Sacred Women have been in hiding for lifetimes
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Why I Don’t Workout
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If you’ve followed me for any length of time, you know how important it is to me that I “walk my talk.” So, earlier this week, when my body said she needed to slow down, observe the ease of summer, and prepare for my baby girl to arrive (in just a few short weeks!), I listened. In true LMWL fashion, I took the necessary steps to honor my intuition: prioritize, say “no,” and let go of needing to please everyone else.
That being said, I still have some delectable articles I want to share with you over the next few weeks. These are my four most popular (and effective) blog posts of the year.
If you’re new to the community, I’d like to first bring your attention to this juicy post: “Why I Don’t Workout.” It talks about how we can make the shift from working out as punishment to moving our body for the purpose of having fun and feeling good. If you’ve already been around the Sarah Jenks block, use the reminder to let the information really sink in.
I still look forward to connecting with you in the comments and supporting you through these super relevant topics. And, I’d love to know how you’re choosing to tune in and honor YOUR intuition, this week.
Also, in case you aren’t following me on Instagram, I wanted to let you know that I posted a giveaway this week, for one lucky woman to win a free swimsuit of her choice from Nettle’s Tale! The giveaway is all about having the courage to put yourself out there and LIVE MORE this summer. I don’t want you to miss out on summer because you’re afraid of getting in a swimsuit. Instead, I want you to focus on the fun and adventure you can have when you stop hiding. Wearing a swimsuit isn’t about focusing on how you look, but how you are experiencing the world around you. My challenge to you (and your friends) plus details on how to win a free swimsuit can be found on my Instagram page here: http://instagram.com/sarahjenks and look for this picture:
Live More Weigh Less Giveaway
Now, let’s dive in…
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In college I used to slog across campus in the snow in my sweat pants, Uggs and huge puffy coat at 5:30pm to the “Estrogym” to burn off the calories I had consumed during the day. The Estrogym was a dimly lit, poorly ventilated hallway by the raquetball courts where 6 elliptical trainers, 4 treadmills and 3 bikes were lined up side by side with just enough space in between, so you would just barely brush elbows as you powered through your workout.
It was called the Estrogym because female students would line up for a machine in the crowded hallway and down the cement stairwell waiting to workout, sometimes for over an hour.
Nothing about this was fun. In fact, everyone there looked miserable. Because we were all there for the same reason, punishment.
Punishment for eating too much, for not being thin enough, for drinking too much the night before. It was the price we paid for gluttony and a necessary evil.
When I lived in NYC after college, it was more of the same except I got to run like a hamster on a wheel in a fancy gym. Then one day, I got brave enough to try a group hip hop class at the gym. I avoided them for years because I was sure that people were going to look at me and wonder, “who does that uncoordinated fat girl think she is?”
But in the class I felt alive. I was so carried away by the movement that I forgot about my fear of being judged. The class flew by and after I felt amazing! Not that familiar feeling of “you could have pushed harder, you could have burned a hundred more calories”.
I never went on an elliptical or treadmill ever again. For real.
I stopped working out, and I started moving my body.
You see I was working out to punish myself, to burn calories, to look perfect. And it never worked. I just ended up feeling fat, miserable and like a total failure.
When I started dancing and moving my body I did it because it was FUN. And I FELT incredible. I felt flexible, springy, energized and sexy – after just ONE workout. And because of that, I wanted to do it all the time, which of course caused my body to be stronger and leaner.
Now, even when we find something we love, it can be hard to make the time. For me, it is so easy to convince myself that I have too much work, I should spend the extra time with Marshall, I’m too tired, I have visitors – I’ll just go when they leave, I just don’t feel like it – I’ll go when I want to.
Even as I’m sitting down to write this blog post on movement, I realize that I did not move my body yesterday, and I had no plans to move my body today. And I’m confused as to why this post seems particularly challenging to write…
Yet another opportunity to walk my talk. Today, like most days, moving my body seems impossible. I have a mountain of work, including this post, my nanny has to leave early, Jonathan is working late and my mother and sister-in-law are in town.
There are a million reasons to not go, and one very important reason to go.
There was a loooooong period of time after I had Marshall when I just stopped working out altogether. And although I didn’t see the connection, I started to feel really down. I was getting easily overwhelmed, I felt less connected to Marshall and I just wasn’t happy.
Many people in my life started to notice the change, and suggested delicately that I engage in some physical activity. Of course my inner thirteen year old came out and threw a tantrum, “ARE YOU TELLING ME I’M FAT?! OH HELL NO!”
But I gathered myself, and tapped into what I really needed. I knew deep down that moving my body was going to help me, so I committed to just going to one yoga class. Making this small and manageable goal was smart because when I make big sweeping ones like “I am going to move my body 4 days a week… forever”, then it’s easy to mess up.
But even going once can feel like too much with a company to run and a baby to take care of. And then I remembered… we have to be so fiercely dedicated to taking care of ourselves that we are willing to move mountains to do it.
I had to cancel some commitments, push off some deadlines and ask my nanny to stay late. All things I hate doing. I felt guilty, and like a slacker, but as soon as I sat down on my mat, I started to cry. My body was overcome with gratitude that I was back. That I remembered to take care of her. It was the homecoming I needed. I felt a little stiff during class, and it was hard for me to not go into judgement about how I didn’t look like the graceful woman next to me who probably practiced twice a day for the past ten years, but I just kept bringing it back to me and my body. At the end of class I felt like a completely different person. I felt calm, grounded and most importantly, I felt happy. You see, when I was forcing myself to workout to lose weight, I missed the high. It was also so easy to put it off because in the grand scheme of things, one workout did very little to move the needle on my weight loss. It was easy to just push it off to tomorrow.But when I understood that I needed to move my body to feel happy today, it was so motivating, and above all else it becomes important. More important than my work, than my lethargy, than spending an extra hour with Marshall. Moving my body is what allows me to be a good mother, a good coach, a good wife.
So today I want you to think about WHY you want to move your body. Is it to improve your mood? To feel creative? To feel alive? To help your bad back? To have fun? Please tell us in the comments below.
And please promise me that you’ll stop working out. It’s a dead end.
Love,
Sarah