Chalene did a mind exercise where she asked her listeners the first thing that comes to mind when you think of exercise or movement as a child? Is it positive or negative?
I have a few thoughts that immediately come to mind when I think about exercise as a child and they are all negative.
My first thought is when I was in 5th or 6th grade. I was big for my age. I was 11 and looked like I was 18. My body was overdeveloped. I think I wore a size C bra even then. I was in the gym, trying out for the basketball team. The coach was young, maybe in his early 20's. He had us running drills back and forth the full length of the gym. As I was running, he came up beside me and made a comment about me having big boobs. I immediately slowed down and became self-conscious any time I ran they my breasts didn't bounce up and down. I also remember always being last to be picked on a team in gym class, coming in last when I ran, and last even on the hippity hop races. I decided sports was not my thing!
The second part of Chalene's mind exercise was to think about movement you loved as a child. I had to think a little harder about that one, but a couple things came to mind.
I loved it in elementary school when the PE teacher would get out a giant parachute and all the kids would circle around it and move to create wind under the parachute. We would move it up and down and all around. I remember it being fun to feel part of the group, not to be singled out, and the colors were so pretty.
I also liked to play jump rope with my friends at recess. I liked Hopscotch too. I loved to skip. Skipping made me feel happy. Even now I think it's probably impossible to skip and feel sad at the same time. I also remember going on a hike with a small group of kids, that felt like such an adventure. I loved it.
Swimming is probably the thing I loved the most as a child. I never remember being afraid of the water. I would jump in any body of water no matter how dirty it was. Creeks, ponds, lakes, mud puddles, it didn't matter to me. I didn't think about snakes or germs. Playing with the water hose was a blast too. I would offer to wash the car just so I could play with the water hose.
When I was a teenager, I loved to walk around the "big block" with my best friend. The big block was a four mile square near the tiny town we lived in called "Herbst". It is surrounded by cornfields in east central Indiana. I looked forward to waking around the big block with my friend. We would sing sings, talk about boys, our plans for the future, and whatever else crossed our mind. It never seemed like exercise, just hanging out with a friend.
I'm glad to see that I also have positive childhood memories about exercise. Chalene challenged us to focus on the exercises and movements that made us happy as a child because that can lead us to our "soul mate" workout, something we look forward to doing instead of something that makes is feel self-conscious or that we have to force ourself to do.
It never crossed my mind before that my sub-conscious could be associating exercise with early childhood negative experiences and trying to protect me. The mind is a curios thing. It fascinates me to continue learning how the mind works and use that knowledge to live my best life. I believe awareness plays a bug role in progress and transformation. Thanks Chalene!
Now I'm headed to the park to walk with that same best friend from high school that I walked around the big block with (we are blessed to have kept in touch all these years). Tomorrow, I may mix it up by going skipping in the pool.
What's your soul mate exercise?
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