It’s September, which we all know is the real “New Year’s” for caretakers. January is already too tired, in my opinion, but September? It’s the perfectly imperfect moment to attempt to get your shit together. Maybe it’s all the years of smelling those plastic folders in your school supply list. Or maybe you see freshly sharpened pencils and you get all tingly like I do (probably just me, I know). Whatever the case is, you probably feel like attempting a fresh start.
The issue here, of course, is - hold your breath - that the word “fresh” isn’t what we feel after summer, nor is what we feel as we get older. No. I don’t know about you, but I am crunchy and a bit grumpy. There’s been zero routine, I have no idea if snacking is actually meal-ing, and sleep is a situation now that early wake up is no longer 8am. Plus, I’ve been doing a lot of random movement all summer - a combination of attempting to keep up with the kids plus a lot of very short, very half-assed workouts plus also a lot of pretending like sitting in a beach chair is active (I still vote Yes).
Normally, each September, I encourage you to just rip the bandaid off and dive back in with a workout. We know it won’t be fun and you’ll feel not awesome, but get it over with. Beginning again is never a graceful or easy thing, so just avoid thinking and crawl/drool your way to the mat. However, this year, I’d like to try something else: I’d like to try starting this un-fresh start with some deliberate mobility workouts. What are mobility workouts? They are short blips of movement designed to coax the orchestra of your joints, muscles, and bones back into harmony. We do this through controlled types of twisting, bending, and reaching.
Outside of that great definition of mobility, though, is something so much deeper. That deeper part is that - for me - mobility lends to me a thing that I feel like I lost when I became a mom: Trust in my body. I mean, yeah, after kids I have still attempted different types of exercise, I’ve tried obstacle courses, I’ve climbed walls, I’ve jumped on the trampoline. I like to convince myself that I retrieved my body after all these years. But, honestly, I still hold back. I still think, in the hidden corners of my mind/body connection: I don’t know if I can do that.
If I’m honest with myself, this feeling lives with me and in me during so much of my day. It’s just a quiet but constant reminder that I’m not sure what my limits are and that I am afraid if I do that one thing, then I’ll get hurt and there’s no room for me to be hurt. I don’t want to be in invisible pain during the day, the day is hard enough already. I don’t want to be reminded that my body is aging. I don’t want to hold back. I don’t want to feel scared. I don’t want to not trust my body.
And, so, I often just retreat back to what I know. I move in the same patterns and habits, in both my daily grind and my exercise. It feels safe, even though it’s a container. Mobility training, though, has begun to unearth this curious part of me that used to live so brightly when I was a kid. I think I can do that. I remember just launching into movement and allowing the launch to be my teacher. There wasn’t a ton of overthinking or evaluating how messy it would be. I just launched and then learned, especially when I fell flat on my face.
The more I add mobility movement into my life, the more I feel connected to this part of me. Is it perfect? No. Is it solving all my problems? Definitely no. But, it’s a challenge and - to quote a mural I saw on the street last week - “if it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you”. Something is shifting and that something feels so close to the little kid who needed a hand to hold on the first day of school, but walked inside a new classroom anyway.
Please join me this coming Monday, Sept 2nd for the first day of our September 2024 Hook: Mobility to Begin Again. I’ll be sharing a new 5-minute mobility session for an entire 30 days, to get you through this fresh start urge. During this month, you will also get a weekly podcast focused on one area of what I am learning. And, best of all, there is a community of fellow members that will be active along with you, each day.
All you have to do from here is register and then I will be sending you an email on Sun, Sept 1st with all the goods and how to access the challenge content.
To register for The Sept 2024 Hook: Mobility to Begin Again, you’ll simply go to this post in the community and then click “Join”.
**IF YOU ARE NOT YET a member, go sign up here and then follow the instructions above (and don’t forget to use the coupon STARTFORFIVE to get a discounted membership price to start!).