing hard exercises such as martial arts and the like. My body feels far more amazing now.
This is very inspiring Johanna, as I have found that since my body has started to age and show the wear and tear of past choices exercising has been a challenge as I find my way with it. I have a hip problem that can cause pain so my love of walking at a fast pace has changed as I have to be consciously present with every step I take, which is fabulous. I also have to walk with true purpose and correct posture, if I do not I am almost guaranteed pain. Exercising is the same . . . feel . . .feel . . . feel. The human body is quite amazing.
Our bodies are so amazing. I agree Kathleen. If we don’t choose to be with them they will remind us and then eventually make us be with them. A blessing!
A great blog Johanna – offering a way that is truly supportive to our bodies. It poses the question ‘why do we want to wear our bodies out prematurely with hard, heavy exercise’? There comes a point we ourselves can’t deny that that the impact of certain activities has caused irreparable damage, reducing our movement and even overall mobility.
From the perspective of ageing having our body moving as freely and easily as possible with a vitality and assuredness is incredibly important. Why would we want to set ourselves up for anything less?
It’s a great question. The health and help we think we are giving ourselves with hard exercise is just that, hardening and wearing out the body therefore aging it. You make a good point. Back then I can honestly say that I didn’t put the two together and I feel that that consciousness does not allow this to be put together.
Discovering the difference between quality and quantity of exercise concepts, ideals (mine or others) and when practically applied has been the most supportive choice I could ever make for my body. My body has always know what feels supportive and what doesn’t and would indicate so, however the mind would over ride this with the mental knowledge without any consideration or accountability for the cause and affect on my body.
Very true Sandra. I have in the past done damage to myself for letting the mind override my body. For example I returned to martial arts and took part in combat 3 months after having a child. Looking back I can see that – My body told me many signs to stop yet at that time I overrode them and continued thinking it was about getting my body back in shape etc.
A great reflection on exercise Johanna. Exercise is about building love in the body . Now, when I exercise the thought of weight loss or gain , muscle building etc. never enters my mind. It is a beautiful action that holds a quality of Love that literally expands my body energetically and that creates a flow in my body that supports and carries me through the day, in every movement I make. Thank you Serge Benhayon for bringing the amazing gift of energetic awareness in everything we do.
Yes – Building Love in the body – as is everything in life is about.
Joanna, this is a timely blog for me to read, for as I sit here I am reflecting on the fact that I would like to develop a more consistent and supportive exercise routine for myself. I have come from a strong sporting background where I used to train 15-20 hours and do competitions, and then from there transitioned to running 3 times per week and several hours of yoga per day. In addition every holiday used to be about hiking or walking or some sort of challenge physically. And because of the way I was doing all of this, I gradually let that go and was and am so much freer or the imposed constraints of competition, pushing my body and forcing myself to do things that did not actually support me fully. This was and still is amazing to feel. But now I can say I am in the phase of beginning the build up of another way of exercising and supporting myself – a way that is not forced nor pushy, but a way that builds the strength in me to support me with my body in my life today and a way that honours and further supports the connection with my body. Thanks for the inspiration Joanna!
I remember feeling years ago after I started being more gentle with myself and stopping the intense exercise – that I almost had a fear about exercise and this was truly because I didn’t want to slip into my old pattern that were harmful and empty really. But what I have learnt now in reflection is that ‘the way’ can always be reimprinted and it is when we start with that that we get to feel the past momentums and the new choices we can make for ourselves and how we are with exercise, our body and our movements and for what reasons. This is a very interesting thing to feel. Enjoy and go for it Henrietta is all I can say.
Awesome Johanna and I can see how this applies to any thing we have done that we feel does not support us anymore. I too have experienced been on the side of avoiding doing some things that I used to do before that caused me harm and it actually does not work well to stop it completely . Yes there will be things to be stopped completed, but some, as you said, can be done differently to suit us. I am currently experiencing re-doing a profession in a different way and reading this blog and the comments made me realise how awesome it is to be doing it in a new way, with a gentle and delicate approach and completely different purpose.
Johanna I love what exercise is for you now making it about how you care for your body and deepening your connection. This approach to exercise will change how we all exercise in the future. I know this approach has assisted me to actually enjoy exercise rather than not doing any for it’s punishing approaches.
Yes for me too Jennifer exercise is an enjoyment and no longer a task that i need to tick off. It has also supported me to enjoy my movements during the day which is pretty cool to feel.
This really is the key Johanna, that is choosing to do exercise for the enjoyment of it.
Jennifer that is so true, if we make exercise about the quality and care we move in then perhaps we also will end up bringing quality and care to the forefront of the rest of our lives.
It stands to reason, as when we do bring it to our exercises it can only expand into other areas as we will be able to feel when we don’t do that. I find the moment I am not diligent something happens that will draw my awareness to that fact, either I bump myself, gently, or trip a little or spill something etc,- I get a message immediately and thankfully, gently these days.
“if I didn’t get a hit, I felt irritated. If I didn’t get to do my exercise, I would feel low or furious and a very tangible tension because I had not given myself the daily drug I used to relieve my undealt with hurts and emotions.” – This is brilliant Joanna and totally exposes how we can use exercise in a way that is addictive and in a way that does not actually support the body in the long run. I used to feel the same, and when frustration levels got really high I would take myself for a run, and if I did not get my certain number of runs in during the week I would feel off, unhappy, disappointed etc. This is exposing in how we use exercise!
It is vey exposing.
This is beautiful to read Johanna, ‘The gorgeous part is that every time I make time to delicately practise presence in my movement, it builds and becomes a natural way of being in my general daily activities.’ I find this really inspiring, thank you.
Thank you Rebecca. Supportive choices always support more supportive choices I have found – just as unsupportive choices support more unsupportive choices. Yet we always have a choice in each moment even if there is momentum behind us. And this for me is a huge blessing we have all been given. For no matter if we have been running our body hard, or eating badly, we always have the choice to stop and reconnect.
I have noticed more recently how hectic gyms are becoming, its like the music and tv screens blaring gets you to check out from your body and keep going. It would be interesting to see if there has also been an increase in injuries or muscle issues as a result of this.
I have noticed in the Gym I go to in Germany that the music is definitely turned down and not so hectic, which make for an easier space to work out in. However when they run their classes then it’s pumping and very unpleasant…
Yes that would be interesting. And something else I’ve noticed is that there are so many 24 hour gyms open around my area these days.
For me that is a blessing as I can go when it fits my rhythm and am not dependent on their opening times. Also, I can choose times where it’s not busy, music is off or low and that makes for a more loving space to exercise in.
Yes MW these results would be interesting to track. What I have noticed is the competition backboards placed in many gyms to push members to out do the tally totals for certain exercises or gain recognition with movements that may not be suited for the all.
Thats so true, I guess so many of us go to the Gym to look good or because we have to, rather than to support our bodies so that we want to find something else to distract us. I know I struggle with the gym as I resist the support it brings so would have been one to flick on a TV show.
The focus on my body once upon a time was all about how it looked. These days it is about how my body feels.
Hear hear – loving it, me too 🙂
Nothing compares to this feeling Niki. I completely agree. Sometimes if i slip with my consistency or exercise or vigilancy or food or way of being I am always left in my body to feel how less a quality I have chosen – and from here I have the choice to make the choices that confirm me and let me feel all the glorious of me in my body.
I can so relate Johanna. Re-commiting to quality of exercise and food choices have been paramount for me when I slip with consistency on them too. The body loves it and responds back soon after.
I love your last line that absolutely confirms true change we can never make alone as it is with the reflection and support of every person expressing in their own true way. Not that you cannot initiate change yourself but it is so much easier when we do it together.
Indeed, together supporting each other is inspiring for all and makes the journey so much more enjoyable and easy in the company of true brotherhood.
Absolutely Lieke. Through the reflection of others, not only in exercise but in life generally, I have seen things in ways I may not have considered on my own. And this is the amazing gift we have been given as a whole- is that when we work together we are working with all the angles and reflections we all bring to the party. And life from here is a true party as it is to be greatly appreciated and celebrated.
Truly inspiring Johanna. You are touching on a truth that nearly all training instructors are sorely missing when they are showing their clients how to exercise. And that is true surrender to the body and connection with how you feel all the time. It’s so simple but at the same time can be challenging if you are still seeking the drive, push or image that most of us have when we exercise.
Trainers always ask people about their goals or images and never about connection with self. You are completely correct Joshua.
Exercise supports the body much more that we realise, but only when it is done with full presence and without the drive and rush of adrenaline that many people seek. I love doing my exercises in the morning it offers a reflection on how well my body is moving and where there is any stillness or pain. I used to think i had to exercise for at least an hour but I have found if I remain focused on the movements 20 minutes is enough to support my body. .
Totally agree Alison. Any length of time being present with movement is expanding. I’ve let go of exercising for a length of time, let go of it having to be a certain time of day, let go of having to wear certain clothes or have certain equipment or exercise in a certain environment. This has all created so much more space within and around me.
This ia huge Johamna. Although a lot has changed in the way I exercise now compared to my old way of exercising, after reading your great blog I became more aware of the ideals and images I still carry around exercising – how much time being one of them.
Just the first paragraph made me sit up with inspiration: “my own exercise plan that I tailored just for me, as a support to bring all of me to life, to confirm the unique flavor my essence offers and me as being my own woman, not one dictated to by societal images.” Wow I love this context. Where do I sign up?
This sentence was very paramount for me as it was the foundation for the how of and the way I wanted to implement exercise. I’ve spent a lot of my life giving my power away or comparing at times without even being conscious of it. Me supporting the woman I am was about me taking lead in my own life and cherishing everything about me. Building a deep connection and solid foundation with exercise was part of supporting and honouring me.
Great to highlight this, there is no one way to exercise, we are all unique in how we move and what is beneficial for each person is an individual thing. When we put this to the fore that is when exercise feels like it can be most fun, rather than prescriptive and dull it becomes something to look forward to doing.
I like what you are saying here Stephen. Exercise is very individual as it asks us to consider what kind of exercise our body actually needs rather than relying on a fixed routine.
What a de-lightful blog Johanna…I loved reading about how you’ve changed your relationship with exercise. We are sold that exercise is a great thing to do for our health, and of course it is, but the way we exercise and why we are doing it is important to understand otherwise we can have an amazing looking and fit body that is hard or carrying injuries.
The way is huge – and is the difference between truly supporting ourselves or harming/hurting ourselves.
Yes so true and harming or hurting ourselves also carries the possibility of harming and hurting others, when they observe how we exercise. Equally it can be so supportive and healing for another to observe that there is another way.
And ultimately it doesn’t really look that amazing – our body that is if we pump it with hard exercise. I used to be a yoga fanatic, doing ashtanga yoga every day and I certainly looked and thought I was super fit. But my body when I look back to photos of me back then, looked hard. You could not see that there was a delicate woman there – it was all about looking a part to fulfil a body beautiful image but with no real essence of beauty to be actually felt. My body looked and felt angular! Now, my body feels so different – there is a delicateness that emanates and I’m still very fit – but not in the pumped up sense. I exercise in a way, be it swimming, walking, doing light weights, in a way that doesn’t force or push. We can use exercise to deepen our inner most connection, and when we do that – wow, does the body respond.
Johanna I love that the foundation of your new exercise includes “remaining with and building the connection with my body” I find this is one of the greatest benefits for me around exercise today. I find that the connection it can provide is deeply supportive and I also find that I often resist exercise because it feels “hard work” but really its me resisting the deeper connection with myself.
Thanks DN. It definitely has been a space and time where I remain with and build that connection with my body. And what that has done is filter this connection with my body strongly into days activities and If I go a week without exercising I can feel the dedication, connection and consistency change – so this shows the power of what is being built as well as the fact that it is a continuous way of being and way of life, and not something where you get to a point and just stop.
I agree DN, I too have begun to use exercise as a way to build a relationship with my body and in the process have transformed the way I do it. I have ditched the ‘no pain, no gain’ approach along with the life long habit of cycling and replaced it with a steady, gentle exercise routine that includes plenty of walking, weight bearing exercises and stamina building. The quality of my health is clearly reflecting the benefits of choosing to honour and support my body in this way and so encourages me to keep on building and refining this gorgeous connection.
This is super inspiring Johanna. I used to play a lot of competitive sports such as soccer, tennis and cycling. I stopped about 10 years ago and only walk since then. I feel that I’m to exercise again, but I can feel the hesitation to meet my past experiences. Reading this blog is very timely as I’m on my way to start exercising again. I love feeling the joy, vitality and richness it has brought to you. As well as the wonderment! I love it.
Thanks Floris. That’s awesome and Enjoy!
I so understand that feeling Floris, as for me it also was a bit daunting getting started again after a long time doing rather very little, yet over the years now and with all the teachings and presentations by Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine I have come to feel the difference between ‘exercising in order to’ and exercising in the joy of presence and supporting the body.
Many people can go into reaction and choose to not exercise with weights at all because they feel it’s too hard for their body. This is not true – our body need weight bearing exercises – wether this is with your own body weight or weights. It’s actually just as equally harming to your body to not exercise or be all airy fairy about it as it is to overdo it.
And it’s important for a person to feel into how they need to support their body and for what purpose. We are made to work and to get through our days with vitality- so, housing the time and exercise that supports our purpose and life is also something to consider. Exercise also can bring a beautiful strength to the body as well as an amazing routine and consistency to life. These are all great things when done in a true and natural way.
Nothing airy fairy about true exercising in conscious presence and appreciation for all that we are comprised of, is there.
When we listen to our bodies we can get this balance right.
Wouldn’t it be great if we installed the importance of personal exercise routines amongst our young.
For part of our education syllabus to include an introduction to exercises that are tailored for each child to support their bodies, with this seed I’m sure many more adults would feel empowered to engage in weight baring exercises.
There are so many images around what ‘being fit and healthy’ looks like. But why do we make it all about looks and not a true vitality and health from within that is expressed out? I’ve been caught in that image, exercising so I could treat myself over the weekend with drinking alcohol, indulgent food and so on. How is exercise can only be about true health when we make it about how we live in every moment. Everything counts.
I know and we seem to buy and swallow these images Rachel without any second thought or feeling into how true and supportive they are for us. As you say ‘Everything counts’ and we can apply this to absolutely everything in life.
A lot of people are religiously dedicated to an exercise regime to keep their own undealt with hurts at bay, and like you say will feel anger, frustration or some sort of agitaion if they are not able to ‘vent’ by exhausting the body.
Yes true. The body gets to a pent up feeling and the relief of those emotions becomes somewhat addictive – then added to that if (as I was at that time) a person using eg. weight etc to fill the lack of self worth then the exercise becomes part of the false self worth. So another false element to being quite regimented about exercising.
I agree Eva, whereas all we are doing is compounding the frustrations, which eventually manifest as an illness. Johanna has revealed to us that there is a way to exercise that really supports our bodies and allows us to integrate our day, wind down gently and rest properly, because the usual turmoil, frustrations and angst in every day life are not allowed to build in the first place.
This is very common Eva. I see many people who get very agitated if they can’t do a hard workout to vent their built up emotions. Boxing has become very popular with women which would have to be one of the hardest forms of exercise you could do.
The way you have described excercise Johanna for instance using it as a time to pump yourself after a busy day at work or to stay in a momentum is a common way we avoid feeling the intensity of our daily life.
And on some level back then that taking the time out even to exercise in that way was less of an intensity compared to what I was allowing myself to run on and absorb during my day. So that in itself is a reflection.
With such awareness and understanding of our bodies and offering them the support they actually require we make true inroads to calling out the many ways that we pound our body with not only exercise but with but how we live in general.
And it’s not until, for me – when I made these adjustments and inroads that I was able to see the consciousness, beliefs and ideals that were running me and the way I thought about exercise and implemented it.
So true Johanna, myself too yet I had not put them into such a clear expression as you have and it has brought many more points to the forefront for me too, so thank you.
And this is true of any aspect of life, when we are in something it is hard to see the harm in it. It is why we live in a world of normalities that actually don’t make sense and are often deeply harming to self and others. And it is why sharings such as this are so important, as they highlight how a new normal is needed that actually puts the love of our bodies first. If we love our own bodies truly then we can not harm anyone.
It’s pretty clear by the level of general malaise, un-wellness, lack of vitality, disease, injuries and more that our bodies are ready for a re-connection back to normal that supports us lovingly.