The power of “just having a go”
Gill and I were discussing how much work, but also how much fun it has been to create our new Movements for Life course. One of our earliest goals in designing the course was to help people change old narratives they might be telling themselves about their bodies and their capabilities.
A phrase that we hear all the time is, ‘I feel like I finally have permission to move’, or ‘permission to challenge my body’. Something happens when we grow up; we stop interacting with the world around us in all the ways we used to. We become more cautious, start avoiding certain movements and our physical world gets smaller.
Our physical existence becomes very narrow, even if we exercise or run regularly. This aligns with the concept of physical literacy, it’s more than just fitness, it’s about the evolving relationship between our body, our beliefs and our capability to do things in the physical environment.
Sometimes, when you put ideas out into the world, you have no idea who's reading them or whether they're making any difference at all.
This week, though, the stars seemed to align. We were flooded with messages from people who have taken part in our courses over the last few years.
I'll admit it feels a little uncomfortable blowing our own trumpet, but these messages aren't really about us. They're about what's possible when we begin to see ourselves differently. If reading them helps you else take the first step on your own movement journey, then they're worth sharing.
These are just a few of the messages we received, and we’re so grateful to read them.
"From 'I probably can't' to 'I probably can'."
"It seems I have spent a lot of time in recent years not allowing myself to do things that feel too hard or that I might find difficult, like getting down on the ground or picking up heavy things.
Obviously, I haven't become stronger or more flexible as a result of doing a couple of warm-ups and movement breaks each week (not even that in the heat!). And yet something has shifted. I am moving back to 'I probably can' and it is bringing some great feelings with it."
‘I went round the garden looking for heavy things to lift and found a large plant pot that I couldn't lift. On Wednesday, after watching the video on lifting heavy objects, I tried again and of course I could.’
"All these years saying, 'I can't really swim,' but now I can! What else can we give ourselves permission to do?"
"What is suddenly so clear to me today is how differently I feel in my body and how much more confident I am to use it to its full capacity (which is a greater capacity than it was this time last year!). I think maybe I used to subconsciously associate trying hard physical things with failure or injury. What I've noticed, especially today with all the big furniture needing to be lugged around, is that I just feel like, 'I'll have a go.' I start with a baseline assumption that I can do anything and work from there."
“With the help of a tall ladder, I climbed into the ceiling with a torch in one hand and a huge basin under my arm. Due to the limited space, I had to crouch and do a lot of bum-shifting along the rafters, being careful not to drop the basin and torch or put my feet on the ceiling boards for fear of falling through. I managed to get the basin in place and bum-shuffled along the beams back to the opening and down the ladder. The next day, I went up to check on the leak and discovered that the basin was near to overflowing, so I had to get a jug and bum-shuffled back and forth from the basin across the rafters, making sure that I did not spill water on the way. My husband was waiting at the top of the ladder to empty the jug. In all, I made ten crossings.
There has now been a break in the weather, and hopefully the roofers will be coming to fix the leak tomorrow. I will be doing one more ceiling crawl to retrieve the basin. I have thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience and hope to keep doing this sort of thing for many years to come. I am almost 70, and adventures like this remind me just how much I want to stay strong, capable, and curious.”
So here's a question for this week:
What could you have a go at?
It doesn't have to be big or impressive. Just one small thing that nudges your world a little wider. You might surprise yourself.
