Welcome to Day 3 of the movement portion of our New Year’s Phase 1 Challenge. Today, we focus our attention on mobility.
Today’s post is going to be short and sweet because, here’s the truth – I am not the expert on this topic. Rather, I am just like many of you out there who struggle to regularly practice those exercises that support the general strength and mobility of the body.
The problem is that this type of exercise just isn’t that exciting. It doesn’t give us that endorphin boost that a good strength or cardio workout does, we don’t make fast or obvious gains, and the exercises are often slow and uncomfortable.
Nevertheless, this portion of movement is essential to creating a body that can move freely without injury. Moreover, I have found incredible mental benefit to a devoted mobility routine as it provides a great opportunity to get in tune with my body as I relax away from mental clutter. Bonus: it makes for a good practice in discipline.
Remember back to our first practice where we identified short periods of time that we could devote to our movement practice. I want you to pick one of these time periods, just 5-10 minutes, that you can work with every single day.
Really, just give yourself five minutes as you build the foundation for this practice. Then, once this is established, you can think about expanding out that time frame.
My own practice – 8:00. Every night when 8:00 roles around, I put all of my work away and focus on slowing down with a mobility practice. Sometimes, that means going all in – taking out the yoga mat, putting on calming music, and setting an intention for a devoted practice.
Other nights it means plopping down on the floor and breathing through these exercises that I just want to get through.
Either way, I show up for myself. I now ask that you do the same for yourself.
So, what exactly is the practice?
What I am going to do is give you several options for practices that you can pick up that each serves the same general purpose: getting in tune with your body as you stretch and move, building strength and mobility into your tissues. Pick the option that sounds best to you. If you struggle with it, keep going. Working through the struggle is what leads to improvement.
If you really, truly struggle to accomplish the practice, then simply pick another option. This is all about what works for you!
Option 1
The first option is picking up a yoga practice. This could be a full practice, maybe even at a studio. Or, it could mean buying a membership to an online yoga platform (Gaia, Yoga International). Or, it could mean browsing through free YouTube videos or creating your own practice.
Whatever works best for you is your best option at this time.
My own preference is the full version at a yoga studio. It has been difficult, if not impossible, to replicate the incredible feelings experienced after a full yoga practice with an expert teacher.
And yet, my current practice does not involve the studio and is instead short and simple in my own living room. I simply create my own short sun-salutation routine, stringing together a handful of poses while occasionally looking up other poses to throw in for some variety.
It isn’t remotely exciting. But I get to use my pretty yoga mat and, most importantly, I get to be in tune with my body as I work on improvement.
Option 2
A second option is a devoted mobility practice. As I am just a wee beginner with this, I am going to send you straight off to two different mobility experts who have helped me establish my own mobility practices (note, I have no financial – nor any other – tie to these programs. I am simply an individual who has benefited from their expertise and wish to share).
The Ready State – when it comes to mobility, Kelly Starret is the man. He has built an incredible vault of videos that can answer any question you may have and address any issue you could speak of. The Ready State provides monthly memberships, so it’s a great option if you want to get started without putting much money down.
Jen Esquer and The Mobility Method – Jen is a brilliant human being who is fun to learn from. Her Mobility Method comes with a one-time payment and access to her structured method of identifying exactly what you need to work on and how to do so. It’s a great option if you’re ready to put some money down and work through specific problems.
My hope for you this week is that you can pick just one option and give yourself permission to do it every single day (or, at least, several days a week). The first several days may be a struggle, but I promise that if you can get your routine going, this becomes an easy, pleasant task that you get to tune into each day.