by Kate Greenaway, BAppSc(PT), Physiotherapist, Australia
Recently I had a fascinating experience that highlighted to me the difference between moving and exercising in a gentle flowing way or pounding and pushing the body. I was packing my car after a lovely time exercising in the local pool when I noticed two middle aged men running down a steep cement driveway near me – they were literally pounding and jarring their bodies. They were red and puffy in their faces and they looked miserable. It felt like they were punishing themselves in pushing their bodies for some sort of outcome. I was feeling really fluid and content in my body from the gentle moving and swimming that I had just completed and I could really feel the contrast with what these men were doing as they slammed their bodies with each step.
I remembered it was only a few years ago that I was pelting up and down the local pools to do my ’40 laps’ or pushing myself up the gazillion steps to the Byron Bay Lighthouse to feel good about doing something ‘healthy’ and ‘good’ for my body. Part of my drive came from the ideal that ‘I should have a healthy body’ as I was a physiotherapist and ‘how could I tell my clients to look after their bodies and exercise if I wasn’t ?’
That drive was behind years of dabbling in all sorts of exercise. You name it – I tried it … from gym and weight workouts to twisting myself up into all sorts of shapes with many styles of yoga – to a slow series of movements in Tai Chi and Chi Gung. I even studied Tai Chi in the UK under a ‘master’ and diligently practised, even though my knees were giving me clear messages that this wasn’t a natural way to move and exercise. I realise now that all I did was make my body hard and like these middle-aged men pelting past me I was punishing my body and not supporting my body.
I had made moving and exercise, as with other things in my life, complex and outcome based rather than a simple enjoyment of my body’s natural way of moving.
I remember as a little girl loving the lightness and spring in my body and being fascinated with how there was a flow in my body. I also loved the feeling of that gentle rippling through the body when I floated in water – it was a bonus having friends with pools growing up in Australia!!! Somewhere along the line I had lost that feeling of the lightness and flow and replaced it with ‘what my body should or shouldn’t do’.
When I was in my 30’s I was considered very healthy by the standard medical parameters, but I had low vitality, was moody especially in the early mornings and each day was just a job to get done.
When I was 35 a physio friend introduced me to Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine – that was a pivotal point in my life. As a physiotherapist I respected and loved the body and its biomechanics and I found out that Serge, through his sporting background did likewise. I came to discover that he had a much deeper awareness and knowing of the body’s natural healing than anyone I had ever met. This challenged me initially as I equated knowledge of the body with some sort of traditional medical training, and here was a man without that but with a far greater understanding of the body than all the health professionals I had known over the last 15 years. He just always made sense and I could see that he lived what he presented – that your body’s vitality gradually comes back as you live more gently in it. It took me years to understand what being gentle and more self-loving with my body meant and I am still learning. Initially, in reaction to all the hardness I could feel in my body, I stopped most forms of exercise – this didn’t work either as my body weakened and I certainly didn’t have much ‘get-up and go’. It was my trust in and association with Serge and Universal Medicine that inspired me to return to regular exercise but in a different way. Over the last 12 years I have been to most of the Universal Medicine presentations where Serge has just shared what has supported his body and what he has come to know about the effects of different forms of exercise on the body. It is up to us to then feel for ourselves whether what he presents is true or not.
So over the last few years I have rekindled my appreciation of the natural flowing movement in my body when I walk, swim or do some light weights. As soon as I go back into the old way ……’I must do three more bicep curls ‘ it’s as if another five kg are loaded on my arm and my body goes hard . When I come back to enjoying the natural flow of the movement and an openness to learning from my body, that same movement with the same weight is easy and light. It’s still a work in progress or really a ‘love in progress’. The old program of ‘exercise must do’s’ is so strong that I can slip into the ‘doing of it’ pretty easily . This is slowly changing as I catch these moments – enjoy my flowing movement again and just keep it simple as to how and what my body wants to do at that time. When I do this it’s like my body sighs with relief (!!) and over time the hardness continues to melt. I have shared this with many clients over these recent years and they have learnt to appreciate and even love their bodies again. I am now in my late 40’s and I have way more vitality and joy in my body than I had in my late 20’s!
One of the best things to all of this is that exercise and movement have become fun and way more playful again. I have learned that how I choose to exercise impacts how I feel and how my body physically feels such that for me I now choose exercise that is gentle and flowing rather than pushing and pounding.
Medicine and Serge Benhayon 
This is a great sharing Kate and brings a greater understanding that if we take care of our bodies our vitality does come back. I have found that the more I am in unison with my body the more I’m shown when I step away from gentleness but also how to come back.
By doing the gentle Esoteric Connective Tissue exercises, I can feel where there is hardness in my body from going into protection against the world and what I was feeling. I now realise that when the body is free and fluid in its movements it’s as though nothing sticks to it. It’s like have a water proof coating where all the slings and arrows of life just fall away. There should be much more access for people to experience Esoteric Connective Tissue exercise as it is a true way for our bodies to move.
‘Life: Gentle and Flowing or Pounding and Pushing? an equally good question.
‘I had made moving and exercise, as with other things in my life, complex and outcome based rather than a simple enjoyment of my body’s natural way of moving.’ I observe so many joggers on the street who look like they are in pain and when I observe their bodies it looks like what they are doing to them is punishing. The bodies really don’t look like they are up to the exertion, as they certainly don’t look like they are being moved naturally. As we begin to let go of the consciousness of drive and begin to honour our bodies more, we can find a settlement that allows us to exercise with the body in a way that honours it, rather than against it.
I can relate to those bodies pounding and looking miserable during the gruelling pushing. I used to do it once upon a time. Now I exercise very little, but I would like to try ‘exercise and movement to becoming fun and way more playful again’. I’ve taken exercise way more too seriously and its time to introduce more fun with it.
Great blog, I am going to take this wisdom with me as I exercise tomorrow.
This morning I went for a swim and often in the early mornings the pool can be very full with what feels like everyone fighting for a lane and a space.
Some days I have noticed I can join in the mad frenzy and it feels horrible and others like today, I feel it but I don’t let it effect me and I remain calm, observant and grateful for the opportunity that is always in front of me.
Is it “complex and outcome based rather than a simple enjoyment of my body’s natural way of moving” and the “lightness and flow”? A great way of observing my relationship with my body in my moment to moment choices.
The sound of ‘pounding and pushing’ – that is so not attractive to me. Give me gentle exercise and a good walk any day.
“as they slammed their bodies with each step” I can feel the aggression in this exercise of self-harm.
The more gentle we are with our bodies the more vital we become. I’ve definitely experienced this over the years and again now feeling there’s more to honour in regards to my body.
It’s true that when we pound and push we squeeze the playfulness and enjoyment out – it becomes all about the end result …no gain without pain mentality – Since being more consciously present in my body I find there is a steadiness and a flow that feels quite spacious and my work outs or work ins have become so much more enjoyable on every level.
These days I don’t see any gain that comes out of pain to be worth it. If it goes against my body then it will not be sustainable. Such as exercising. Whereas gentle exercise feels great, it’s something I want to be consistent with and it’s a joy to do so.
I agree Elaine, when we make it about the end result, the fun and light heartedness is masked. Exercise needs to be fun, and with that the steadiness develops and from this we develop a whole new perspective on caring for our bodies.
I love how you talk about natural flow, as the body has a natural flow and by supporting that natural flow we naturally know how to be when when we walk or swim.
Love it Kate what you are sharing, how there is another way we can exercise and move our bodies that is not demanding and damaging our innate qualities we are here to express and be. To be able to incorporate these into our exercise for me has been a developing process and I am loving it.
Exercise is such a loaded word and in the past I have been very caught up in the ‘more is better’ bandwagon despite my body giving me clear messages that it does not appreciate being pushed beyond its natural limits. Finding a balance with gentle exercise that supports me is still a work in progress but allowing this to unfold without judgement means that the fun and playfulness I felt as a child is rekindled.
“Very healthy by the standard medical parameters, but I had low vitality, was moody especially in the early mornings and each day was just a job to get done” – this really exposes how we define what being healthy means. Exercise is a great way to care for our body but it’s such an irony that we think that we have to push our bodies to be ‘healthy’, and loving ourselves seems to get completely missed out in that process. It’s kind of crazy and makes no sense but we do.
Yes Kate I too remember that lightness and flow as a young girl, everything was fluid and easy and as you say the moment we bring in the ‘should’ or ‘shouldn’t’ then the body has restrictions of what it has to be. Stripping this back and letting this go I am absolutely loving.
I can so relate to doing an exercise on ‘must do’s’ pushing myself not feeling good enough unless I meet my self imposed target.
Now it is not all of the time but most of the time I too have dropped that harshness and have come back to a way of exercising that honours my natural flow.
It’s so interesting about the connection of gentleness with the body, gentle movement and vitality. It makes sense that pushing ourselves in exercise and being hard and rough with the body is not vitality promoting because it no doubt causes a lot of harm to the tissues, etc, and is something for the body to recover from. I’m starting an exercise program tomorrow so it will be great to explore the gentle, flowing movement.
Yes we seem to have lost sight of vitality in the pursuit of ‘fitness’ but fitness for what?
I go for a daily walk along the river Thames and sometimes I’m almost knocked over by cyclists that are pushing so hard on their bikes and their only focus is to keep pushing their bodies from A to B.
Kate what you have shared is gold and makes so much sense to me as I used to drive and pound my body in a variety of sporting endeavours as well as in my working practices and now with a different commitment to work and utilising light exercises while being focused on our connection and breath this makes a world of difference to the over-all-wellbeing and vitality in my day. Then when we also add walking as in Walking Therapies as presented by Serge Benhayon our body starts to respond to a whole new level of True interaction that is felt as a blessing for our whole being.
“I am now in my late 40’s and I have way more vitality and joy in my body than I had in my late 20’s!” this line is a show-stopper Kate, proof that how we choose to treat ourselves in life is really the most important thing, and that it’s never too late to make this choice and feel the benefits of it.
In my 20’s I had the vitality of a slug. Breakfast was chocolate and a cigarette, morning tea was a hot chocolate, lunch was fish and chips and a cream bun and dinner was most of what was in the cupboards. Food was what I used to get my sluggish body to move, although looking back food probably hindered its ability to move more than it helped it to move. Now I feel vibrant and alive and food is an adjunct in my day and not the focus.
I exercise more regularly and for longer, since I have made it gentle, being rough and pushy which is how I thought it should be in the past, put me off and I avoided it.
I’ve always avoided exercising as I identified it with that kind of punishment you share here Kate. Since I’ve known Universal Medicine I’ve discovered that there is another way to be fit by treating my body respectfully. This new approach has opened myself to gentleness, which is essential to enjoy and deepen in this new relationship I now have with my body. Exercising has become something that nowadays makes me feel healthy, light and playful, and now I love it!
Just getting the job done already brings the body into a state of drive and urgency. How different would this feel when we stop to read what is needed rather than what is driven?
I was in LA recently, going on a gentle walk with my husband. We were walking down a steep hill. Coming towards us was a woman in about her 60’s. She was kitted up in running gear. She saw us, and started pounding up the hill, music on full blast. My husband and I walked past her and then turned around a few minutes later and she had started to walk again. I recognized instantly that in me – in the past I would always push myself harder when people were watching then slow down when they weren’t. When exercise becomes about proving something to others and not doing it in response to the body, it can be exhausting and harming.
The push and the pound does not allow us to feel how the body embraces the flow and ease that exercise brings. Instead we are offered the strain and hardness and we call this a ‘great workout’.
It is fascinating how readily available it is to make life complicated.
Exercise is to support the connection we have with our bodies, not to bash it, not to drain it and not to change it. We as a society are far from engaging with exercise in a manner that enhances this connection.
“It took me years to understand what being gentle and more self-loving with my body meant and I am still learning.” I can so relate to this, I think it is a life long process as we are forever students of our selves and of life and there is so much of the world telling us to be hard and driven – so there is a lot to unpick!
Yeh true – and just when you feel the most amazing gentleness – there’s always the next level.
‘So over the last few years I have rekindled my appreciation of the natural flowing movement in my body when I walk, swim or do some light weights.’ When we stay in our natural flow we find we move with an ease, when we start putting drive and effort in, not only do we lose ourselves in the process it suddenly becomes really hard work.
Vitality is a rare thing these days. So few are truly vital and even fewer are really enjoying and embracing life. Have we not remedies and solutions for long enough to see that nothing has worked. We are all too quick to grab an energy drink or sugar bar without truly and deeply feeling why we have low vitality in the first place.
There is such a strong ideal that says overcoming the unnatural and training our body to achieve the impossible to a point where you can look like you have no pain is heroic. If we are to exercise in support of our body, and not in search of recognition/identification, that would not be how we would treat our body.
Vitality is such a different measure of wellness that we often overlook when we think of physical fitness and function.
“I now choose exercise that is gentle and flowing rather than pushing and pounding.” I always hated the ‘pounding and pushing’ so opted out of exercise altogether. Having discovered that gentle exercise can be so beneficial it is now beautiful to feel how my body responds these days.
I’m just about to exercise so this is a brilliant reminder thank you – that every move we make is either melting our hardness and tension or increasing it. I think that drive and push comes in when we exercise to change something, rather than to simply take care of our bodies.
‘Part of my drive came from the ideal that ‘I should have a healthy body’ as I was a physiotherapist and ‘how could I tell my clients to look after their bodies and exercise if I wasn’t ?’ Such an interesting sentence, striving for an ideal never works and yet at the same time as a physiotherapist you inspire with the health of your body and how you treat your clients. Clients get everything about you and the way you live. Your words got a different meaning and a different foundation after you changed how you exercised.
Living, working and moving with complexity and outcome gives our body a drive that it doesn’t like at all. And that also stops us from connecting with our tenderness inside and our universality on a bigger scale.
It is the most gorgeous feeling to feel your body literally guiding you through its natural impulses as to what to do and how much to do it. It has such a beautiful way of knowing all about everything that is far greater than just what we know from our heads.
Life has a flow which naturally supports us. As long as we stop fighting or trying to strive to drive ahead, we can be part of it – and our bodies love living this way instead of stressing in our head – thank you Kate.
It is interesting how we can make almost everything in life hard work, even though it is possible to have it simple and flowing when we do not do more than we need to do.
As an adult I used to play squash and loved the hardness of the game. No way would I even consider playing it now, I dread to think of the problems I’d have had in my body if I had continued playing. I played for 20 years, between the ages of 20 and 40. I have knee problems and it will have exacerbated those. Now I love gentle exercise and don’t miss the competition.
The great thing is the more aware I become of my body and listen to its messages, it is almost impossible for me to pound and push my body like I used to, because I know the consequences and how it will affect my quality in everything I do.
Same here Alison not only with exercise but in every day life, whenever I push too hard or ignore what I am feeling in my body everything I instantly know about it and get the opportunity to change how I am treating or caring for myself.
It is so easy to impose on the body and override what is naturally there, to push and to be proud what our body is capable of at the expense of our innate tenderness and delicateness. I know for myself how expectations I have on myself can come in the way of listening to my body and surrender, the more I let these ideals and beliefs just be, the less grip they have on me and my movements.
If we were to respect the natural flow and order in our body then we would not have most if not all of the illness and disease that we have now.
I have been doing an exercise programme recently that has been so unlike my past ‘idea’ of exercise, that I have been really inspired to incorporate this into my day. It is quite incredible how the simplest and smallest movements, when done gently and in true connection with the body without straining or pushing, can have such a profound and lasting impact on the whole body and how we feel.
I used to exercise constantly with the pounding and pushing, but like you Kate I am discovering the benefits of exercising more gently and feeling how my body responds to this without adding any stress or being hard in my movements.
Its so wonderful Kate working as a Physiotherapist that you have reconnected to the joy of exercise with the body.
Beautiful Kate. If we break down what you’ve presented about that moment you noticed the runners pounding by, we need to ask just how are we living our life? Are we sprinting in stress? Or flowing in grace as you do? Every moment matters and contributes to the body of Love that we have, and the whole of the world.
‘It’s a love in progress’ It really makes the differnce when we change the purpose in the way we exercise, as with love there can’t be any pushing but honouring our body, which takes us to a greater awareness and respect of it.
Our body simply does not like pounding and pushing, no matter how hard we try and convince ourselves that it does. This is seen in the level of injuries we see after we have pounded and pushed.
“I had made moving and exercise, as with other things in my life, complex and outcome based rather than a simple enjoyment of my body’s natural way of moving.” There are so many rules about how we should move, exercise, stretch etc. and yet when we let our body lead the way and don’t impose these rules upon it, it will show us exactly what it needs for us to be ‘fit for life’.
We can easily be sucked into doing ‘just enough’ to get by, to not be hurt. But doesn’t this just show how desperately we’ve got the world the wrong way around? For as you show so expertly Kate we are here to feel how great it is to go deeper in every day not just settle for what we knew yesterday.
Gentle exercise such as you describe Kate, has been absolutely revolutionary for me, and I have never enjoyed exercising so much.
When we are truly connected to our body, we can feel the moment we start to push and it is no longer part of our natural rhythm and as soon as we bring in that push we lose ourself.
So true Kate that we can actually do a lot of damage to our body by pushing ourselves in exercise. The balance between enjoying activity, being fit for life and having a body that is strong vs. going hard and ‘pounding’ is very individual and something we can all experiment with to find our flow.
I was always a… Pusher and a pounder ☺… Many years of daily grinding away at martial arts, a total disconnection from my body, with the results that I am living with now, and yet, to discover at my age, the benefits of truly gentle exercise… Well there is a miracle.
When I try to push my body to do more exercise it does tense up. Reading this today I can see and appreciate how much my exercise routine does now flow whereas in the past it was very hard and at times brutal in martial arts. With gentle exercise and stretching I have found my strength and flexibility increase much faster as my body doesn’t have to recover from being pounded but expand from the gentle exercise.
Our bodies know what it needs – all we have to do is listen.
Gentle exercise feels so much more supportive than the push, drive and overdoing of the exercise we have become accustomed to. Less is more feels true in this case… and definitely I would say quality over quantity.
Thanks Kate I love how you describe the process of feeling into what exercise and how much supports your body as a ‘love in progress’. This is a path that I have now been on for a while but I can still easily get pulled into the ‘more is better’ camp and push my body to do more than is true for it at that particular time.
I love what you share here Kate about having more vitality in your late 40’s than in your 20’s. I have found the same and it all comes from deepening my relationship with myself, my body and honouring what I feel impulsed to do in terms of exercise, diet, sleep etc – rather than what any one else tells me. Our body has an harmonious nature and with this understanding it becomes very clear when things are ‘out of kilter’ and need rebalancing.
This is really interesting. What I can feel is how there seems to be an ideal we hold as a physical being and how that gets in the way of us listening and appreciating what our own body is communicating us through our direct experience of being in one. We can study and train our body so hard and know a lot about it, but without connecting with it.
To move with the flow of life, or to move against it? It really is as simple as this. A question we can ask ourselves in each and every moment.
This sharing is so inspiring Kate as I too recall the feelings of lightness and spring in my body as a child and even though I will not have that feeling quite the same as way back then I do get glimpses of it time to time and this brings much joy and this inspires me to gently stay with my body.
Kate this is fantastic, I love how you have described how you used to be compared to how you exercise now.
Fascinating the body knows exactly how and when to exercise yet we can often over ride this with pictures of how it should be, Like you say Kate listening truly to how our bodies feel and how they want to be moved brings us more presence and vitality.
Reading this puts the joy back into exercise. No push or drive, just moments to enjoy the gorgeous flow of our bodies.
I love the feeling of space opening up in my body when I move it with care and honouring.
Such a simple difference that we all know well… and its not hard to guess what the effect of 50 years pounding and pushing is going to have on the body.
With all the injuries that the health care system has to fix each and every year we really need to be honest and contemplate if the way we are exercising and consider normal in today’s fitness world is not actually so loving for our joints and body on the whole as we think it is.
It is deeply beautiful to no longer be controlled by outcomes when you exercise but rather just simply enjoy the body’s natural way of moving, allowing it to guide you in what it needs and no more. There is a wisdom within we often override and ignore at great cost to our health and well being… so to not do this and attune to this innate knowing is a truly stunning way to move through life.
Totally agree Samantha. To allow our awareness to grow so that we can feel when we are no longer in the body’s natural way of moving is such a blessing and the presentations and modalities of Universal Medicine support this completely.
I love my life and everything about and in general I take great care of myself, however I’ve noticed in the last few years I’ve not had a commitment to my body actually being fit for life. It seems we often take two approaches to exercise, we’re either super gung-ho or avoid it as much as we can, I love that you’re presenting that there is a middle road and a different way we can approach exercise where it is an important and supportive part of our lives, but in no ways harms our body.
It really does make sense that we need to physically maintain our bodies to at least support us for the life we are living because our bodies are the very vehicles that bring through more of our amazing selves and so should be supported to the hilt.
“When I was in my 30’s I was considered very healthy by the standard medical parameters, but I had low vitality, was moody especially in the early mornings and each day was just a job to get done.” This really shows how we have to change the meaning of the word health to what health in truth means… how can we call someone very healthy when they have low vitality and are moody? By accepting this as normal we accept a lot less quality of life in our lives than we could be living.
“It’s still a work in progress or really a ‘love in progress’.” I love this! That is exactly the playfulness you are talking about in the end.
I have had in interesting relationship with exercise, getting caught up in the glamour of it, wanting to have a body that just wasn’t mine, but what you have shared here is that exercise is none of that, it is about connection and building a body that is for love and service.
Kate, this is really lovely to read; ‘One of the best things to all of this is that exercise and movement have become fun and way more playful again’, I can feel how serious exercise can be; the pounding on the pavement with running and pushing ourselves hard in the gym does not look or feel fun and playful, I love that you have shared about exercising gently and playfully – this inspires me to exercise in this way too.
Gosh I remember swimming at the local swimming pool all day long, it was so much fun. We need to reconnect much more to our natural ways of being, and observing young children and remembering how we were is the way forward!
I am going through a massive shift in exercise at the moment where I am learning to respond to my body rather than push it through the motions. This has been great for me to read to appreciate that there is a gentle approach that is absolutely possible.
Exercise, as I was taught, was to keep my body strong, flexible and fit. It had nothing to do with understanding and maintaining an energetic quality and awareness. With this focus, exercise then becomes like all other parts of our life – an activity that supports our whole body to receive the light of our soul.
“Your body’s vitality gradually comes back as you live more gently in it” I reckon this one line could change the whole of our healthcare system, it’s the opposite of what we’re taught, that to become fitter and more vital we need to push our bodies, but could it be that our vitality is closer related to our quality than the strength and fitness of our body?
It is clear that the way we see exercise has to change. It needs to happen, as our bodies crave movement, and care, but the reason for it and way of it will be totally different.
I remember exercising in the belief that the more you pushed your body to the extreme the more you actually got out of the workout, to discover now that it is possible to exercise more gently and tenderly without overstraining the body, my body appreciates the difference and no longer holds the belief that it’s necessary to push my body in order become fit and healthy.
Since learning Connective Tissue exercises, and doing very gentle exercise sessions, it has brought a renewed enthusiasm and enjoyment of these things that in the past were a box to tick and go hard with. My body just loves the fluid movements and gentle nature of these activities.
To be playfully loving with our body with deep care is the way forward for us all.
To take the time for healing the body and support it in all the moves it makes for us.
Once we have experienced the beauty of gentleness in the body it is then horrific to feel the effects of any amount of hardness or drive. The difference is huge.
It is interesting that what we consider healthy these days by the medical standards parameters does not take into consideration the quality of movement in our bodies only the physicality or the outer shell of our beingness when it is through the connection to our body and it’s true movement that we achieve a level of fitness that not only benefits the self but also our quality of relationships with the all.
I know for me I used to think of gym work as pushing my body to the extreme in an attempt to get really ripped and muscley – it was not to actually support my body through the day. There is such a difference when we work with the body rather than against it. Fitness for life rather than muscles for looks!
The body will naturally lead the way. To do anything to counter that will have adverse effects on ones vascular system.
Almost everything out there to do with exercise encourages you to disconnect from your body. We have gyms with tvs blaring or loud music on, we have dvd’s asking us to push our bodies more and more and we have competitions asking us to drive on to beat others. I have tried all of these but none of them bring the feeling of joy, lightness and well being I get from exercising in connection with my body.
It is amazing how much fun exercise is when we let go of the hard push and simply enjoy and appreciate the movement itself.
‘Somewhere along the line I had lost that feeling of the lightness and flow and replaced it with ‘what my body should or shouldn’t do’’. How crazy that we let other people’s ideas of what to do take precedence over our own. Especially when we fall into doubt, we can follow someone’s advice just because we want an answer quick and we put ourselves under pressure when in truth there is no need.
What could be more healthy than developing a relationship based on being playful, understanding, caring and genuinely supportive? Your words remind me Kate just how this is possible with myself, my body and then with everyone else. God knows my being has had enough of pounding my physique and reducing my connection with everybody as well.
I love that you have brought in the playfulness here Joseph as it naturally allows the flow and simplicity to lead the movements.
I never enjoyed conventional ‘exercising’ as I Always found it too stressful om my body, so other than riding horses I used that as an excuse to never do any other kind of exercise except for walking and the occasional swim. Having discovered that there is a very gentle and simple way to exercise my body that does not push it beyond what it wants to do makes a lot of sense, and also makes it very accessible and enjoyable.
Join the club Sandra! I avoided exercise like the plague but always said yes to a walk each day. Realising that the body needed some more support for my core strength I noticed that this was possible when I connected to simple yet consistent exercises that would not make me lose breath, but bringing my heart rate up to a level would complement the way I was holding myself and living throughout the day.
I too felt the ill impact of yoga on my knees. I had so many beliefs attached to the yogic ideal I was actually blinded to its effect on my body. I’d tell myself how it must be doing me good but in truth I was out of sync with what was really going on. Worse still, I had an arrogance around my yoga practice. Somehow I was better than everyone else. Well, at least those not doing yoga – those more advanced I compared myself to! What kind of way is this to approach exercise??!!
‘As soon as I go back into the old way ……’I must do three more bicep curls ‘ it’s as if another five kg are loaded on my arm and my body goes hard.’ Something just twigged when I read that – I now have an understanding of why that ‘little bit extra’ at the gym is not the way to go. It is totally against the flow I too have established since expanding my understanding of the body and gentle movement through what Serge Benhayon has shared.
Just going to the gym for me is a very different experience now. I no longer go with the intent to change my physique to attract others, but to move my body in a way that builds it for my work and service.
That’s a great point Michael; I also use my gym workouts to build my body and vitality to be in more service, when I focus on this it takes away all the false pictures I am carrying about my body.
There is still the thought that a lot brings a lot, like a lot of effort is healthy, aching muscles must be treated painfully otherwise they do not heal or relax, when in fact it is the other way round, gentleness and tenderness are healing to the body.
Gentle, flowing, fun and playful; feels like a supportive, healing and loving exercise ‘recipe’ to me. Thank you Kate for the timely reminder.
Exhaustion was always a problem for me and I slowly discarded much of what was in my diet that was sugar related in order to change this. Although things improved, tiredness was always a problem. What has been powerful is that bringing my attention back to the body through the gentle breath and holding this breath in all I do, I have noticed that the tiredness has disappeared. When we are not choosing to be with our body, we are choosing to allow the mind to wander, thinking about the past, the future or perceived issues and problems and it was living this way that caused the exhaustion and tiredness. Choosing the breath first before exercising gently or any movement in life was a revelation to me that changed my life.
We learn to form our body and train it in a way we want but what you describe shows that our body has a natural flow and if we allow ourselves to listen and abide to this rhythm life becomes much lighter and enjoyable.
Exercising gently used to feel that I was being half-hearted in the effort but now when I feel the flow of movement within my body with gentle exercise I appreciate that is whole-heartedly what my body loves.
“He just always made sense and I could see that he lived what he presented – that your body’s vitality gradually comes back as you live more gently in it.” This is the complete opposite of what we are generally led to believe as we get older, but Serge Benhayon is showing us that we really can age very gracefully, and the more we take true care of ourselves and treat our bodies tenderly, the more they give back to us. Never mind investing in expensive anti wrinkle creams, or nips and tucks – by living a life that is in true harmony with the body and its natural rhthyms, we become more beautiful and vital the older we get, than certainly I would have ever imagined possible. But I know this to be true from my own experience, and from many people I know who are making similar choices.
This natural flow in the body is what I have felt since attending the support sessions offered in various modalities from Universal Medicine. For years I had ‘pounded the pavement’ all in the quest to get fit and to look the part. My regime of exercise would include a 4 hour non-stop bike ride to start my weekend, followed by more sessions at the gym and jogging. The hardness in my body felt normal after a while and the flow that I feel now didn’t even get a dabble into my awareness. Many years later and with the understanding of the harm of the hardness, I am more aware of how my body moves, when it calls for rest and the importance of bringing more responsibility into exercising the body to bring more service in my work.
I was having a conversation with a customer the other day. He was telling me that he suffers very bad back pain. His answer to my question ‘why’ was that he does a form of fitness training that pushes his body really hard. What alarmed me the most was that he seemed to be proud of this. He was more interested in what he could ‘achieve’ than taking care of his body and how it feels. It was very strange listening to him. It was like he was totally separate from his body and then surprised about the fact that he had pain. I’m sure this is the case for many.
This is such a great blog that would be a great addition to the pamphlet wall at many gyms. There is so much push and drive that is noticed when people frequent gyms or exercise classes. I often notice that as they walk in the door there is already a feeling of not being enough and looking for constant relief from what they think is a big problem with extreme forms of exercise. Thank you for writing on the joy that comes with all activities that are available from these local facilities and that the decision to go hard core or enjoy the support the body gets with light exercise comes from our commitment to building a foundation that is not about looking a certain way but feeling the vitality that is missing.
Kate, it’s great to re-read your article, I have been having sore knees lately and so have been observing how I walk, i have noticed that I can walk in a stomping way, not really being present with my steps or that I can walk in much lighter, more gentle way and so it is this way that I am experimenting with, when I walk gently there is a flow with my movements which feels much kinder on my knees and less jarring. Thanks for sharing your experiences.
I love how exercise is being about the quality and flow in movements and not about the end result or picture that so often dominates the reason we go to the gym in the first place.
Kate, this is very interesting to read, I have also tried all sorts of exercise and have found that I love swimming and walking, when I was younger I played football and netball with little regard for my body, I had many injuries from this which I am suffering with today with knee problems, I now love being gentle with my body and not pushing and pounding.
I too was drawn to listen to Serge Benhayon and the teachings for the very fact that I could sense Serge was living what he was presenting and I was inspired on some level from day one. This shows me that it is through the way in which I live from my body that truly inspires another and not through any other way such as telling another what to do from the mind which is without question controlling, imposing and abusive.
The body responds so well to us being loving towards it and moving and exercising in a way that supports it rather than harms it.
I just read about a man who set himself on fire as a protest against the violent regime in his country. How can such a huge act of self-violence set an example of not being violent? Equally, how can abusing our bodies by flogging and hurting them be done in the name of being healthy? Sure exercise is very important but always in respect and connection to our bodies.
It is interesting to watch many pop up gyms being set up in the major cities where people can come and pound the equipment for a 1/2 session in their lunch breaks or during their working day. I have walked past and heard the teams shouting – “no pain no gain”. Watching people leave exhausted and depleted and pouring out buckets of sweat. As you mentioned Nicola Lessing the basic levels of respect are not offered to the body and we expect it to work in abundance every day.
‘…exercise and movement have become fun and way more playful again.’ It is amazing how we make exercise hard work when it’s not what our body truly needs. I love the gentle flowing exercise and take Kate’s point about not doing those extra kgs – we need to do enough so we are fit for life but no more.
It is interesting that when we listen to our body it gives us clear signs of what is needed each and every day. A brisk walk, stretches, a light gym session or a steady stroll. All offer us an opportunity to support the body back that offers us an abundance of service in our daily routine.
Yes the difference between the effects of being in the flow of the body and of going with the pound of the exercise, is very much felt in the body. I did the pound for years, and still get caught up in it from time to time, and I did not realise how much my body preferred to be gentle.Now days when I walk up a hill, I practice being much more present with my body and I am doing this to support my body to be supple and strong, and not punishing it for something I ate or drank the night before.
Your last point is a huge part of exercise for many Sarah, it is a punishment, a lack of acceptance of appearance or a punishment as a response to something we consume. Which of course is a bit of a merry go round of self disdain as such dislike only drives more of the same. I love the alternative that Kate presents which is summarised beautifully in the title.
I loved reading this Kate – the developing connection with your body, the flowing movement resurfacing, and the love introduced to the way you exercise and move.
I love the natural flow and fluidity I can feel in my body when I am in rhythm with it and in rhythm with my life, everything is simple easy and my body feel gorgeous. At the moment I can feel a huge tension in my shoulders which I know is affecting the fluiidity in my body, and how I move, it feels hard and unyielding so it is interesting I pick your blog today Kate. I can feel some gentle exercise would help to release some of the tension I am holding onto.
I have discovered that there is no end to how gentle and fluid I can feel in my body – just recently I decreased the speed on the treadmill I am using and discovered how much more enjoyable it felt and how my body conveys this sense of having been exercised on a much deeper and more meaningful level.
Great to re-vist this blog again as I am also learning how to exercise without the pushing and over exertion which used to be my norm, and what I am now finding is that my body speaks very loudly and communicates how my movements have been – this may show up in the way of stiffness, clicking joints or some localised pain. Whereas previously, pushing myself I would not notice any of this and if I did I would have just ignored the messages.
Learning to respect my body means that I treat it with a lot more kindness these days. I have just completed my morning exercise. It took 15 minutes but that was enough for this morning. Years ago I would not have thought it was worth only doing 15 minutes, but that expectation often meant I would not do any exercise because finding an hour felt difficult in my busy day. Bringing a sense of enjoyment of my body as I exercise has made a huge difference. Because my workouts are no longer punishingly long or gruelling, its effortless to sustain and I actually feel much stronger now that I did back in my 20s and 30s.
Your enjoyment of movement is palpable Kate and infectious I’m glad to say. Reading this blog let me feel how I can bring that enjoyment into absolutely any activity rather than focus on the outcome or ‘job to be done’.
Heheh – ‘‘love in progress’ – very fitting! Exercise is something I got sucked into as a ‘must do’ to make up for the food and movements I was littering my body with. How refreshing to feel that there is a different way to exercise that is not compounding on the body but rather very loving and supportive.
That is something I love too Kate, what Serge presents makes complete sense, it is like we know what he is sharing at some level already, ‘He just always made sense and I could see that he lived what he presented – that your body’s vitality gradually comes back as you live more gently in it.’
“your body’s vitality gradually comes back as you live more gently in it.”
This I have found to be true, no matter how much I see a person exercise, pounding it, pushing it etc there isn’t really a sense of Vitality. Yes exercise gives us a buzz but how long does it last?
The gentle approach I have found to be more sustainable in the long term than going into the quick fix stimulations such as exercise, foods, emotions and more.
‘your body’s vitality gradually comes back as you live more gently in it’ This goes against everything we are told about exercising and getting fit yet I have found this to be true too. We can get oh so serious about getting fit and lose our sense of playfullness and fun and literally run our body to the ground. Bringing gentleness into the equation we also bring space and an appreciation of how great it can feel as the body uncoils itself from the tight spring it has been in to an openness and expansiveness that is a joy to feel.
Reading this blog has brought me into the flow of feeling what is next, rather than the ‘hardship’ of the possible million of thoughts to take me away from the natural flow and feeling from my body. Exercise comes from either the body or the mind-driven ideals.
Finding a movement that supports the flow in the body rather than a ‘hard doing’ exercise or movement brought from some ideal or method outside of you, which usually makes complex an otherwise simple activity. It’s incredible how much energy we invest in to create or identify with an activity that requires an effort or push to ONLY satisfy the ideal and NOT the body. Surrendering to the body and allowing a feeling of enjoyment and joy to fill you is a confirmation of you in the activity that is physically felt in the body.. “I have learned that how I choose to exercise impacts how I feel and how my body physically feels..” I agree Kate! It will be great to hear more about this natural simple science.
The perception we hold about exercise and the images we often try and live up to are so far off what I have come to appreciate true exercise is all about it’s incredible. Now I must say I’ve avoided exercise at all costs, but when I take the time to exercise to connect and support my body I feel a whole new lease of life. No pounding the pavements though!
I really relate to reading this blog – as I was someone who pushed myself hard at the gym and it was always about having muscle definition. It was exhausting. But like you, I too have changed how I exercise, and it feels so different in my body. But of course it is not just the exercise but also how I move in the day that is making a difference and I can feel it in how expansive I feel after a workout rather than the compressed, tired and sore body I had before.
I love this wisdom from Serge Benhayon that you have shared Kate: “that your body’s vitality gradually comes back as you live more gently in it.” It really gave me a sense of what is possible when you let go of the need to push the body and instead honour its preciousness and its wisdom by living in it more gently, and ensuring that you heed all the messages that it is continually sharing.
I just started doing exercises at the gym after a pause of 8 years. My intention is to support my body by gentle exercising and no pushing and pounding anymore, I must say this is quite a challenge and work in progress to not overdo it. I noticed how I can lose myself when I start looking at how other women are in the gym, faster, longer, more weight etc….comparing is not a good thing. It is to truly feel what we are choosing, the hardness, competition and the outer look, instead of supporting our delicate and sensitive bodies.
Treating our bodies as precious and sensitive looks after our body as we move through life, rather than moving in whatever way and dealing with the after effects.
Harry I loved the tenderness in how you express this, the way we treat and hold our bodies is very telling. I noticed from the way I was driving my car or typing on the keyboard how pushed that can be instead of knowing the tender way I could be typing or driving something. It effects everything.
Beautiful advice from a physiotherapist sharing the truth of what you have felt in your own body rather than conforming to the standard belief that we have to push ourselves to ‘achieve’ our ‘aim’.
Just reading the title of this blog I can feel which kind of exercise I would prefer. However we can also apply these words to how we live throughout our whole day which would lead to the choices we make when it comes to exercise. I know I feel more vibrant and healthy exercising in a gentle and focused way as opposed to being in pain and exhausted after exercising as I used to many years ago.
I couldn’t agree more Kate, I have pounded the streets and really harmed my body. After my last marathon it took 12 years for my big toe nail on my right foot to heal. That is a very tired body, where there are far more pressing parts of the body to keep functioning than using energy on healing a toe nail. To this day I feel it is a reminder for me of how fragile the body is and the importance of paying attention to the small details in life.
“they were literally pounding and jarring their bodies” to me I also associated exercise with hard work, with putting the body through its paces. It’s really interesting to look at why this link has come up. At what point did I turn something that can be a loving and caring way to be with myself into an assault on my body? As a society it seems we want to take the hard steps instead of simply feeling what our body is asking for.
“… your body’s vitality gradually comes back as you live more gently in it.”
This line is pure revelation as is all you have shared here Kate. I had forgotten the sensation of what it is like to move truly free in my body as I did when I was a child because I have spent many years treating it as if it were my prison and either refused to move it at all or pushed it to the point of exhaustion. What this reminds me is that if we work with our body and not against it, vitality is our true way of being.
Just yesterday I walked into a shop and I had my sneakers on as I was about to go for a walk. I felt the spring in my step and it felt glorious. When I lived in the tropics I would play in the water just moving and gliding. Moving my body in such way feels so incredible, yet for most of my life I let myself believe that I needed to “exercise”. So I would stop the joyful playing in the water and do some swimming. There is nothing wrong with swimming but it was the way I approached it. It did not feel as joyous as the way I had previously been moving. I know I have been sold a lie of what exercise is and the “no pain no gain” mentality is rife. But I love moving my body and my body loves to be moved gently and in tune with its natural rhythms.
“One of the best things to all of this is that exercise and movement have become fun and way more playful again.” with the majority of society avoiding exercise its great to present a different way with exercise, showing it does not need to be intense but can still be playful and enjoyable.
The thing about pushing my body in a hardness that goes way beyond my natural physical limits, it how much this affects my breath. And I notice this in other people too. I can see how breathing becomes shallow and laboured, causing our eyes to sink in to our heads and even to look dull and strained. It is often heavy mouth breathing that I notice the most although harsh and strained nose breathing happens too. This is why I do not like hard exercise, because it affects my breath too much, which is generally light and smooth as it passes through my nostrils and cool and supportive as in enters my lungs which are always warm and do not feel constricted but expansive and light.
So true Kate, I can relate very much. I spent many years ‘punishing’ my body to stay fit and with a body shape that was desirable. I was also miserable (if you scratched the surface), felt drained most of the time and with little true self worth. Today I exercise very moderately, always gently and always listening to when l’ve had enough. And l’ve never felt healthier, better, more joyful and with a more solid sense of myself. There is nothing truly health promoting in my experience by ‘pummelling the pavement’ or any other form of rigorous exercise.
Absolutely Jenny – the way we move says so much about how we feel about ourselves. We all think how we are is a mystery hidden beneath a tough exterior surface, that needs to be unlocked by lying on a psychologist’s couch. But the tenderness and quality we hold our cells, has so much to tell. We reveal everything in the energy we Live in. No wonder so many of us are unwell.
There are so many mixed messages when it comes to exercise and a very invested health and fitness industry. I carried so many beliefs and ideals one of the hardest to break through has been the I do exercise as a discipline not because I love my body and how it feels. It never felt good pushing myself at the the gym and there were all sorts of tricks I would use to get through a session. Now I am able to move and support my body in a way that comes from connecting with me first.
Stressing our body through exercise or any physical movement creates tension, stress and hardness. I have felt this for myself. The difference that gentle exercise, care and listening to my body, in how I move and what I consume, has made has been huge. Since I embarked on this way, injuries that I have had since young and that were pointing towards arthritic conditions have disappeared.
Great to return to exercise and movement as fun and light and playful. As children, we do not drive ourselves with exercise. It is not natural to exercise in this way and it only suits an image of what we want and not our bodies natural rhythms.
Movement is so powerful – to compound a problem and reinforce an injury…. or to remind us constantly of a more natural and flowing way of living. It has the ability to bring us back into our body, to stay grounded and present.
I have watched you over the last 10 years Kate and I have been treated by you, it has been so fascinating watching a woman that I relate to as much as I related to you change so dramatically. You always stood out to me as an intelligent and opinionated woman. I also was aware that you were rough around the edges, had a sporty and slightly masculine / independent type air about you but never without a heart of gold and a love for humanity.
What slowly unfolded over the years in front of my eyes was a delicate woman, who settled into being who she was without effort and independence without needing to wear it on her shirt – beautifully dressed, soothing voice and not slightly apologetic of it, vocal on your stance without pushing.
I wanted to share this so the reader understands that we may just think exercise is just a part of our lives we push ourselves, but it affects every part of who we are and the way we live, it’s been a blessing to watch Kate let go of the hardness and in the process become one of the best Practitioners I have ever had the pleasure of being treated by.
I went to my son’s athletic carnival this week. As I was watching the 800m race some other parents and I discussed that we would not run that far. It was interesting to watch the kids struggle and push themselves to get around the track. Everyone was in agreement that running was painful and nobody remembered feeling good running, but that walking feels lovely and is a natural movement for the body.
This is beautiful to read. I used to exercise from the “should do” mentality and there was very little enjoyment in it. My body has always let me know when it has wanted movement and I have listened, but the type of movement it has called out for I did not listen to. I too used to push my body and it only served to lock hardness into my body. Nowadays I exercise and move far more gently. I am no less fit now that I was 10 years ago but my body feel a million times more gorgeous to be in.
So much of this I can relate to – exercise as a means of target towards a goal and which has resulted in a body that was hard (& despite claiming to be fit, not actually looking that fit or healthy). I also still find myself slipping back into this old way of doing exercise at times, but now learning to appreciate and enjoy the movements of my body when I am gentle and the movements have an ease and fluidness.
I have never really been an exercise person, most of the way I lived was from drive, this constant activity I thought was enough. Through Universal Medicine I have come to feel what this way of living has done to my body. I now am much more aware of how my body feels and how, when I bring gentle exercise to it, there is a beautiful flow in the way it supports my body. Thank you Kate for sharing this amazing modality with us.
Every day I see people out running and half of them look like they are about to have a heart attack!. We sure do know how to pound our bodies. I have come to learn, through the work of Serge Benhayon, that if we work with my bodies rather than against them, it yields far more beneficial results.
Kate, it’s so funny isn’t it how much we expect of our bodies and how when they ‘fail’ us we seek to ‘punish’ them further, by making exercise and moving needlessly complicated. And yet as you offer here there is a whole other way, a simpler way to be with the body, to allow it’s natural ease and flow and to have fun with it, and that is what exercise can be, and I’m learning about this just now, and it’s so much easier, my body loves it and I feel so much supported with it. It beats all that pounding and pushing from the past and I feel so much more alive and vital with it.
This is a great article. I always had pain and injuries with pushing and pounding, some of which became chronic because of the way I held and hardened my body when I exercised. When I ceased that and commenced the feeling, flowing and gentle exercise the pain gradually went and my body became lighter, more open and vital. It is easy to feel whenever I harden or tense the body in any way now as that disharmony is instantly obvious and easily rectified. What’s more it is like I am friends with my body now and it is able to truly support me whereas before it felt like I was punishing it and trying to beat it. I was hurting myself. Crazy really what we do to ourselves in the name of being healthy.
Brilliant article Kate – thank you! It makes so much sense that how we choose to exercise has a direct impact on how we feel – both physically and emotionally. I know when I get caught up in “pushing hard” or training for an outcome, I feel good at the end of the session, like I’ve ticked a box and achieved something, but I don’t actually enjoy each movement, and my body often feels hard and tight in the following days. It doesn’t make sense to me to exercise in a way that is going to restrict your movement afterwards, and leave you feeling tight and sore – so like you, I continue to experiment and find ways to exercise and support my body in a way that encourages “flow” rather than “pushing and pounding”.
‘When I come back to enjoying the natural flow of the movement and an openness to learning from my body, that same movement with the same weight is easy and light. It’s still a work in progress or really a ‘love in progress’. ‘ Love it Kate . . . love in progress.
Who would have thought that the way to be truly fit, and resilient, is to actually work out with your body quite gently…and guess what … our bodies just love it.
I love that this way is “love in progress” Kate. I loved exercising always, yet I felt alienated from most exercises and sports because I didn’t feel they matched my body. I love moving, gentle exercise and dancing but it was hard to find things that weren’t competitive. It is so lovely to understand that my instincts on this were well founded. I always had an excuse for walking away from exercise but now I see the great value in finding another way. I will no longer allow exercise to be dictated to me but will claim my “love in progress” and know that my body knows exactly what to do.
Once I learned to discern the effects of different forms of exercise on my body, it became fairly clear what was truly benefitting the body, and what was creating a deeper level of disharmony and distress. The body has all the wisdom we need if we only learned to listen. Adopting this approach toward exercise and to what foods truly work for the body can help turn around a lifetime of chronic unwell-ness into a deep and abundant vitality and flow in the body. It seems so natural once we experience it, so why did it get lost for 40 years?
Being guided by joy when you exercise is so opposite to what is trumpeted around us. When I read this article I could feel the joy in your movements Kate and it made me feel like moving joyfully too. What a beautiful inspiration.
It is lovely to read an article about exercise where at the end of reading it you just want to exercise. I too have switched from doing exercise that hardens my body to exercise where I allow my body to remain tender and flowing and it has made all the difference. I now actually enjoy exercising.
It’s amazing how strong the ‘no pain, no gain’ mentality is. Even though I have felt what you have shared here to be true for myself too Kate, if I push myself too hard and feeling aching muscles the next day, I have noticed I can still feel that this is ok due to the ‘no pain….’ ideal. In fact I can secretly be pleased as I think it shows me that I’m making a difference and making my body fitter!! Pretty crazy when I put it in writing!
Thank you Kate for the timely reminder to connect with and feel the natural rhythm and flow of our bodies;
“I have rekindled my appreciation of the natural flowing movement in my body when I walk, swim or do some light weights”
It does feel very lovely to feel and appreciate the bodies natural state.
It takes a lot of effort to ignore the abuse we often inflict upon our bodies.
To push and pound the body has never felt natural to me, but I have in the past made the choice to participate in this way of exercising to feel accepted and included. Now, re-connecting to my body and choosing gentleness in my movement that are supportive and loving makes so much sense – this has changed my life.
Kate, this sentence brought me to a stop to appreciate how much has changed for me with the way I move and exercise. My body feels more fluid and harmonious with every step and movement with the deeper I surrender to trusting that my body actually knows how to move in a way that serves it well. Walking is now a joy, being in conscious presence and awareness with myself – no more pushing up hills and walking more miles than my body is feeling to do is amazing. My body is feeding me a response back in being more tender as the old hardness drops away.
“I had made moving and exercise, as with other things in my life, complex and outcome based rather than a simple enjoyment of my body’s natural way of moving”.
“I had made moving and exercise, as with other things in my life, complex and outcome based rather than a simple enjoyment of my body’s natural way of moving.” So many of us use exercise to push our bodies, because we were taught that it is ‘good for us’. But I now much prefer listening to my body and swim or walk in accordance with how I am feeling on any particular day. As you say – a simple enjoyment of our body’s way of moving – and staying present with it.
When your body is full of aches, tension and pain, it can seem hard to enjoy being with it. But what I have found is that these symptoms are not as concrete as they seem. When I choose to cherish my body and its movements like you do Kate, the warmth and enjoyment is remarkably quick to come back.
I love exercising to support my body to do what it needs to get done during the day, what I feel I need too changes each day. It is taking a little while to play and trust this, I can feel how much more vital I am when I do.
“I had made moving and exercise, as with other things in my life, complex and outcome based rather than a simple enjoyment of my body’s natural way of moving.” How gorgeous to read you describe Kate how it felt to move as a child. Its like you are returning to this gentleness in motion, which is for all of us, a process of ‘Love in progress’ as we find our way.
I still can remember the joy as a child tearing around with all the energy in the world and being naturally fit and supple. Competitive sport changed all this and hardening up was the name of the game so it was superb to discover a gentle way of exercise that was supportive without causing unnecessary wear and tear as I get older. Thanks Kate for your part in the development of this.
A lot of the people you see out pounding the pavement, people of all shapes and sizes and of all ages seem to be in pain and not enjoying it or on a mission because they are pushing their bodies to lose weight, stay in shape or because they think they have to. There are far more self loving ways to stay in shape without caning the body and hardening it up.
Super to re-read this Kate, as my body is yelling quite loudly that it needs more exercise….I am going
to listen to my body and do exactly that!
I wonder how many people would actually be able to commit consistently to exercising regularly if they were taught that exercising according to what and how their body needs and feels is the real key to fitness.
Great point Helen – and to add that if exercising was a joyful experience, to be in connection to your body and to feel the support of true exercise in our daily lives.
“Somewhere along the line I had lost that feeling of the lightness and flow and replaced it with ‘what my body should or shouldn’t do’.” When we are children we are naturally active and have a natural flow that you have described so eloquently Kate, but as the ideals of how to be fit and healthy and how we should exercise our body come into play, we stop feeling that flow so much and start reacting to the ideals in some way or another. In my case, I reacted to the ideals of what fitness is by giving up on my body feeling it was all too hard and exhausting which meant I was not very active at all. This is just as disregarding as pushing your body to reach an ideal of what fitness is, just the opposite side of the coin.
Having made the choice to be more supportive with my exercise routine I have noticed that the slight push in my body to get that extra round in or even up the stretches on both sides of the body doesn’t always help in the end. Being aware of what the body needs from one moment to the next makes exercise simple. easy and definitely not a chore.
I enjoy walking and swimming as forms of exercise and I am slowly learning to tune into my body as I go, rather than going through a series of ‘doing’ the exercise so that I can feel like I have done the right thing. It does make a difference and I can feel the lightness in my body and this is inspiring me to keep listening and experimenting to feel what works best for me.
“..your body’s vitality gradually comes back as you live more gently in it.” This fact that I now know for myself as I continue to learn and have put into practise over the last few years is so true though something that we are never taught through our lives. Until I met Serge Benhayon I pushed my body in every way including exercise. I now feel energised when I exercise gently WITH my body and not just to achieve something. Thank you for a great blog in bringing more understanding to the human body, Kate.
It’s surprising that when I started to work on moving gently, any movement that wasn’t gentle was jarring and glaringly obvious, yet not long before I was doing the same and not noticing. It doesn’t take long for the body to love gentle movement, as if this is its natural way. How simple it is to feel if the body finds any movement natural or not? So it’s a simple process of trying something, feeling it and being honest. There is a truth to our bodies and we need to listen.
Exercise can be a very abusive treatment for the body and we are not trained to develop awareness for this as kids, quite the contrary happened for me at school. It was not before I met Serge Benhayon that I learned a way to move my body that was confirming the love that I am instead of hardening my body to avoid feeling the love.
I often see older people (usually) men, running very slowly in a way that feels like they are pushing their bodies, and wonder why they do not walk instead. I love the way my body feels when I allow my body to move in a flowing rhythmic way, and no longer hold the belief that I should run – I’ve never enjoyed pounding the pavement and now I give myself permission to do what feels best.
‘That your body’s natural vitality comes back as you live more gently with it’ – this is such a profound game changer of a statement. What? Really? You mean I don’t have to flog my body in the gym to be fit, strong and vital?! This was how I responded when I first heard Serge Benhayon discuss this topic. I have tested his hypothesis out though over the last 10 years and found it to be very true. If this statement was truly understood and lived, then it would change everything we know and do in the health and fitness industries.
‘Love in progress’ – Thank you Kate!
Now, in my late twenties I am reconsidering exercise and feel utterly inspired by what you have shared, in that it is never too late to love your body and enjoy a renewed and very available vitality. I can’t say I have ever felt true vitality, only that of elation and nervous energy from sugar or adrenaline – I know this can change and it is a ‘love in progress’, it’s not an instant.
The communication that you are able to share with your body when you bring greater awareness to the quality of your movements and senses is astonishing. We take our bodies for granted, assume that it should obey our every command, we become abusive and demanding towards it, in many ways it becomes a slave to our choices. Yet what I have come to learn and as you have beautifully expressed here Kate, is that if we listen, nurture and pay heed to how we feel “that your body’s vitality gradually comes back as you live more gently in it.”
Thank you Kate … I also used to push my body to extremes training for hours everyday with total disregard for the effect I was having on my body. I now am paying the physical price ofor this disregard, and most definitely , education of our children is essential on this topic
This belief system you address here Kate like “it must be hard, I have to push myself”, I know very well as well. This attitude of me affected all areas of my life – at work, in the gym, everywhere. This pushing hard made my body hard. Since I realised that, I changed now how I do my exercises – very gentle and with presence and my body loves it.
Often when we talk about going to the gym, the purpose it to lose weight or to build the ideal body. This in itself already sets us up to feel the push to do more reps and to get caught up in the pump and grind. When we make the visit to the gym just another aspect in our day that supports our body (brushing our teeth, combing our hair) we remove the push and know that it brings more quality and self care to the day.
“your body’s vitality gradually comes back as you live more gently in it” This is such an important realisation, and is one that I have found to be very effective in bringing an almost instant lift in my body when I am feeling heavy or tired. Reconnecting to the gentle feeling of how I pick something up or brush my teeth takes off the pressure and intensity, which allows my body to expand and lighten.
Kate throughout this whole blog your words describe a quality about exercise that I could feel the cells of my body responding to and confirming ‘yes- this is the way to exercise’. This is summarised by your culminating words that I can keep with me when I exercise by asking myself ‘do I feel my body flowing or am I pushing and pounding my body?’
Kate- your story telling writing style here makes this so accessible and easy to digest what you share. Similarly, I use to be very physically active and did not realise just how hard or excessively strong I had become- true to the hardness I did not notice this was how I was exercising or that my upper body strength was excessive and unnecessary. I stopped this, like you, stopped a little too much and have been rebuilding my strength from more connection to my body. I know now when something is causing hardening and very simply there is a relationship of something feels supportive or negating and this guides what exercises to do and what not to do.
Initially, in reaction to all the hardness I could feel in my body, I stopped most forms of exercise – this didn’t work either as my body weakened and I certainly didn’t have much ‘get-up and go’. This line stood out for me today, as I realise I do very little exercise apart from walking back and forth to work!
“… over the last few years I have rekindled my appreciation of the natural flowing movement in my body when I walk, swim or do some light weights” – I love this Kate. I used to think I had to struggle and push with exercise and ‘feel the burn’. It felt like I was punishing my body. How great to listen to what our body needs on a certain day – and adjust accordingly. Gentle exercise is the way.
A great re -read of a powerful blog. The reminder once again that the level of fatigue I often went to after strenuous exercise served nothing in the long run. Connecting to my body whilst exercising leaves me feeling solid, fluid and open.
I loved reading this blog Kate. I especially loved the quote – “I had made moving and exercise, as with other things in my life, complex and outcome based rather than a simple enjoyment of my body’s natural way of moving.”
It was very exposing to me how ‘outcome based’ I have seen exercise, rather than an honouring and expression of how my body is feeling to move. It is so much more fun to look at it in this way, rather than I need to do ‘x,y or z’ as a form of chore, or law. Learning to listen to my body more, and how it feels to move and exercise is something I am looking forward to exploring further. This then can be shared with others, as you have done here, so we all can live with more joy in our movements, in every day life. Thank you Kate!
I agree Amelia and I have felt this too in my previous ways of exercising. The more I exercise the more interested I became in what I was going to achieve through doing so. Beautiful to how I used to feel as a child when it was the feeling in my body as I moved that I loved. I didn’t call it exercise then – it was just moving, jumping, running etc. – attaching the term exercise makes such a difference due to the ideals, beliefs and consciousness associated with it. So lovely to have such a blog revealing this.
Enjoying our body’s natural way of moving is something not many do. The great thing is that we take our body everywhere, so in every moment we get an opportunity to feel how exquisite our bodies really are. Although I am more tender with my body than ever before, deeply enjoying its movement is something I am only just starting to do. Already now it feels great to honour the amazing vehicle I’ve been given from the moment I was born.
It is so easy, as you have described Kate, to slip into the old ways of pushing hard when exercising or doing weights. I find myself doing this. I am learning to appreciate and feel my body with gentle exercise and the results are amazing. There are so many ideals and beliefs about exercise all around us – I am gradually shedding them!
Yes Anne these ideals and beliefs are hidden in many ways and we can often play ball with them, if we get caught up in how we should look or sustain our health,rather than feeling into what is needed each day for our own health and well being.
There are so many goodies in this blog Kate, one of which I picked out was – “He just always made sense and I could see that he lived what he presented – that your body’s vitality gradually comes back as you live more gently in it.” I chose this as I myself have and are continuing to experience this within my own body. I use to be very hard with my body and push it to extremes, sometimes just out of interest to see how far I could go. These days my awareness around my movements and the quality in which i move is completely different. This in turn has had a profound affect on my health, vitality and wellbeing that continues to support and build a very caring and loving way with myself. A true way of being.
This line stood out for me too Marcia – ‘that your body’s vitality gradually comes back as you live more gently in it.’
I also loved the honesty of Kate saying it took years to understand what that meant in her body. I have never really pushed myself physically, quite the opposite in not moving my body much at all! Both are ways to exhaustion and lack of vitality, and both signify a disregard to the natural flow and need the body is asking for.
Great to hear the opposite in your experiences Rachael and as you say both are the same way of simply avoiding honouring ourselves and our body.
I can relate to most of what you have said Kate about the old way of exercising for health. I have just restarted at the gym to build strength in my body and it is interesting how it is so easy to slip into old patterns of pushing myself, especially when you are around everyone else pushing themselves to the limit and beyond. Presence with what I am doing and having a connection with my body will be the key to feeling what is needed at that moment of exercise. It is a work in progress.
Kate it is lovely to hear your sharing of change from hard exercise to gentle exercise. There is still a crazy myth that exercise has to be hard core and pushing for a healthy heart. I hear this so often, yet when you hear those people mention it and what they reflect is complete hardness in their body, no gentleness at all. I was never one to do hard core exercise, as it never felt right to me. I was more into the gentle swim. I did play badminton when I was younger, but gave up when it became very competitive. Over the last year I have introduced gentle walks and light weights, which are more supportive to my body. I am so grateful my parents were never into sports and so never forced it on me.
Great reminder Kate, thank you. How lovely it was to be reminded how much of the lightness and spring of childhood never needs to change, no matter how old we become.
Great point and that spring of childhood can continue no matter how old you are.
It is beautiful to be reminded that the spring of childhood and lightness never needs to change, no matter what our age. That bounce still remains. A great marker for us to remember and come back.
I agree Tim. I love reconnecting to the feel of naturalness that I had as a child. If you asked a child to do some of the things we as adults ask of our bodies, as in exercising so hard we ache for day, they would flat out refuse. Where does that innate intelligence go? The answer is it doesn’t leave us, we just start ignoring it. Serge Benhayon presents how to start reconnecting and listening to it again.
Thanks for the reminder Kate. Exercise has been made to be about gaining an outcome or result, this to me is the pushing and pounding you speak about and I can feel how hard this makes my body. We think or even are convinced this is good for us as we reach our goal, meanwhile our body just gets harder and tougher.
Thank you Kate, what you write about is super important. I know I can support my body more than I do today with gentle exercise, your article has inspired me to build in a routine that supports my body and my being on a day to day basis.
I have felt the same Katinka. To make this part of my daily routine supports the way I move, eat and interact with others. I can now feel the connect is across the board.
Kate that was a great blog. I love what you share about how we choose to exercise and the impact it will have to your body. Actually it is very obvious that if we do not treat our bodies with gentleness – the body has to react but I too override this obvious part. I too get lost in working hard to get a healthy body and follow what everybody does instead of listing what my body wants. It is a bit crazy that we lost our innate connection to what is truly good for us. Definitely not pushing and pounding.
I agree. I have recently joined a gym and was reluctant to begin with, as my experiences in the past was associated with classes of heavy pounding exercise that left me feeling exhausted and I would come home drained. Reading your article has reminded me that making the choice to bring the quality of me to the exercise is what will benefit the body after each session. I now leaving the gym feel a stronger connection to myself and appreciate how the body feels.
This was a great reminder of the beauty of exercising in a way that is gentle and fluid and the strength that can come from connection and commitment to this… rather than the unpleasant pounding and pushing that is synonymous with exercise today. It is beautiful to be able to really enjoy moving with your body and allow it to teach you what it needs rather than you impose on it what you or others think it requires.
Absolutely Samantha, when I reflect on my exercise practices, I can see how everything I chose to do was because of my reaction to everything/everyone around me. I would cycle like I was racing against the cars and buses, I would swim to be faster than those in my lane, I would feel gratified when I felt as strong as the men at my marshal arts practice. I was always looking outside of myself to confirm my physical prowess.
Great blog Kate. I have gone from the extreme hardness and overriding my body. And I can relate to moving with regard for my body with gentleness. I now know the difference. And give my body the respect and authority it tells me.
Yes Concetta and how great does it feel to work on connection with the body that feels so light to hardness from overriding what the body feels to do.
Speaking as one of your clients Kate – I clearly remember us visiting the gym together – what you shared with me that day will never leave me, as not only did I feel the immense honouring and partnership that can be built with our bodies by removing the function from exercise, but also the reflection of others in the gym, like the middle aged men you describe here – it was the first time that I really saw how normal it is for people to push and punish their bodies in the name of health & exercise.
This is indeed an eye opening statement that reveals the simple fact that we are not educated nor are we intelligent as we may think we are. Given that our bodies highlight everything we do to them if we choose to listen it is remarkable that we are not sicker, but then again maybe we are but we are just not letting our bodies communicate what is actually going on underneath the visage.
I have noticed that with others (and how I use to exercise) too. It’s not fun.. It’s more miserable and like they really don’t want to be doing it but ‘have to’. What a difference with how you have described you excercise now. It’s fun and light and most importantly… Feels good ! Beautiful.
Yes Emily, it feels fun and light as you are taking care of your body in a loving tender way with no abuse in sight.
Kate what a great article. I’ve been re-learning how to exercise in a more tender and loving way staying connected to my body, and it’s so different. For years I went from going on an exercise frenzy to doing absolutely no exercise at all, and in both extremes being hard with lots of drive in my exercise or not caring and doing nothing, I did not want to feel my body or even consider connecting to it. Now I do and it’s a huge change, now when I move it’s a surprise and a joy to feel how that feels and I’m learning that my body likes moving and exercising and lifting weights and it’s like being a kid all over again, seeing how my body moves and what it feels to do – it’s a continuing revelation.
Yes I can relate to what you both share here re exercise, Monica and Kate. I too used to push myself very hard in the belief that ‘hard work’ was the only way to get the results I demanded from my body. It succeeded in making my body very hard, but I didn’t feel connected or in flow with my body while undertaking this exercise. I have in later life, been slowly re-learning the exquisite beauty of flow in my body and how much I deserve this awesome feeling and connection when I move. That feeling is worth far more than meeting exercise ideals or an ‘endorphin’ high.
You’ve expressed exactly how I have experienced exercise monica g2 – see-sawing between full on exercise and then doing none, but most of it from a total disregard for my body. What a huge difference it has made to begin to exercise by starting with a connection to my body! Sometimes I still go into drive however when I do this I am much more aware that I have stopped feeling my body and that this is when my body starts to go hard. This is much easier to feel based on the fact that I now have a foundation of care and regard for my body.
This has been my experience too monica g2 – going from one extreme to the other, but in both of these being either ignorant or arrogant about what would truly support me in my body. It’s taken a while to learn to exercise in a way that supports my body and that is joyful, and sometimes I can still go into a bit of drive and push, but what I am also appreciating is that when I do this I’m much more aware and in this awareness, am able to observe and make a different choice.
Gorgeous Kate – what is true vitality? I chuckle on my walks as I greet, smile and exchange with fellow walkers, but when the runners pound past, never once have I seen a smile – only a painful grimace. This speaks a million words.
Exercising with a care of the body you are doing it with. I feel that there always needs to be a presence with the body to truly be able to feel what it needs.
Kate your words about Serge Benhayon “He just always made sense and I could see that he lived what he presented – that your body’s vitality gradually comes back as you live more gently in it” have described my experience also. i had always exercised with the belief that drive was necessary to be always improving to a higher level. Often I would feel tired after exercising and I would need a coffee. Now I value the more gentle approach to walking and exercise, and I have a deeper and more playful relationship with my body and exercise. I no longer need coffee to keep me going, as I rest when I need to and my body responds to the level of care I now live with.
I rarely see people who are out pounding the streets or pushing it in the gyms actually looking like they are enjoying themselves, as Kate says there is a grimness there… Again another very obvious point of reference, we push ourselves for an end result without understanding that the way we get there is having the most affect upon us, and deeply influences of the final result.
I very much relate to the difference between pounding our bodies out of a ideal that I am doing something healthy and the joy you can feel when you exercise in a way that honours the body fully. There is no comparison.
Thank you Kate for sharing this blog, it is my second read and very inspiring. I was stopped by your line – It’s still a work in progress or really a ‘love in progress’. I feel that sums it up.
Thank you for sharing your way and work in progress so beautifully. I realize again how much pressure and not natural ways of movement I have lived in and “against” my body, nearly my whole life. And it is in fact a work in progress to become aware of the many layers of hardness, due to expectations and having unlearned the natural flow of movement. Rediscovering the natural flow brings joy and freedom to – not only the body – but the whole being. Walking for me is a great possibility to become aware of how the body wants to walk, the pace, the dynamic the movement. Very often, I catch myself by walking in a special way because of a thought and because of the hardness I have built up, but not as an expression of the body’s natural way of being. When I become aware of it, I stop for a moment and listen to the rhythm that’s naturally in me. It is not always the same but always feels wide and helps me to connect to myself. It is like you wrote: “my body sighs with relief”.
Thank you Kate- I like what you have said here. I have been feeling recently that my body wants to do exercise to build some strength within myself. I actually love exercising and feeling my body respond- however I have never wanted it to be ‘hard’ on the body- and have rejected actually doing any exercising besides walking…. – but now I feel it is time. I feel the commitment is there if I commit to making the time for it. To re-build the natural strength of my body to support me in life.
I love your whole comment, especially how you feel your body respond to exercising – I agree, my muscles like to be used too, as long as it’s muscle strength not muscle strain. Your last sentence Arianne, is such an important clue to guide our exercise and to know how much strength and agility we need from our exercise. How much strength does one need to support us in life will change for everybody, but it is a question I do ponder for different parts of the body such as abdominal strength to support sitting at a computer for long hours, as this is not as obvious as say arm strength to lift something.
What I felt when I read your blog was how much effort we put into making our bodies be and move in a way that is not natural to them. For me too exercise was always extreme or not at all, and I’m gradually learning now there are benefits of building my fitness up step by step and being fit for life, and also letting my body move naturally too without the drive for it to be something that it is not – i.e. thinner, faster, fitter.
Love rereading this Kate I have got to the stage where my body loves exercising and I am almost there with it, as my body becomes fitter and stronger so it doesn’t hurt doing arm exercises – which felt like poison being released! I feel the benefit of it in my energy levels and overall commitment to life when I put the time in for my body as a priority not something “if I can fit it in” attitude. I appreciate how amazing my body is more and more every day and how incredible it can be at supporting us.
Kate I come from the other end of the spectrum and did not enjoy exercise much at all, and considered my body needs as a bit of a nuisance. So I had a negative attitude to exercise, and approached it as a must do to get fit, manage my weight etc. I also tried a few varieties, from aerobics to tai chi and yoga at various times, but not consistently. This changed when you introduced me to some gentle flowing movements and a connected way of approaching body movements. It is so enjoyable that I now truly appreciate my body and am learning to understand its mechanics, and have learned that exercise does not need to be rigorous to be effective.
I love to close my eyes and connect with my body, slowly, gently, moving part by part and experiencing what each is communicating to me. It’s so wonderful to stay connected and feel all the subtleties in every movement, feel the beauty and flow of lifting an arm or leg tenderly, rhythmically, feeling a hand caressed by the air around it, even feeling heaviness or stiffness, all indications of how much care and attention I’ve maintained; whether I’ve stayed in touch and flowed or whether I’ve raced ahead of myself and pounded through my day. Thanks Kate, for your true inspiration.
Barbara I have also experienced this in Kate’s classes, they have been an eye opener to the communications our body feeds back when you connect to each area or muscle gently.
“I have learned that how I choose to exercise impacts how I feel and how my body physically feels such that for me I now choose exercise that is gentle and flowing rather than pushing and pounding.”- I too have started to do this and I feel so much more spacious in the body, less hardened across the chest and I don’t feel exhausted at the end of exercising more gently according to how my body feels.
I never really liked formal ‘exercising’ and as I lived on a farm there were ample things to do to ‘keep fit’. However I always hardened my body to do these things because I believed, having a small frame, that I needed to be tough to keep up. Needless to say I was always injuring myself and often in pain which eventually became chronic with the beginnings of arthritis. I can’t imagine living in that way now. Since meeting Serge Benhayon I have learned to be more gentle and loving with my body and the flow you mentioned Kate is ever present now . I love to feel it and so appreciate the fact that I no longer have arthritis, pain of any sort, or a body that is hard and protected. The flow and the openness which is ever developing inspires me to continue with gentle exercising and exploring how much more I can surrender to what my body asks of me, to be at its best. At 62 now, I am more vital and alive and thoroughly enjoying life than I had been for a good number of my younger years.
I used to do Aikido because I thought it was a more gentle form of martial art and I loved the ‘flowing’ movements, but it wasn’t until I hurt my shoulder that I realised how hard I had been training and how much it was pounding my body as I fell on the mat. I eventually gave it up because I realised that it was harming my body.
‘Your body’s vitality gradually comes back as you live more gently in it’. I have certainly found this to be true as even though I was technically ‘fit’ I was not healthy because I was living to an ideal of what I thought I ‘should’ do and this rigid way of thinking imposed on my body and it became hardened and lost its natural flow. As that happened my natural vitality was smothered. As I let go of the ‘shoulds’ the fun and enjoyment is coming back into my life.
Exercising gently and lovingly allows for the nature flow and vitality to come through and I have been able to notice significant differences in how I am during the day when I surrender and live more harmoniously. It affects the whole body and all of our interactions with people. Its a very powerful relationship to have with our bodies.
There is a lot of power in exercising with our bodies. It is equally as much harm in exercising without connecting with our bodies.
This is a great blog to revisit, because it is still so prevalent how we push, force, hurry and drive ourselves and the way this keeps our bodies hardened. The no pain no gain way of looking at life is so ingrained. You not only see it in the gym, but also at work and in recreational pursuits. Recently I have been noticing how prevalent it is as a way to massage – people think that if it doesn’t hurt, it can’t be doing them any good. So this blog was well worth re-reading and receiving the clarity that Kate offers about how to treat our body and how lovely and joyful it can feel in everyday life simply by exercising gentleness. I agree since praticing this for some time, I find I am more active and less exhausted than when I was using fitness for an outcome and not for enjoyment.
Thank you for writing this, especially from your background in physiotherapy. I can really relate with what you are saying, when I was younger I used to do loads of high impact aerobics and think that to really go for it was what it was about, it was coming from a drive and push and if I am honest frustration I had with life. From meeting Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine and attending presentations, workshops and courses I now have a far deeper understanding of the body and connection to my true self as you say ‘and here was a man without that but with a far greater understanding of the body than all the health professionals I had known over the last 15 years. He just always made sense and I could see that he lived what he presented.’ This is so true, and now when I see people out jogging pushing themselves in shorts and t-shirts when it is cold, and also when it is hot, it is easy for me to see and feel just how unloving this is for us to do.
Thank you Kate, your blog reminded me how I used to push my body to the limit as well, training for half marathons. I used to ignore all the signals from my body whilst I was running – driving myself harder and harder. I am pleased to say I also woke up to the fact that this was harming my body – I was continually getting sick, not really a picture of health. I now enjoy exercise without pushing my body, I have more vitality and energy than ever before and my body is the healthiest it’s ever been.
I still remember the red/ black spots in front of my eyes (the ones you get prior to passing out) during the once a year aerobics class I would attempt back in the day… i figured this can’t be good for you. Tried iyengar/astanga yoga because parts of the yogi philosophy resonated, … and stretching is fun, but there was something off about the competitiveness and identity that so many people had around it.. It didn’t seem right. Upon discovering Universal Medicine, I realised that I was not the only one who felt this way… and now the joy of exercise and movement has been reintroduced to me. Now my body thrives on gentle exercise and stretching, becoming more free and spacious every time I engage.. and this brings spaciousness and clarity to all other aspects of my life.
Annie C- your last sentence here makes gentle exercise sound every bit as enticing, playful and pleasurable as it actually is.
Hi Kate, your mention of light springy playfulness reminded me of my own experience of that feeling from years ago as a child light of heart and body. I have never really enjoyed exercise but knowing there is a way to be with my body and feel how much and when has taught me such a lot and it brings a deeper connection to my body, the feeling at the end of exercise is connection, and expansion no tiredness. It was lovely to read your comment ‘that your body’s vitality gradually comes back as you live more gently in it.’ I’m certainly inspired to deepen my gentleness.
This is a great blog article, so many are under the belief that to be fit and ‘healthy’ they have to do the grueling workout. Having taken this route myself, I can also state that it is not the way. Staying connected to the body and working within its limits is definitely the well-being way.
I always loved that feeling of the light, springy playfulness in my body when I was younger. Yes for me as well – “I now choose exercise that is gentle and flowing rather than pushing and pounding”. It’s amazing how light, strong and flexible this way of exercising makes me feel and how hard, tired and sore the pushing and pounding in the gym does. It’s a no brainer and I am very grateful to the Universal Medicine practitioners who have introduced me to this new way of exercising.
When we exercise based on a drive ‘to get fit’ we buy into a point of departure that we are not (we are not fit or not enough). When we exercise based on what we are and go from there we cannot go wrong. I found that it is different to say: I will exercise because my body does not allow me to handle life compared to: I am amazing and to be able to deliver my amazingness to the world, I have to keep developing myself including my body. Yet, developing my amazingness cannot be done but by feeling it along the way.
Beautiful emfeldman…
I love what you have expressed here in your words emfeldman – such simplicity of truth I feel.
Thank you, Kate, for sharing your joy and appreciation of rekindling your natural flow of movement. I have never been an athletic sort, and have mostly shied away from vigorous exercise, but the desire to push was still there none the less – a want for recognition was too big. “Your body’s vitality gradually comes back as you live more gently in it” – I love this. So simple.
Fumiyo, what you share is great as the push and exertion to do that bit more and go that bit further seem inherent and accepted as part of exercise- and it is not reserved for the athletes or sporty people. Last year I attended a group fitness class at my local gym, even though I had chosen a class format that I could easily pick and choose how and what exercises I did without being herded to move at another’s pace, the way the exercises were presented all had a flavour of push. This is not easy to withstand. Worse however are the yoga classes I have attended (including ones I taught to others!) that give lip service to listening to your body and then encourage some very unnatural anatomical positions.
Kate, as I read your words ‘… exercise that is gentle and flowing rather than pushing and pounding.’ I can feel myself immediately pause and slow down what I am currently doing. Thanks for the timely reminder regarding the impact on my body of all my actions.
I too am learning to exercise and I am loving it! My body simply loves me putting that time and energy into it and rewards me with feeling so much more vital.
As I was going for my walk today and a jogger went past me I was wondering “What is it that someone gets out of jogging?” It looks painful and jarring and never appealed to me as doing it over a vast distance felt arduous. Most definitely not for me. I love going for my walk where I connect to my body and it’s natural fluid and flowing way.
Good point Suzanne, what is it that people get out of jogging. If I consider back to my jogging days, it feels like there was a sense of achievement in it. The fact that I could jog for 5 or 10km and others couldn’t, meant that I was better than those who didn’t. It was a way of making up for feeling less than others. (ouch..)
I can relate to really pushing my body through exercise and the corresponding feeling of hardness. For years I thought this hardness was a good thing because it felt as though my body was tough and resilient. I have now found that matching my rhythm to what my body is asking of me leaves me still feeling my body has benefited from the exercise but that the quality is one of tenderness and care. There is no comparison between the two outcomes.
I agree that I used to believe that being fit and healthy equated to being hard, strong and faster than most. And I did achieve this through physical exercise, however what I did not realise was that I did not dedicate the same level of commitment to my emotional fitness and energetic awareness. If I had, I would have realised what I know now – that even though I was super fit physically I was actually doing my body harm and it was trying to tell me this. But I was too caught up in the dilemmas of my mind and using exercise to give some temporary relief from these, which I feel if we were all honest this is the motivation behind most physical exercise today – whether that be stress or anxiety or lack of confidence or poor body image or low self esteem, it is fascinating to really consider what might be really driving us to exercise in this way.
Andrew, you make some good points here which are worth pondering: What is it that drives us to do hard exercise? And why do we need the ‘temporary relief’ that exercise gives us?
Absolutely Sandra. Could it be that we focus, even obsess sometimes, with being super- fit physically because we use that to compensate that we don’t feel so fit emotionally? Being fit for life means working on both equally not one at the expense of the other.
It’s funny Helen, I so relate to what you share, pushing with exercise (and everything else too!) and feeling a value in that, and being hard because of it – I was proud of my toughness. As I read this I can feel how numb I was with that, yes my body was tough, and so I didn’t feel it, and of course pushed it harder as I had lost touch with feeling those natural signals for when is enough. Now I move and exercise in a completely different way, one which is about staying connected to and feeling my body, and it’s so different, I’m learning to be with exercise in a completely different way, it’s more fun and I’m surprising myself with how my body wants to move.
What you describe here Kate Greenaway is revolutionary in the exercise world as you are talking about the intention behind any exercise we do or any movement for that matter and how that has a direct impact on our bodies which we can feel if we choose to be aware of it.
Awesome blog Kate, I loved reading it. It is inspiring me to be more aware of my body when I am exercising. I have never been keen on regular, hard core exercise, it never felt good for me to push my body to the extreme where I felt pain and exhaustion. This is what ‘normal’ exercise feels like to me. To push and push until you almost pass out. It felt like I was really hurting my body when I was pushing to achieve a goal. I experienced it once a long time ago, I almost passed out and felt really sick in ‘Spin’ exercise class and I never went back.
I have not come across such a thing as gentle exercise, with quality, joy and connection to my body until I tried True Movement and also recently from a friend’s sharing her exercise routine with me. She showed me some simple exercises to do in the morning to support my body. I loved them but I find it difficult to do them on my own.
What I love about True Movement is that I move with an entire group of 100-150 people. It’s amazing to feel the unison and grace in the group. I also take my dog for a 4 km walk in the mornings, I use that too to practise bringing awareness to my body, to connect with my dog and nature. I am practising connecting to my body with my everyday movements, to remember to feel how my body is and to catch when my mind is wandering to reconnect back to my body. I am going to keep practising this beautiful connection to my body and to make it a very natural way of moving, with full connection and awareness.
I can feel the true appreciation in these words “It’s still a work in progress or really a ‘love in progress’.” I have experienced a new appreciation, myself in many things but particularly in exercise and honouring how my body feels. It does truly support us to honour what we feel, it has been life changing.
Thank you Kate, for sharing the way to back to healthy exercise as presented by Serge Benhayon. For an old (previously) hard head like myself it is great to feel how my body responds to gentle exercise
Even the sound of the words ‘I now choose exercise that is gentle and flowing rather than pushing and pounding’ allows my body to understand that this way I will be able to support my body rather than building a body that is full of hardness. As I learn to feel more of my body, I can feel how this hardness is holding me back from connecting to a deeper level of knowing and understanding life. By constantly pushing my body the muscles feel as though they have become contracted and set in a way that brings pain by the constant tightness and pressure and blocks any sense of natural wisdom. I am now learning that by connecting through the gentle breath meditation I can build a body that is open and more loving.
Kate I cannot thank you enough, I used to train for half marathons when I lived in the UK, aerobics, step, spin bike, and many more! Just writing about it feels heavy, my poor body. My body stopped allowing me to exercise probably 8 years ago, it had enough and no matter how many attempts I tried to restart exercising, it simply said ‘no’! In the last month I felt I was ready, so had a personal session with Bev Carter and I am now learning to reconnect with myself. We changed the association of exercise with the huffing, puffing and sweating to something more gentle, ‘me and my time’ and it feels so loving and honouring to my body. I finally connected with my legs, they actually feel part of me. You are so right, when I go back into the old way, it feels my body weighs a ton! What a marker to how I don’t want it to be anymore
Beautifully said Kate. “I had made moving and exercise, as with other things in my life, complex and outcome based, rather than a simple enjoyment of my body’s natural way of moving.” All Serge Benhayon presents on honouring the natural flow in your body just makes sense and feels very different when I move with my natural rhythm.
“I have learned that how I choose to exercise impacts how I feel and how my body physically feels such that for me I now choose exercise that is gentle and flowing rather than pushing and pounding.”
I too now choose this when I exercise and what a difference it makes in the body- more spacious, energised, and not hardened and sore.
Kate, also, about 12 months ago I noticed you in a class I was participating in. You were just there on your mat moving your body in a gliding motion from side to side. It was a joy to watch. That recollection has stayed with me and regularly I enjoy a similar movement in my own ‘exercise’ routine – it feels absolutely delightful in the body.
Me too Francene, I also have discovered the joy of moving gently, being aware of the connective tissue throughout my body moving in a sliding and gliding fashion, and I also learned these beautiful skills from Kate Greenaway from the Esoteric Connective Tissue Therapy classes.
Kate, I love how your article refers to exercising with a gentleness in the body and then vitality returns. This itself can challenge for many the word ‘exercise’ which conjures up visions of pushing and striving to achieve. Thank you for a great article.
Throughout this blog you mention many times the word ‘flow’ Kate. It is beautiful to feel how this flow in you, naturally extends into your writing. I am glad you chose to honour what ‘just made sense’ and explored Serge Benhayon’s presentations and now remind us all of the absolute and divine beauty of gentle loving motion.
This is a really great article, thanks Kate. I’ve recently become aware of how tired I get, almost instantly, from moving in a hard, jarring or non aware way. This is how I’ve carelessly moved for decades, yet now as I reconnect to my soul I can feel how harmful it is to my body and how I need to pay more attention to moving gently and with more flow. The strain of not moving gently is very depleting. You’ve really supported me with this excellent article, thanks Kate.
I can relate to what you shared Melinda, I also found that when I move my body with hardness and push I felt much more tired and I also felt more hungry and felt the need to over eat too. So, now by being aware of moving my body with care, gentleness and awareness I am more connected to my body, feel more vitality and joy.
Through Serge Benhayons presentation, the way Serge moves effortlessly with such power, grace and flow, a true example of how honouring and respecting we can be with ourselves and our bodies and from my sessions with you Kate, I have also come to realise there is another more gentle way to exercise without the push or tying myself in knots.
There was so much in your blog for me Kate, and what you shared about Serge Benhayon is what resonated with me when I first met him; “He just always made sense and I could see that he lived what he presented”. Yes it made so much sense, that I kept saying to myself, “I know this, so why haven’t I been living it?”. Ten wonderful years, and many presentations by Serge, later, I have become so aware that “pounding and pushing” is definitely not how my body wants to be treated, but “gentle and flowing” movements it loves and appreciates.
I was never did much exercise but I have began to since I have committed to caring for myself more. I have had this experiences of “…your body’s vitality gradually comes back as you live more gently in it.” For me vitality means that when I get up in the morning, I feel ready to start my day, I have a well of energy that supports me in my day and I am present and ready for the world. This way of living life is in vast contrast to how I felt 10 years ago. I feel younger now than I did then, I have vitality and it feels amazing and importantly consistent.
I agree Sam I feel so much more vital than I did 10 years ago – ageing seems to be working for me since I have learned to listen and appreciate my body, which includes daily walks and exercise. I don’t wake feeling like jumping out of bed yet, but know its possible and I imagine that in 10 years I will be living in more expansion and bouncing out of bed will be my norm.
I can relate to what you say here Samantha Davidson. As I have become more gentle with my body I have felt more vital too. I used to be super fit physically and did lots of exercise but was still exhausted and propped up with stimulants like sugar, carbs and caffeine. So I was fit in one narrow way but not vital. Vitality as you describe is being ‘fit for life.’
“Vitality as you describe is being ‘fit for life.’” This is great, Andrew, for our vitality affects how we contribute in our daily life and this has a ripple effect on others.
I also used to be super fit and flexible. I could bend my body into all sorts of positions. My exercise is now much more gentle, with more focus on my connection to my body and with this I have become far less flexible. How I feel, however, is much more vital and more connected to my body than I ever did when I was really flexible. This broke down even more beliefs about a flexible body being an open, healthy body. I was much more closed and hard within my body then.
I can relate here Samantha, as I have been one to focus heavily on exercise or not at all. What I have found completely different now is the focus on why I exercise. Not doing it because I should or because I am trying to look like someone else, have a better body etc… Instead I exercise now to support me in my day and to support my body to feel amazing.
I also would pound my body when it came to exercise and every few months I would end up with some sort of injury, so I totally agree with your method of exercising Kate.
Yeah, every time I got back into gym training within a few weeks I was injured. It was like a never ending cycle – now I see it was a lot to do with how I constantly pushed my body in a way that did not agree with it.
Thank you Kate – It’s a been a relief to learn that we don’t have to pound and punish our bodies and that this is the antithesis of what the body is really asking for in order to feel healthy and vital
The body is certainly designed to move fluidly. Over the past 7 years, I have retrained my body to move at first gently, and then in turn learn to respect how my body responded to tenderness of movement. So many men see tenderness in the body as something to be ashamed of without realising the true power the body carries in this state. Not only do our movements take less energy, but our body actually gets energised in its movement, not drained by it. This it totally converse to what we are used to experiencing when we exercise, but generally that is because we do not move the body in a way that is in respect to how it wants to move. We impose upon it in order to make it do what we think it should do. It took me years to realise this, such is the rigidity of the belief system around exercise, and sport, and the way we are taught to move by observation of those around us. And yet the truth is so many of us have it wrong. We think it is natural to experience limitation of movement as young as 40, yet what I have discovered through Universal Medicine is that my body at 40 is now more naturally fluid, energised and younger than it was when I was in my mid 20s. Now that is revelation.
I have felt the same Kate, looking at people running hard and looking like their bodies were in distress, yet pushing on, breathless… I tried running a couple of times as it was supposed to be so great for you, but it felt terrible, my knees hated it, and my whole body felt traumatized – same with aerobics. So I thought exercise sucked. I also remember school sports – even though I was pretty good, it felt more bad than good in my body. Through Universal Medicine I’ve come to an understanding of how one can exercise in a way that supports and deepens that beautiful flowing freedom in the body. It feels great and I wish I had heard of this notion so much earlier as it would have confirmed what I already felt, but I over-rode because it didn’t fit in with any of the so-called sports expertise of the day.
I used to swim in the way you mention Kate, truly graceless, and with no presence. Now I love the rhythm and flow of swimming, it really is such a lovely experience, gentleness and connection.. what a blessing.
I can relate to all that you write here Kate. I spent many years doing most forms of exercise and sport, pushing myself to excel and be as fit as possible. Since understanding more about the nature of the body and it’s natural ways and my natural gentleness thanks to Serge Benhayon I have started to look and see exercise as a way to support all of me in my daily life and that I do not need to push myself hard. Rather I honour how I am feeling each day and only exercise with regard to how I am feeling. Old habits die hard though as I find if I am not honouring of myself and my body I slip into old ways and find myself being very hard in my purpose or movements.
Through the Re-connect exercise I learned that exercise can be fun, gentle and flowing, each movement made in connection with self. I’ve appreciated being shown how to move in response to how I feel in each moment, not just follow a set pattern routine or push, I no longer drive myself like an automaton through exercise. Why would I when I can move in harmony with my body.
The way we are currently taught to exercise is only with push. There doesn’t seem to be any other way. Even the ‘gentle’ techniques have a set routine or way of doing them that doesn’t allow the body to flow with its natural grace. In the last few years thanks to Universal Medicine, Re-connect Exercise and Connective Tissue Exercises, I now know how enjoyable, flowing and harmonious my movements can be.
A very inspiring post Kate, thank you!
I used to really dislike doing any form of exercise. These days I love exercising and in that gentle way that you describe Kate. It is fun and freeing.
Bringing more awareness to how my body feels when I’m exercising makes such a difference to me too.
Hi Kate, great article. For me the exercises I enjoy are walking and swimming although I never really paid much attention to how my body truly felt at the time. I am now becoming more aware of allowing my body rhythm to guide me. I too catch myself in the doing at times and am learning more often to come back to the natural flow.
Kate I too can remember when I was young feeling an amazing sense of rhythm and flow and ease in my movements which were mostly play and just daily simple tasks and I can also remember how that all changed once I introduced rigid fitness or exercise regimes into my life firstly at school with sport and then later with other things like yoga and gym. Like you these days I have come to know another way to exercise that keeps me physically fit and strong but completely respects my body’s natural way of moving.
Your reflection Kate, that here was someone who , despite his apparent dearth of formal education in the medical sphere was showing a profound and deep understanding of the human body is very revealing. I have had the same experience with Serge of his philosophically astute understanding of music, again without any traditional training. This can lead us to reflect that there is possibly a deeper well of wisdom that can be drawn upon, that brings with it an innate knowledge, wisdom and understanding of all things, due to the interconnectedness of all things.
I too have observed Serge Benhayon bring intelligence to many specialty fields without arduous research and move seamlessly from one field to another in his presentations. It’s not the gift of the gab or mere opinion, as you say Cjames2012, it is drawn from a deep well of wisdom and every subject Serge Benhayon touches upon he shines the light of truth on it, sometimes exposing a lack of love and always reflecting the way back to love. In particular, his contributions to medicine are phenomenal, I can’t see how our current medical system will be sustainable for that much longer without incorporating what Serge Benhayon brings under the name of Esoteric Medicine.
Kate, great sharing. I was never really into lots of exercise and always wondered why people put their bodies through so much strain as pushing. I enjoy the gentle stuff, so swimming was mainly my favourite and the walking, anything else really did not take my fancy.
When I was in my teens I remember being forced to do jogging at school- I hated it as it hurt my knees, and the end of it I felt exhausted and had sore legs.
I knew it was’t good for me. But then as I got older I pursued aerobics for fitness and overrode my body’s feelings to get a required outcome- look good, lose weight, get attention by males. Later in life, I discovered bushwalking- pushed myself up those hills to also get a desired outcome- outer recognition as I felt empty within.
Thankfully, since attending Universal medicine my exercise program does not involve pushing my body. I exercise gently and feel what my body needs e.g. walking and using light weights. I now feel more vital and am more playful.
I have to admit I was never one to do a great deal of exercise but I can really relate to this gentle flowing type that doesn’t involve the old no pain no gain strategy. Pounding the pavement never made sense unless someone was chasing me.
I have and am feeling the truth in what you are sharing, Kate. I have changed the way I exercise and my body is responding to those loving changes with a renewed flexibility and ease of movement I don’t ever remember experiencing in my body before. The connection to me and feeling into each movement and thus knowing when I push to far, is part of the healing recipe for this amazing outcome. The incorporation of the broader understanding in food choices, the way I interact in the world and the gentleness I now hold myself in have all contributed to the change,
Since I have learnt to exercise by listening to my body it has transformed my whole understanding of exercise. I used to push myself like you did Kate, trying to be super fit and healthy, yet I was not connecting to the movement and how my body was feeling as I did the exercise, especially if I was in a class because I would compare myself to others and try to be as fit as them.
By listening to my body I have slowly built an inner strength that I have never had before. I no longer get back ache and I am able to sustain the same vitality at the end of the day as I have at the beginning, in fact I have more vitality than I have ever had in my life and I will be 60 this year.
It’s interesting how being healthy is often gauged by how fit a person is…the fitter they are, the more healthy they are. This is so not true as it doesn’t look at the whole picture of how a person is living and whether they have vitality and joy in each day. Isn’t that true health?
Kate once again you have highlighted that true exercise changes each day with what the body needs to feel alive and full of vitality. When we choose to throttle the body with repeated exercises each day there is no room to feel but to recover from the pain. It makes me ponder on the saying “No pain no gain”. What are we actually gaining from exercising this way?
The ‘no pain, no gain’ mindset in relation to exercise and pushing oneself really hard is a difficult one to break. We really do need to get beyond ‘fitness is good’ irrespective of how that ‘fitness’ was acquired, to a true understanding of vitality, health and harmony for our bodies.
I am walking every morning in the park and recently started to do some exercises as well. I love doing it without “I must”, but the “I must” kicks in quite easily. For most of my life doing sports was about having to do and about the need to change my body. Now I simply enjoy walking, having fun on the machines in the park, lifting my weights and staying with my breath. No pressure, what a change..
Kate, I can really relate to the “pushing and pounding” as have done this for many years! I am now learning to feel my body in a different way but at times can feel the old ways slipping back in especially if I am not consciously present. Its amazing to me that my body is feeling so gorgeous and shapely and toned and that it can be like this without the “pushing and pounding”.
Kate I have a new way to exercise with the support of the wisdom Serge Benhayon shared with me. I was never the ‘push it till you drop’ sort of exerciser. For me it was being consistently having some form of exercise that my body actually enjoyed. Today I do a combination of walking, cardio workouts that are based on listening to my body, and some true movement that is taught by Universal Medicine, and my body has I level of fitness at 54 that surprises me! Just shows you listening to your body is the key to true fitness.
This blog and comments has been very inspiring, as I have been thinking about joining a gym of late. Most of my past exercise programs have been things like martial arts, cycling, swimming but no enjoyment. It’s encouraging to read that there is another way to exercise without feeling like it’s a punishment.
I have changed how I exercise since coming to the presentations of Universal Medicine. Like you Kate, exercise for me was something I did to reach a certain outcome (e.g. a fitness level or shape I was wanting my body to take on) and I would drive myself hard at times, not really enjoying the exercise. Then I stopped almost everything except walking, after a period of ill health – my muscles were weak and I was, well, frail really. So I started to exercise and really listen to my body. For a few years now, I’ve been back in the gym and just do what feels right on the day – usually some gentle weights, stretching, floor exercises and rowing or walking. Wow, does my body love it. I feel energised and my body feels loose and light. I don’t push it but do enough to feel it without any fatigue or injury.
My relationship with my body has changed so much – through understanding my appreciation and dedication to looking after my body has deepened. Finding that balance between supporting and developing and not going into overriding the feeling of lightness in the body
I love the way you started off by enjoying the natural flow in your body as a child, and despite allowing yourself as most of us do to be seduced into abandoning that way and amongst other things engage in pushing and pounding exercise, you have found your way back to appreciating and honouring the natural flow of your body again.
“Love in Progress” just gorgeous Kate! Just seeing people running hard makes my body go tense, loving the gentler approach to exercising my body now – thanks to Serge Benhayon and his teachings – being in tune with my body and how i’m affecting it with every movement.
Even if I do a very light, short run across the road to beat the traffic I can feel the jarring in my body, especially around my knees. A very quick reminder of the damage that this kind of activity can do.
Yes, me too Vicky. I used to make a short run to get a train and afterwards would feel awful as my breathe would be laboured and my legs like lead…I’ve stopped that now and just graciously wait for the next train.
There is so much wisdom in what you share Kate. I too, often observe people pounding and thrashing themselves in an effort to look good and get fit. The total irony is that none of it is necessary. When we think gentle and be gentle, everything else takes care of its self. Pretty simple.
Yeah I am amazed at the amount of pounding some people inflict on their bodies in trying to get fit. It really does look like they are hurting themselves.
I really think they are Dean. You can see the strain that people place on their bodies in the gym in their grimacing facial expressions. It looks so disregarding to their bodies, forceful and painful and thoroughly UNenjoyable.
Yeah it is scary what we put ourselves through to try and look a certain way in the hope that people might like us more…
It is amazing that we need to re-learn how to move our bodies with gentleness and flow when we were naturally born to do that. Thankfully we have Serge Benhayon and you Kate to guide us back to what is natural.
A love in progress. Awesome. That comment is a keeper for me.
This is such a good reminder to not push oneself – my favourite exercise has always been floating on water and gentle swimming, including skimming along the bottom of the ocean floor imagining I am a dolphin, or walking in the sunshine on the beach or through forest for the pure pleasure of it – but perhaps I was also escaping the world during these times – but I could never fathom running, yoga, tai chi, aikido, step and gym classes , bootcamp x1, golf, gym or competition tennis, I even failed at dance classes!
So I thought I was a freak until I was introduced to Universal Medicine – and to my relief I decided I was actually being true to myself not liking these strenuous or strange exercise classes – I did enjoy cruising around on my pushbike with its extra wide soft seat, mudguards and high handle bars though – movement should surely always be a pleasure to do – and now I have discovered Kate’s connective tissue movements and I’m very happy to say its my favourite and most beneficial exercise to date.
What a wonder-fully wise blog Kate. I particularly love the words: “ It’s still a work in progress or really a ‘love in progress’. If we were all taught to love our body from a very early age I am sure that we would not put it though the pain and strain that has become the norm in our society. Thanks to you and Serge Benhayon sharing your common sense approach to exercising, we are now discovering a new and gentle way to lovingly care for the welfare of our body.
Kate, your story is so true. And how fortunate for us that have consulted you professionally to experience the absolute delight and deliciousness of feeling the flow in our movements from ‘exercise’. No more huffy puffy for this one either.
Dear Kate, thank you for your honest and open sharing. I also used to punish my body with very long bike rides multiple times each week. I often didn’t even want to go out for a ride, my body was saying NO, not again, please! But, I thought I would ‘feel better’ after doing the exercise. Not anymore. I am no longer at all interested in pushing my body to achieve certain goals. If I feel like doing more one day, I will, equally there are days when I do far less and that’s ok too.
I love what you said about the agenda adding kilos to the weights! I have experienced that and felt good for it because I felt more virtuous and that I would be stronger!! Having a healthy and vital body which has been developed with kindness sounds like such am obvious statement but it hadn’t even occurred to me that I could train in a gentle flowing way and build strength and vitality. Learning every day.
Kate the appreciation for your body and overall vitality is expressed here so lovingly. “your body’s vitality gradually comes back as you live more gently in it. ” Beautiful reminder.
Thanks Kate for wisdom , exercise is very much an ongoing process of confirming where I am at and offering a way forward in how my body responds . To understand how I move affects my body and like a ripple affect it radiates out to touch every one else, makes exercise a responsibility I have to myself and everyone else.
It is amazing how a man who has no medical training can know so much about the body. And it is equally amazing how you, Kate, allowed yourself to let go of years of ingrained training and were able to embrace what Serge Benhayon presented. I think the common link here is actually as simple as ‘common sense’, something that modern-day society runs away from in favour of complexity, intellectualism and a pounding, pushing attitude.
I love what you share Kate. Exercise for me has always been similar to a ‘diet’ – I would have periods where I would force myself to exercise in a hard way with a set outcome (usually to lose weight). My aim was always to change my body, because I didn’t like it the way it was. Again, the same as a diet, I could not sustain this & would give up & feel guilty. Now I go for gentle walks to love my body, not to change it or punish it. Afterwards I feel energised & vital, rather than exhausted and in need of a sugary pick-me-up. Thank goodness for the teachings of Serge Benhayon!
This is a great reminder that life (including exercise), is to be enjoyed – not something we are hard on ourselves with or use to punish ourselves with! I hate seeing shows like ‘The Biggest Loser’ that are just so brutal on people. Surely the issues of weight loss can be addressed without flogging the body!!
So true Kate, there is a certain belief around the way in which we think we should be exercising to be healthy, but don’t actually stop in and check with our bodies first and foremost! I also have just started doing some more gentle exercise and my body loves it – going to the pool to do some exercise, going for walks regularly, stretching and sometimes some light cardio/strengthening exercises. Feels so much better than forcing my body to go for a run and I’m more likely to keep it up regularly!
Melissa – exercising in a way that we are more likely to maintain it is a really big factor when it comes to exercise. I observe a lot the trends at my local recreation center (large community gym) and noticed that 95% of the women in the aerobics class were young women and 95% in the Aqua class were older women. Of course there are 30-60 year old women exercising too but comparatively there are so many less. Could it be that in our 20’s while we can evade injury when running on the sporting field or jumping around the aerobics class we are also instilling in our body memory an association that exercise is vigorous and the wisdom of our bodies wants to avoid this?
Ageing is an unavoidable process (for us all) and keeping our bodies “healthy” is absolutely essential. Exercising is widely promoted and a lot of us do exercise, however, exercising without actually harming our bodies is still almost unknown to many. Thank you Kate for writing this. It is so needed.
Thank you Kate for sharing! It confirms what I observed: “your body’s vitality gradually comes back as you live more gently in it.” This is awesome and a very fresh and young feeling! And how interesting : “As soon as I go back into the old way ……’I must do three more bicep curls ‘ it’s as if another five kg are loaded on my arm and my body goes hard .” This I can find in everyday movements too, and then I decide to come back to this tender flow.
An awesome article Kate thank you, yes it’s a easy for us to go into old habitual ways of exercising. I notice when I’m exercising I can easily go into my head about how I ‘should’ be doing it or what my body will look like afterwards.
And have to constantly re-connect back to my body.
Great point you raise. I had the same experience that I was ‘doing’ my sports, exercises for an ideal (healthy body, it is good for me etc.). Since attending the workshops of Universal Medicine, I realised a lot of my exercising, including yoga, was on automatic pilot without truly checking if it was what my body needed at that moment and if it was a gentle movement for my body. I remember at one point I ‘woke up’ within a yoga class and found the exercises were far from supportive for my body. Instead of being in a flow of movements I realised I was just trying to get my body to ‘do’ the postures correctly, only hardening my body. I stopped completely, actually with all my sports. Just like you I am gradually picking up my exercising, like swimming and walking and light exercises on the mat. The big difference now is I am constantly present with my body, feeling it, moving it gently and keeping it light and playful. Still learning, but so much more joy and my body is loving it.
Thank you Kate for your beauty-full blog – I feel the tenderness within your words in how you express your appreciation for your body -and I too appreciate the fact that I am learning the importance of gentle flowing rhythmic exercise and the beneficial effects that has on my own body.
What an inspiring post Kate, I was the exactly same with regards exercise, stopping and re-starting but now with a completely different regard and respect for my body that was not present before I started with Universal Medicine. As a woman, to feel your body soft, tender, yet firm and vital with exercise is the antithesis to most forms of aerobic/gym classes that tend to harden and strain. Indeed the type of exercise and the resulting body form is a reflection of the way we live. Your words.. “That your body’s vitality gradually comes back as you live more gently in it” being so very true.
I can relate to a lot of what you have shared Kate. My relationship with exercise and sport had certainly been one of achieving results, otherwise what was the point? However after being introduced to Universal Medicine through the supportive sessions with you, Kate Greenaway, I have been inspired to develop a loving relationship with my body. I now appreciate the tenderness that I am and exercise in honour of that with joy and gentleness, with no pressure, pain or injury. When I am connected to this there is an exquisiteness that reflects the joy of my body moving from love, and this feels so natural. I am still developing my relationship with this but I too feel more vital now that I did years ago. I can totally agree – ‘that your body’s vitality gradually comes back as you live more gently in it.’
I loved reading how you feel in your body when you exercise without an agenda. I also went from pounding myself with weights, running and playing as much sport as I possible could and then to nothing when I felt how much this impacted on my body. At the moment I can feel how much my body wants to exercise, which I sometimes do but when that push comes back in or trying to get myself fit because I’m reacting to feeling sluggish and not vital, I then stop again. This has inspired me to feel how my body wants to exercise and move.
It certainly brings more joy to the body to exercise gently. I feel that it brings a lovely rhythm to your day when you exercise like this and there are no recriminations of not doing enough or not meeting a goal, just messages from the body and a true connection.
Thanks Kate, this is very inspiring, I would love to have more vitality in my body than I had 20 years ago!
It’s great to re read your article Kate. A beautiful reminder that it is not what we do, but the HOW we do it that is important. I too have been exploring building a gentle relationship with exercise over the past few years. Exercising with a quality of gentleness and exercising choosing to feel and be with my body is a whole different experience, one which I am enjoying more and more. Exercise then becomes ‘me’ time, rather than a ‘check out to just get it done’ time. I love feeling the movements of my body, feeling the different muscles and I find that when I exercise in this way, it feels like more of a workout, but in a lovely, flowing way, that offers me strength but without hardening up my body. Each day, I do some form of exercise in connection, whether it be walking, cardio, weights, stretching or connective tissue exercise. I love how it gives me an opportunity to connect in with my body, to feel where it is at on any given day and then decide from feeling my body what exercise to do.
Thank you for sharing your experience Kate. It is reassuring for me to know that it does take time to learn and experience in my body that gentle exercise is not “outcome based”.
Thank you for sharing the beauty and benefits of true loving exercise rather than that which punishes the body. It is really such common sense.
Kate, just as you exercise, your writing flows gently and naturally on the page, thank you. I remember how I felt during my first gentle exercise class, with every slow tender movement my relationship with my body became more and more intimate, and I was saying to myself, ‘wow, is that how it really feels every time I lift an arm or leg’ and, ‘wow, I can actually feel all the little subtleties through each stage of a move’ and yet more, ‘wow, my body and movement feels so different in relation to the air/space around me.’ It was so simple yet so deeply profound, I had done a lot of yoga prior to the class and considered I had good ‘body awareness’ but this class was an absolute revelation, no pounding, no straining no outcome, just a much needed conversation I had not had with my body for many, many years.
Hi Kate, I so enjoyed reading your blog – I did not have access to blogs in 2012, so have read it for the first time – it was such a joy to read – thank you. I can appreciate the necessity for gentle exercise but I was never, not even in school years, a natural athlete nor a fan of ‘slogging it out’ in any form of exercise, though from late teens onwards I enjoyed badminton, tennis and squash as long as it was not highly competitive or aggressive. At present I feel the re-vitalizing effect of beach walking and walking in nature – and of course the very natural flow, rhythm and the beauty of the Esoteric Connective Tissue exercises and Esoteric Yoga.
Yes Jill it is completely a different relationship with exercise I can have when I drop my needs for an expected outcome such as tone or weight loss. Lately I can feel the natural loveliness of building some strength and support for my body when I do my gentle exercise.
This is such a great blog to read Kate , makes me smile , as I was doing gentle exercise the other morning I could feel the lightness and flow in my body and it was fun feeling my body move this way .. So much of exercise is about doing with an expected outcome when which only hardens the body more
The messages that have been passed down through the generations about “pushing” and ‘must try harder’ can be erased. Then, we begin to feel the joy in our bodies, softening and flowing.
So true Kate, it really does ” sigh with relief “
This is a good explanaition of how to recognize our individual limit when the body, or a part of the body, doesn’t want to go further in exercising. I remember many yoga sessions where we learnt to discover that too, and also feel into the way in which our arm or leg wants to move in that moment. Very fascinating how different this can be each time and what the effect is in the whole body.
I have never been an exerciser, in fact in high school I used to sneak to the library instead of doing phys ed. The only form of regular exercise I did in my teen years was horse riding. As I got older I started to walk regularly, but my walks were always laced with wanting to lose weight or for my body to look better. It has only been in the last 6 months that I have begun to exercise regularly. I too do gentle exercises and am forever adjusting how I do them in relation to how my body is feeling that day. I find that if I go into having to do a certain exercise a certain way that my body immediately hardens and it actually feels awkward and wrong. Exercising gently, connected to my body has been one of the best things that I have ever done for myself. I feel stronger, much more still and present and I love the feeling of the flow that I feel in my body from exercising this way.
What a great feeling of truth you have shared here Kate, I love this – thank you. “I had made moving and exercise, as with other things in my life, complex and outcome based rather than a simple enjoyment of my body’s natural way of moving.”
I can apply this in many ways for my life.
Thanks Kate for your simple sound advice
Kate, I too threw out completely all exercise, and what I then felt (weakened and lacking in energy) was confirmed in this blog!
I used to exercise to ‘look good/sexy’, but I now I exercise to connect to and support my body…and the bonus? I now feel sexy, vibrant and a steadily growing inner strength!
Sitting here reading this blog, knowing I have not exercised in almost two weeks and I have been noticing I am feeling quite tired, and so as a result don’t want to exercise. What I notice when I exercise it that I actually have more energy for the day.
The other point you mentioned about 40 laps… Well when I go to the pool, that’s exactly what I do. It’s interesting to hear ‘how’ you exercise now.. Because when I do 40 laps which my body can physically do, I am always feeling rushed, like I have to finish them as soon as I can, push my body, give myself a time to do it, and don’t leave until all 40 are done. It seems that way I have been swimming is not actually supporting me. Because I know I’ve got a timeframe that I can swim, and I’ve told myself that I HAVE to swim 40 laps, I wake up in anxiousness already feeling behind cause I’m not at the pool yet, and sometime it feels too much and I am too sore to go the next day but go anyway.
This can also happen when I go for a walk with a time frame and the distance that I NEED to do… I would like to explore what you mentioned and that it’s ok to have a timeframe due to needing to get to work, but to move with my body and the natural way that it needs to go without the anxiousness or push. And if I can only do 20 or 30 then that’s ok. If it takes away the anxiousness and rushing from my day it will be totally worth it!
I have always enjoyed sport and like many others have said above, thought that I had to ‘go hard’ to ‘make it count’. I am now learning to listen more to my body and adjust to get into my rhythm. When I do this my body certainly responds and it feels great.
Thank you for a great blog Kate. Exercise for me used to be synonym of pain, breathlessness and sweat because if I didn’t feel that then I hadn’t exercised properly. How gorgeous it is for me now to exercise gently, to feel rejuvenated, more spacious in my body and more joyful ! At the moment, I am doing a series of True Movement classes and my body absolutely loves it !
I love your blog, Kate and how you describe how you feel now in your body – fluid and content and how gentle exercising supports this amazing feeling in the body.
My journey with exercise is similar Kate. I once had a well trimmed athletic body, muscles and looked healthy but with no vitality. Once I commenced a gluten/dairy free way of eating much of it ‘fell off’. I realised that much of the change in my physique was clearing the old patterns. Serge Benhayon presented such common sense that even though I had changed physically quite a lot, I knew it was ok. I was often asked if I was sick, as I was quite thin. Rebuilding my strength has been gradual and with no aim, weight or size, but it’s shaping up well. My body loves the exercise, I may not lift weights like I used to, but but now I lift weights and build vitality as I do it, really enjoyable and it feels great. The old way was so out of rhythm to how my body needed to exercise, just allowing myself to re-discover this rhythm has introduced a deep connection which builds the vitality. This is priceless, inner and outer development.
Thank you Kate – Yes the concept of ‘pushing ourselves’ through exercise is very prevalent and I can certainly relate to that with my sports background of competition training for tennis and then later on with martial arts, yoga and running. To me it always felt like a punishment, but I still pushed myself to do it because of how it ticked a box and apparently got me doing what I ‘should’ be doing. Today it is such a relief and joy to be able to approach exercise in a completely different way – one that respects where my body is at each day and each moment, to give my body the movement and exercise it needs and support my body to stay strong, whilst not forcing or ‘bashing’ it like I used to. I now love my long walks and my time at the gym – it is a time working with my body respectfully and having fun.
I have recently discovered that I can even do heart rate exercise, yet not go into pounding or into tension or nervous energy. Therefore, I can feel my body staying open and spacious while my heart is beating faster. It feels with this presence during exercise, my body is open and flowing as Kate describes above and not fighting itself. Truthfully this has provided me with some amazing fitness where it has been a joy to walk even up hill at a pace and not get puffed and feel the strength in my body. So Yay to a new way to exercise!
A really honest blog Kate. I was someone who loathed being in water and exercising.
I have had to accept that gentle exercise and playful swimming can transform your life for the better, even at 71 ! it certainly is ‘love in progress’……….
Awesome Kate.
I’ve never been one to exercise. I’ve dabbled here and there, jogging, badminton, judo but it all seemed like too much effort for me! Since discovering Serge Benhayon, Universal Medicine and many of it’s practitioners I have developed a healthier relationship with my body and now enjoy gentle daily exercise.
Prior to this I had lived in a way that was very hard on my body and in 2013 I was diagnosed with osteoarthritis in my neck and spine. My GP recommended painkillers, anti-inflammatories and physio. We discussed that the pain will continue to get worse as I get older and I’ll have to just live with it.
I got in touch with Kate and immediately began practising, and still do the exercises she prescribed for me. What has also supported me is the understanding of how my body energetically works as presented by Serge.
It is now 2015 and I’m in less pain then ever.
The damage is there and will not go away, and yes this can cause dis-comfort and sometimes pain but because of my deepening commitment to love myself and my body and treat it with the gentleness it needs and deserves I have not needed to take anything stronger than a couple of panadol or neurofen!
I also began experimenting with foods and how my body felt after eating. I soon discovered that what tasted good in my mouth was not feeling so good when my body had to try and digest it!
Over time I’ve chosen not to eat gluten, dairy and am in the process of cutting out sugar, all of which contribute to the overall feelings of well being and vitality in my life.
Thank you for this insight in your workout development! I know this way of hardening whilst doing any kind of sports. It always gave me such of feeling of strength. Changing the whole way how I exercise feels so much better than before- I really don t miss the muscle ache and the pushing. Understanding now, that strength comes not from muscles and how far I can go but from me being the woman I am in full.
Great down to earth blog Kate. I really never liked exercise in any form really but I played rugby so at the start of each season I used to go out and pound the pavement or should I say it used to pound me. i used to hate putting myself through this but had to, to obtain a level of fitness and hardness to be able to go out and play that brutal game. By being introduced to a more gentle and flowing exercise has done me wonders as it is definitely something even I can enjoy.
I too used to push myself to train harder at the gym, to the point that I felt sick in my stomach. To me that was a good sign back then, as I felt i was getting stronger and healthier – crazy! Since being introduced to Universal Medicine and Serge Benhayon, I have learnt to honour my body more and exercise in a way that supports me for how I feel, and let go of any ideals of what a healthy body should look like. I now enjoy great vitality and connection with my own body.
Thank you Kate for your honest and tender sharing. My past experience around exercise is very similar to yours. Having being an athlete, pushing and pounding was the norm and it wasn’t even questioned despite the clear messages my body was giving me. However, since my meeting with the Universal Medicine teachings, I too learned to exercise in a way that honours my body and allows me to keep enjoying its tenderness and fluidity. And the difference in how I feel is amazing.
I was an exercise junkie growing up and would push my body to run harder, lift bigger weights and push myself to exhaustion with every sporting activity I took part in. I know that I was incapable of feeling how my body moved and there was no enjoyment and I definitely did not feel vital.
Since I have been doing gentle exercise mainly walking it is wonderful to feel how my body moves, gently and fluidly and with so much joy.
I had that same contrast you describe Kate. I’d done a gentle, stretching workout at home that naturally moved into some light aerobic moves in line with how my body was feeling that morning. I then drove off for an appointment, my body feeling alert and vital and I passed a jogger slowly dragging their feet along the pavement in exhaustion, red-faced and looking anything but joy-full. Pained would be a better description. The contrast in our two states of being was remarkabe and I reflected on how beliefs around exercise have become so intertwined with purpose, goals and achievement rather than simply working with what is there, how you feel and what level of activity fits where you are at, The body is not a machine.
Kate, it is lovely how you remind me how I felt in my body as a child, it was alive and joyful, light and vital in all its movements. And this way of feeling my body is returning slowly while I am rediscovering the gentleness of my body when being present with it. I will never return to the hardness I turned my body in to, in the time between my youth and now. I am rediscovering the exquisite tenderness of my body that I know my body truly is and as I have experienced it in my youth.
‘ your body’s vitality gradually comes back as you live more gently in it’. How lovely to be reminded that we live in our bodies, and that the quality that we are as we live in them really matters to them.
That feels so lovely, Catherine, exercising gently in the rhythm of the body and with this we feel the vitality return.
After several basketball injuries in my teens and early 20s I stopped exercising and have had an up and down ride with my weight ever since. Introducing a gentle and light way to exercise has helped me overcome the heaviness I used to feel about exercising and now I enjoy myself and my body feels great and I experience a greater vitality as a result.
Feeling today how this applies to all of our activity, the energy of drive and push or tenderness that can be in the simplest of tasks.
” I now choose exercise that is gentle and flowing rather than pushing and pounding.” me too Kate. Gone are the days when I used to push myself and then feel bad that I hadn’t pushed myself hard enough. Gentle and flowing – and fun – for me from now on.
Thank you Kate I can relate to so much that are saying here. The difference between pounding and pushing and being gentle in the very same activities is phenomenal. I have been doing gentle exercises for myself nearly every morning for several years, inspired by yourself, Chris James, Vicky Geary and latterly Danielle Pereira. These really set me up for the day and insure that the energy I start my day with is of that gentle quality. For the last few years I have also been sharing these in classes and everyone loves doing them.
This blog makes a lot of sense and having read a few blogs now on gentle exercise it makes me wonder why I have yet to pick back up my exercise with a sense of renewed intention. The question that then arises is that – you are aware of how to exercise gently so why not enjoy it? What’s in the way of me choosing to enjoy that flow and moment in my body that I know I can choose to experience? Nothing really other than my choice to do such. So if that regard there is nothing stopping me…cool
Gorgeous feeling how you enjoy the flow and movement of your own body Kate. I love it too when I feel that rhythmical movement where there feels to be no start or end of any one ‘movement’ but simply the continuous flow.
Hi Danielle, when you say “your body’s vitality gradually comes back as you live more gently in it” it feels so powerful! I used to think that the Tai Ji and Alexander Technique I practised and taught were the gentle options, but have come to realise through my experience of being a student of Universal Medicine and watching Serge move, that how he inhabits and expresses with his body is truly gentle, vital, and harmonious, whereas the above two “Techniques” are merely techniques, and actually imposed from an outside source.
I have been exercising in a much more gentle style the last couple of years and my body feels much lighter and I get that feeling of flowing when I move. I now live at the top of a really steep hill, when I walk home I am conscious not to push myself and to keep my breath gentle and to breath through my nose. I am now at a point where I literally feel like I glide up it, never a strain or a chore, In fact a joy.
Great sharing here Kate on how we not have to be hard with our selves and bodies, but instead can be gentle and loving with our selves, and exercise honouring what our body is telling us at that moment.
A great article Kate. I too am learning to feel the hardness in my body when I try and push myself and then feel the flow in my movements when I exercise gently and rest when my body tells me.
I love this Kate thank you for sharing all about exercise and the loving gentle way it can be and from that what true vitality and health is. Learning from Serge Benhayon also to be able to feel and start to release the hardness in my body, building a loving way of living and being and a relationship with my body with the great suport from you also is amazing. I am starting to feel a real flow in my body and how I am living and feel younger than I have ever felt before in my body since I was a child.
Tricia, it reminds me of how my body felt as the child – so light, fluid, flexible, skipping all the time and joyfully riding my white bicycle. No pushing and pounding as I naturally stopped when I was tired.
It is absolutely lovely to get back to exercising for fun. I remember feeling the whole body difference from dropping the no pain no gain attitude and concentrating on listening to my body. The truth is every sit up or movement becomes a solid and flowing almost expression like action. It’s amazing. When I used to work with Pt’s they would always talk about quality over quantity but then when left to my own devices it was always a competition in a gym, lift more, do more, be faster…interesting to observe this. Anyway through reconnecting to my true expression and my body has totally helped me let go of the tension when exercising, to remember to breathe and boy am I fitter than ever before. Having the body I always dreamed of…
This is such fun to read, you can feel the joy and playfulness you have reconnected to and in doing so your body has found it’s natural rhythm and it’s true shape and form for you. Way to go!
Brilliant Kate thank you for so clearly defining the difference to pounding exercise driven by an unsatisfiable need to be better and to exercising to enjoy ourselves and to feel the flow of the body and honour it’s natural rhythm- very inspiring.
It is so obvious to me when I start my morning exercises whether I am coming to them for the joy of feeling how my body moves, or using them as a tool to gain an end. The first allows me to move freely and fluidly and notice places that are tense or holding without judgment, but the second feels strained and hard and ends up with me feeling tighter. My sessions with you have contributed in a big way to this Kate, thank you.
I am really inspired by this, Kate. I have gone through a very similar journey with exercise, from the weights to yoga, to nothing at all, and now and back to weights and exercise but in a very loving way. The way I exercise now has had the outcome removed from it, and this was what was making my body go hard. With weights it was always about “one more” or exercising a body part to exhaustion, in order to be more muscular. With yoga it was all about stretching a bit further, or doing a more advanced form of a pose, again in order to achieve a goal of an ideal of fitness or physique. Now I try to exercise for how it feels not what it will do for me, and it has made a huge difference in how I feel in my body!
I know the way I exercise and move has a big impact on me too, it’s so lovely to re-discover the fun in exercise and not make it a purely outcome driven affair.
The old saying ‘no pain no gain’ is one I remember so well, but reading your blog what came to me was the ‘keep it simple’ ‘listen to the body’ and gently exercise as you feel to. What works for one will not be right for another so really connect with the body and feel.
Thank you for this blog Kate. Greatly supportive. I too pushed myself to the limit with exercise and felt it wasn’t worth doing unless there was some pain involved. If my legs and arms didn’t ache I felt I hadn’t pushed myself enough and would go back the next day and push harder. It feels so disregarding and harmful today writing this. Now I exercise gently and as you so lovingly express enjoying and connecting to the natural flowing movement of the body. I also have more energy and feel more vital than ever before.
Just recently I have noticed how I have been exercising to get rid of a pain or an ache or to try and work through a bit of hardness in my body. I have realised that by doing this I still have some sort of agenda to my exercise rather than just enjoying and feeling my body as I do each movement. I am going to observe this over the coming weeks, I may not be exercising and pounding like the runners you talk about Kate but the more I listen to my body the more I can feel that hardness can creep if I have any thoughts as to why I am exercising.
Thank you Kate. It is great to read and feel that there can be another way to exercise. This is true support for those, like myself, who have been put off exercising regularly.
Similar to what Kate shared here, I have noticed lately that whenever I move in a harsh or forced way (especially at work when I am trying to get a job done and not in my own rhythm of my body) I inevitably bump into something, trip, scratch, or cut myself. This has not always been the case, but now that I am focusing more on moving gently and in tune with what my body is asking for, it’s like my body is ‘talking back’ to me when I don’t move with it, but push it with my mind leading the way. What a cool two-way communication we have available, even if it hurts sometimes!
Michael that’s very true when I get into a rush to sort things out or get somewhere fast I do notice that I bump into things a lot more – including reversing my car into a corner post of a wall when I was in a rush trying to get out of a garage before a long drive home one evening.
From Kate’s article and all the comments I find true inspiration on how to go forward in a different way.
Many times I, or people I know, have ‘tried’ something different but without changing HOW we MOVE or the drive behind it which believes in over riding our body!
I too am now learning to change HOW and WHY I go about everything…and I can feel how this gentler way is bringing me back to myself and back to true health and vitality.
Thank you for sharing this Kate. I too have been working on learning to exercise more gently and have found how easy it is to slip into past patterns of pushing myself rather than just flowing. The great thing is that my body feeds back to me what I am doing so this is gradually becoming a less frequent problem. I am loving my new relationship with walking and feeling my body as I walk instead of thinking.
Hi Kate, loved your blog. I used to drive to the swimming pool, swim 40 laps, get dressed and drive back to work in my one hour lunch break. Everyone in the pool did the same thing and I remember being annoyed at the ones who just wanted to poottle along like a snail, as though they had all the time in the world. I can see now that I had a picture in my head of what it meant to be fit, healthy and thin. And the only way I could obtain and keep that picture was to push myself but I found the goal post kept moving. My exercise regime felt more like self torture with zero enjoyment, something I had to endure.
Now because I have a different way at looking at exercise and no longer push myself, I can feel if my body likes it or not.
Hearing on the radio about a woman in the UK who has completed 53 marathons in as many days, raising money for a charity, gave me pause to stop and feel how much my feelings around exercise have changed. I felt really shocked at hearing this radio piece and it sounded as if she had completely numbed off to what her body was signalling to her. I re-considered and thought how I have done this to myself over the years also, numbing to what my body was trying to tell me, not with extreme exercise, but with other unhealthy ways. Recently I have begun a new gentle exercise programme and am enjoying starting from feeling me and my body and how it wishes to move before I even contemplate the actual movement. No more pushing, striving to achieve and get it done, but enjoying the moment. In the old gym days I would just try to distract myself from what I was feeling in order to finish the tasks and get out of there!
Spot on Kate. This is a conversation we need to have about exercise, especially as the current trend seems to be for more and more extreme intensity exercise at the moment. As an ex elite athlete and a Physiotherapist I can vouch for the fact that pushing your body into submission and making it harden does not work. We need to stop dragging our bodies around behind us as our bodies try to keep up with whatever we put them through or whatever we put in our bodies next and we need to start working WITH our bodies and deeply listening to the messages and the wisdom that is naturally there.
Well said, Andrew. Feeling our bodies and working WITH them makes so much more sense than driving them with a mental ideal of what we would like to achieve. Our bodies may require a different form of exercise depending on the day, so it is important to listen as you say.
I used to run, and found it completely addictive, in pretty much the same way as alcohol. I couldn’t feel the hardness back then, and relished the ‘push’ because of the addiction/the ‘buzz’, but now I can’t even fathom how I put myself through it, or why. It’s great to hear that you found that the answer to the abusive way that many of us have exercised wasn’t just to stop exercising, but that there is a different way.
I notice that too Carmel, especially the unnatural way that they hold their bodies as they run.
‘a simple enjoyment of my body’s natural way of moving’ I love this, it’s a great reminder of how exercise can be. As I gently walk my local streets, I can feel the hardness of the ladies who run past me, their faces set with determination.
I’ve just re-read your article Kate and realise that I can push through and get hard in my body doing other things like work tasks or house chores. Sometimes the physical signals are not as obvious as when I exercise, but I’m beginning to notice the subtle changes that start to occur when I’m doing more than my body can handle. My shoulder starts to feel tense and sometimes my back aches and I get hunched over. I am listening more and will now take breaks from work activities and have a rest before continuing.
I can relate to what you have written Debra, it brings awareness to me that I too ‘can push through and get hard in my body doing things like work tasks or house chores.’ Recently I was sweeping the stairs at work and bending over in such a way that my back was hurting, so instead I sat on the stairs and swept them, it felt so loving to listen to my body and give myself permission to take the time to change how I was working and to instead support my body.
I loved reading this Kate, how refreshing to see and feel the enjoyment that exercise can bring when we let go of all that trying, pushing and driving!
Hi Kate, I have just revisited this lovely article again and it struck me how often in the past when I was pushing hard, I pretended I was enjoying the exercise when in fact I was not enjoying it at all – I only enjoyed the relief it gave me and the sense of achievement at finishing. Now I am beginning to feel joy throughout my exercise simply by listening to how my body feels, the way it moves with fluidity and the feeling of ease I get from not pushing too hard. It reminds me of the joy I experience when I was a child moving freely and uninhibited.
Thank you for that thought Jane, I hadn’t stopped to remember the joy of movement as a child, which had a flow and a freedom to it that I let go of somewhere along the way.
The way I’m exercising is still unfolding. By listening to my body more, it varies how much and what I do on a daily basis. It can be a gentle walk around my garden appreciating the flowers ( and weeds!) for 5 minutes one day to a longer walk at a moderate pace across the fields for an hour on another. It can be a few minutes of exercises and stretches on a mat in the mornings to a longer work out with light weights and some abdominal training on another. I’m loving listening to what my body lets me know it wants to do.
Hi Kate. I am just starting to look into exercising more. I was testing out some weights in the shop, and I had over-done it. Just in that short time one of my arms the next day was really achey, so I understand what you mean by doing it gently.
Great article Kate, I’ve always had the approach to “put off” exercise as much as possible. Yet when I do exercise I feel so much better in myself. It’s really helpful to see the difference between approaching exercise as a “Must Do” instead of simply a way of supporting my body with what it needs – time to start a new relationship with exercise.
It’s great to look at the beliefs we have around exercise and how this actually impacts our body. I have also been learning to exercise without pushing or putting stress on my body and I am loving how it feels. Exercising has become a joy not a chore.
Being gentle with myself is fairly new, but it feels great in my body. I used to be very hard on myself and had a punishing fitness routine. I was very driven and just wanted to look a certain way, but I never paid much attention to how my body felt. I have recently dropped doing press ups from my exercise routine. I just can’t do them anymore as they feel like I’m putting a real strain on my body. It’s lovely to find different ways to do things that respect how my body feels now. I like where you write ‘it’s a love in progress.’ I feel that about my journey as well.
This is beautiful Debra, that you have been able to stop doing press ups as you could feel the negative impact on your body – all from being more gentle with yourself. This is very very inspiring. Thank you for sharing.
I love reading your blog again Kate, and everyone’s comments of how we are changing the way we exercise. And it continues to unfold; as I connect more to my exercise, it keeps my connection more throughout my day.
This is a wonderful article Kate, thank you, I can really feel the difference between the “gentle and flowing” exercise that you write about and the “pounding and pushing” exercise. I used to ride mountain bikes very hard and push my body into extreme yoga positions as I thought this was “good” for my body, I have felt since that actually my body doesn’t feel great with this type of exercise, I now love to walk and my body responds well to this, it doesn’t feel achy or hard.
I love “the simple enjoyment of my body’s natural way of moving”. I have found that so difficult to feel after years of ballet, mime, Tai Ji, and the Alexander Technique, all “techniques” imposed from the outside rather than feel the natural impulse to move freely from within. Slowly, slowly, since meeting Serge Benhayon and you, Kate, I am starting to feel when that happens, and as you say it is such a relief. Thank you for the reminder to always choose not to push, harden, or pound, but to feel that joyful, easy, natural rhythm within my body and then move. My body just loves it when I do.
Thank you Kate for presenting a real alternative to the punishing and unsupportive regimes that are misleadingly branded as keeping fit and healthy.
Thank you Kate, I am currently re-imprinting my relationship with exercise to a gentler more considerate way and it is great to feel the support of your experiences.
So true, Kathie and Kate. The difference I feel now with the exercises I do is that I’m supporting my body in the physical place it’s at today. No comparison with what someone else can do or what I’ve done previously. This is today, and this is what I feel I want to do NOW. It’s simple, it flows and it’s fun.
Love these comments. I am too working on breaking up any ideals of sequences of exercises, time spent exercising and learning to tune with what really will support me, instead of pushing myself hard.
Kate I have just found your article, so refreshing after hearing all the sports reporting around the various competitions extolling what seems like the destruction of the participants’ bodies.
Recently I have realised that the ‘use it or lose it’ becomes ‘abuse it and lose it’ with the ‘wrong’ type of exercise, undertaken in the ‘wrong’ energy. I am amazed at what a difference gentle exercise can make, and had a timely reminder recently when back to pain free walking I abandoned the gentle exercises and the pain returned. The old belief system would have me committed to hour long work outs at the gym at least 3 times a week with increased number of reps and weights. With the support of an esoteric inspired physio all that is being asked of me right now is tor return to 5 minutes of exercises morning and night paying attention to the effect in my body. Already I can feel the difference in my body as I start to enjoy the gentle flow.
Hi Kate. Love the blog, your writing is great and very easy to read. It truly is ‘a love in progress’.
Hi Kate, I just loved re-reading your blog again. I can so much relate to it, I too went to extremes: having pushed my body through with running and then stopping exercising completely. None of these work. I am now experimenting again with exercises. I love the part ‘your body’s vitality gradually comes back as you live more gently in it.’
Loved re-reading your blog again Kate, your words… “So over the last few years I have rekindled my appreciation of the natural flowing movement in my body when I walk, swim or do some light weights. As soon as I go back into the old way ……’I must do three more bicep curls ‘ it’s as if another five kg are loaded on my arm and my body goes hard.” This is so true and when we listen to our body it speaks loud and clear. I have been doing gentle stretches and exercises and swimming over the last 18 months and I love how my body feels after this. No pushing no trying just enjoying being with my body.
Thanks Kate, after years of ballet training it is wonderful to be learning to enjoy moving my body with connection and love . My body loves it
I love how you described the lightness and flowing of your body as a young girl. It brought back memories of how I felt when I was playing as a young girl, so light and full of bounce.
‘Love in progress’, beautiful Kate. I am reconnecting with exercise again, and so enjoyed how your words flowed like the exercise you describe.
I have never been a big fan of gyms. I used to love and did lot of sports – mainly to compete and I would push myself even beyond my ability! But those days are gone. I now love my gentle morning exercises on a soft, bouncy, thick (15mm) mat with pillows and blankets and light weights in the comfort of my own warm home 🙂 I find stretching extremely powerful yet many will dismiss it as sissy and not ‘strong’ enough.
Very infrequently I’d go to my local (lovely) brand new gym. But even there I just do my own ‘style’ stretches and exercises and I do get looks as if to say: What on earth is she doing with those machines 😉 At times it’s almost as if people get irritated when I am next to them on a treadmill and am walking fast enough (not to their standards) but not getting breathless or covered in sweat. I don’t mind. I just do whatever feels right for me. As you say Kate, I too remember clearly doing the same thing as a child with joy and fun – half hanging off living room sofa or putting my legs up a wall, climbing up our basketball post, skipping, hanging off my cherry tree….aaah, those were some lovely moments.
I live in a very leafy area of London and on my early morning walks I encounter many joggers. I am yet to come across one who is smiling, genuinely looks happy to be running and doesn’t look like they are jogging for punishment!
Youv’e just reminded me of my own childhood in the country Dragana, the fun of climbing (trees, walls, drainpipes), handstands, gambolling,hopscotch. Impromtue games of rounders, just for the joy of it, we didn’t care who won. As you say, I rarely see a jogger who smiles, or has the breath to say hello. They really are punishing their bodies
Hi Kate I can so relate to pushing through, to doing that little bit more.I used to run, but never really liked it, i thought it would help me, that all the aches and pains in my body were because I didn’t look after my body so exercise would help alleviate it. My knees always hurt when I ran but I would try to keep going thinking it would get easier…it never did. I wasn’t looking after my body, but running was not the answer as all it did was compound the problem. Only through Universal Medicine have I understood what it is like to truly look after the body.
Thankyou Kate !
Hi Kate, I was surprised when you said you are in your late 40′s…I would have said much younger!
You know, I don’t see many runners with smiles on their faces. A year ago my 34 year old son was running 10km three or four times a week. I asked him if he enjoyed it and he said he enjoyed the first kilometre. I then asked why he didn’t stop then and he said, “but I’ve got to break my record”. I asked why…but he didn’t have an answer.
I notice he’s not doing it any more.
Gorgeous Rod simple truths bring light bulb moments.
I enjoyed what you have shared, Rod. It’s true you don’t see runners with smiles on their faces… normally when I see runners I observe stress, strain, pain, forcing and pushing to go against what the body is saying… which is to stop. It’s interesting to read that when you offered your son a point to reflect on he chose to feel a different way for his exercise routine.
Beautifully said Kate! There is such a difference between ‘punishing’ and true, naturally impulsed ‘enjoyment’. I remember many years ago when I used to do healing at the weekends (I was an academic during the week), I was listening to a client tell me about her regime of drinking water (tons and tons of it to ‘purify’ her body). As she spoke it dawned on me that she was employing this as a form of punishment (water torture!). And I used to see the punishing energy of people pounding along the road jogging. Little did I realise that I was doing exactly the same thing by living and entertaining myself continually in and by my mind, by pounding the piano for hours on end, and by doing doing doing. Talk about a hard, distorted body.
Thank you so much for your observation and work (‘love’!) with the body and for exposing the addictive nature of a consciousness that has to endlessly ‘try’ to keep itself alive and unwell!
Hi Kate, thanks for this. I loved your remembering how it was to move as a child and I remember that too. How beautiful to maintain that lightness as an adult.
I had an experience recently where I have begun an exercise routine and saw the difference that my way of doing can make. Most of the time I was thoroughly enjoying how my body felt as I worked with it. I got a buzz from the awakening of dormant tissues. I had no soreness but only felt more energy and ease but after a few practices I got a sharp pulled muscle sensation between my shoulder blades. When I reflected on it I saw that when I was doing the shoulder movements I had set a goal of getting rid of my kyphosis and had probably forgotten to feel my body in my ‘enthusiasm”. Since then the tightness has gone but I remember the message it sent and really stay with my sensations as I do that shoulder movement and let the results come when they will.
Awesome Kate, I can feel your dedication and Love to your body on top of a well rounded understanding of the human body, so you can know how to truly serve others, thank you Kate this is very inspiring to read, and I now understand why I always hated exercise so much, it was how I was doing it rather than the idea of exercise itself…
Your statement, ‘I am now in my late 40′s and I have way more vitality and joy in my body than I had in my late 20′s!’ certainly shows you have made the right decision regarding exercise and the way you have changed what you choose to do these days, Kate.