We want to stress the importance of awareness – not just mental, but also physical. One of the most crucial (and most oft ignored) aspects of fitness is the kinesthetic sense, or body awareness. When doing non-functional exercises (isolation movements done most commonly on machines), we quickly become unaware of any other component of our body, beyond the muscle that is “feeling the burn.” Shoulders slump, backs round, bellies loosen. We expect results from doing almost nothing.
What we need is focus: concentration on how we move and exercise, improving our bodily awareness, thereby having a positive effect how we feel – not just how we look. As our body becomes stronger and more balanced our posture improves, our lungs are able to take in more air, more oxygen is delivered to our blood, circulation improves, and we become more alert, happy and able.
We need to create achievable goals to drive us – not just aesthetic ends imposed on us from external sources. Stop trying to force our bodies to conform to an outward standard, thereby ignoring our actual physical well-being. Being able to run, jump, dance and move has become secondary, but it has an infinitely more positive impact on how we feel than arbitrary numbers on a scale or social expectation of how we “should” look.
