The Value of Movement
Time to read: 2 - 3 min
At the very centre of my life is the value of movement. It remains the single biggest habit I conduct to achieve mental and physical health. Whilst the physical fitness is great to have, it's the mental benefits as a consequence that make movement so wonderful. With time starved parents, it's often the first thing to be deprioritised, seen as a luxury or nice to have when raising your children takes centre stage. We don’t believe this is the correct approach and if you are reading this in the exact position of having not exercised recently let us try and persuade you otherwise.
Movement vs Exercising
Movement is more important than what type of exercise you decide on. The ability to connect your mental and physical body and move as one creates so many benefits for you. It's also what your body is designed to do. What you do is far less important (see this article for more), it matters that you create movement in your daily routine. Whether that's counting steps and walking with a buggy vs taking the car, or going for a run/gym/yoga, movement is the foundation for health.
Movement as Therapy
New parents go through a huge change in their lives and moving through this find a new identity forming. This requires an intense amount of mental space, reflection and inner thought that is difficult to achieve when surrounded by others. Any question on identity is centred on you understanding yourself better. Movement enables this, it gives the mind a task to occupy it and over time you will find you can answer many questions about yourself whilst moving/exercising. The more you do, the more answers you find. At the extreme end of this, I have run ultra marathons and if you create movement that lasts hours you find yourself so much more content and present in family life.
Movement to Build Confidence
Movement enables you to recapture body confidence, whether you fear your dad bod or you are still trying to fit back into your pre-partum clothes. Your confidence reflects in the energy, positivity and connection you give your loved ones. If you are lacking confidence, movement is often a simple and effective tool to combat that.
Movement to Connect
Hands down one of the single biggest joys in my relationship with my wife is connection through movement. Whether it is me joining her for yoga or peloton class or her joining me for a run, I think every relationship challenge can be softened and overcome through moving together. It creates a special space to connect, communicate and smile. Over time we started to include our son, with the running buggy, in family runs which create a triple win for our trio. If you are looking to connect start with movement
Movement is the answer to many parenting challenges, starting with yourself and then your relationship within the family. MoveThru will deep dive into this in further articles, tools and services to help you discover the best version for you. But if in doubt, just take a few steps, leave the house and feel the rewards!
Zoe’s response
I whole-heartedly agree with everything in this article and the ways in which my mental health has improved since I started taking my movement more seriously is just wild. However, it can be an intimidating space to return to as the mum, especially if you’ve had a difficult birth or pregnancy or are just very out of practice.
With this in mind I wanted to put together a special course for postpartum mums alongside an incredible postpartum coach / athlete to introduce you back into the world of movement. This course will rebuild your foundations and confidence over a few weeks so that you can then take the step of going for your first run, yoga class etc. It will be so worth it, I really do urge you to move your body today in whatever way you are able.
TAKEAWAYS:
Movement is a central pillar in improving your health. Mental and physical, it's the quickest hack to supporting yourself
Finding space to enable self therapy is a key asset. Occupying your brain to enable you to understand yourself better is greater value than just fitness
Confidence & Connection. If you are lacking either and want to change, movement is a fast & cheap habit to adopt.
