What does your relationship to movement look like? For a lot of folks, “exercise” isn’t necessarily something they enjoy. Sure, we all know that moving our bodies is important for our health, but it can feel too much like “work” some days. It’s something we might begrudgingly do, procrastinate at all costs, or just have a lot of negative emotions around. I mean, that doesn’t sound particularly health-promoting to me…
That’s where joyful movement comes in.
Okay, so what is joyful movement?
Joyful movement is a term used most often in the intuitive eating space. Essentially, it is what it sounds like: movement that brings you joy. It’s engaging in physical movement that feels good to your body.
The focus is more on how the activity makes you feel, physically and mentally, and less about ‘feeling the burn’ or basing movement off of how many calories you’ll burn or how you’re hoping it might change your physical appearance.
It’s about moving because it feels good, not because it’ll make you look good.
What type of movement qualifies as joyful?
The beauty of joyful movement is that it can be virtually anything. For some people, a high intensity class like HIIT, high-intensity interval training, or a bootcamp might be enjoyable. For others, it might mean gentler movement like yoga or walking.
Some may enjoy movement that’s more social, like team sports, while others may enjoy movement in solitude.
We’re all individual people with different interests, and therefore what I may consider enjoyable movement for myself might not be joyful for you, and vice versa. A particular type of movement might be joyful for you on one day, and not on another. Joyful movement doesn’t have a defined set of parameters and is not black-and-white.
It’s all about experimenting with different activities and ways of moving your body to see what feels best and fits best in your life.
How do you figure out what kind of movement is joyful to you?
For some people, figuring out what movement they enjoy is going to be really easy. In fact, there might be some people who hear the words ‘joyful movement’ and already know exactly what kinds of activities fit that description for them. For others, they may be so detached from thinking of movement as an enjoyable activity that it’s genuinely very difficult for them to figure out what kind of movement is joyful for them.
If you’re the kind of person who regularly exercises because you feel you ‘need to’, it may be best to take a step back from movement for a while to gain some perspective on what you actually enjoy doing.
It can take some time to figure out what works best for you. One thing that can be helpful as well is trying to prevent comparing yourself to others. I know this is so much easier said than done, but comparing to others can detract from listening to your internal cues. Those internal cues are what’s going to tell you what movement to do, when, for how long, etc. They also tell you when rest is a better option, and this is important too.
If you’re really struggling, I strongly encourage you to seek out a joyful movement personal trainer who can help you navigate that space.
How often should you engage in joyful movement?
Just like there’s no one best way to move your body, there also isn’t an optimal amount of time or frequency that you should be engaging in joyful movement.
The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommend about 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity per week, or about 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity.
Typically, I encourage people to focus less on the numbers, and more on how their body feels. One person may feel better with more movement than another, and that’s okay. As long as you find ways to move your body in a way that feels enjoyable, it’s up to you to figure out how this movement fits best into your life.
And remember, you do NOT have to be dripping in sweat or have sore muscles in order for physical activity to ‘count’. However you’re able to move, in whatever way feels good to you, all counts.
At the end of the day, what’s important is that you’re moving your body however you can, in a way that is safe and feels good to you. And that’s what joyful movement is all about.