RE: Fitness Skills
When I took action on my vision for Me Skills, I made a large list of potential skills I want to create invitations for. Invitations for me and for others.
Self Love Skills, Mindset Skills, Abundance Skills, Connection Skills, Regulation Skills… well, it’s a big list of good stuff.
What I didn’t get immediately excited to add to the list, but knew had to be there, were things like Financial Skills, Health Skills – and ugh – Fitness Skills.
Resistance to taking care of my physical body has always been big, so I understand why I didn’t feel jazzed about addressing these skills. Jazzed or not though, I will do it because our mental, emotional and spiritual skills are intertwined with what’s happening in our bodies.
I’ve got resistance to financial skills as well and I’d like to say I have less now than ten years ago but honestly, there’s been a resurgence of avoidance for me in this area – and yeah, maybe because it’s tax season.
I want Me Skills to be an invitation to stretch and try new skills that help us create better lives. My life is better when I’m not ignoring these areas so I do look forward to exploring ways to boost my skills in all of them.
Leaning into Fitness Skills
A knee injury from eight years ago has been an intermittent problem for my mobility and the doctor sent me to physical therapy. Woohoo for an invitation! I’m not going to lie, there was a lot of resistance and fear about going.
The first appointment was not as scary as I expected and I left with a few simple exercises to tackle daily. Simple yes. Easy no. My PT guy emphasized the important of using both sides of my body equally, even though it hurt more on one side. This one instruction overshadowed the next week of my life LOL! I was so used to babying my injury, I was overcompensating with other areas of my body and had been doing so for a long time. Following his advice felt like a huge effort.
In the second appointment, I learned that my babying/overcompensating had caused the muscles on my injured leg to get so tight and inflexible that I’d need to work on restoring them. So new exercises were added.
As I get up and down off the floor to do my PT work, especially this morning, I noticed that forcing myself to use the opposite side of my body in ways I avoided for years was easier. I didn’t have to think so hard about every movement. I felt amazement about how soon my body could begin to adapt. It wasn’t comfortable. There was pain. But I could do it.
Woohoo for the invitation my doctor created and wahooo for me following through!
Insights That Flow Elsewhere
This experience echoes in other areas of my self-development. Just like my body experienced injuries it learned to compensate for, the same it true of my brain and my emotions. I’ve learned to do things a certain way to protect myself. Working with a coach over the years feels a lot like working with my PT LOL! They’ve helped me see how I compensate and what the unexpected downsides are. They invite me to try something new.
There are a lot of situations where I try something new and it is so awkward. I feels weird and insecure – yet when I practice it again and again, I can do it easier.
Asking for help. Speaking my mind. Saying no when I don’t want to do something. These were all soo dang hard to do at one point! Today I do them with much more ease, but not always without pain or an element of fear.
PT isn’t an instant potatoes solution. Neither is self-development. Both have incremental and surprisingly powerful impact 🥰
How about you? Are there areas of personal life skill you feel resistance about? Maybe you’ll get a fresh invitation to lean in soon 😉