Daily Movement Prompts, Sunday, February 12, 2017 edition: Planned or Accepted Rest
I always know that each day will either include movement (whether planned exercise or walking or class or going to a gym or meeting up with a partner or doing drills or rehearsals or stretches)… Or, it will be a day of rest and recovery.
When it’s not a movement day, I can find myself either planning a day of rest or learning to *accept* a day of rest. The challenge can be when my instinct is to be upset that it is a rest day. When planned, it often feels like a wise trainer in me saying, “These muscles need a day to recover. Good job on the hard work.” When unplanned, I find I have to be more gentle with myself so that old voices don’t get to have footing anymore. These are the old pressures about injury or body size or age or comparisons or society judgment.
When I have a day of rest and recovery that was unplanned, it can help me to remember rule number one from my classes, “No Pressure, No Shame.” There is no shame in having a day with less movement. What matters is that I encourage myself to take each day as it comes, live in the day, plan well, and act on my good plans. Finally, no beating myself up about changes in plans.
How will you move today? How will you encourage yourself? Could you use some support on a rest and recovery day?