In the past few months, all of us have experienced interruptions of one kind or another to our normal lives and established routines. It has been an unprecedented time of great uncertainty. In such times the first step is always to secure our personal safety for ourselves and for our families. But now, as the initial chaos and disruption caused by COVID-19 crisis is behind us, and our countries, cities and communities see a hopeful beginning of re-opening and reinventing of our workplaces and lives, it is time for our own personal renewal so that we can MO’ve forward. Renewal has several meanings. It can mean resuming an activity after an interruption. Or it can mean the re-establishment of a relationship.
Many of us we have lost access to our fitness facilities, group fitness classes and communities, which I must admit has been one of the most difficult aspects of this lock-down situation for me personally. Our normal routines and ways of getting active have not been an option for us. Both our relationships to each other and our relationship with our fitness have been significantly interrupted. While I await the happy day when we can return to teaching live group fitness classes and seeing the friends, co-workers and members I have missed connecting with over these past few months, something I know that will greatly benefit us now and when we return to our clubs and studios is renewing our commitment to our personal fitness and physical activity. I encourage you to take time to do this for yourself. Over the month of June, I am excited to provide you with ways to help you with this! To MO’tivate you to get started here are some of my key pieces of advice.
Respect and Re-assess where you are at. There is no better time than now, while you are still in quarantine and anticipating your return, when perhaps we cannot physically train others or do the training we normally do, to reassess our health and our habits. Until we connect with who we are and appreciate where we are, we will not be able to move forward. Be honest, avoid being judgemental, and most of all kind and compassionate with yourself.
Reconnect with your WHY. Knowing and reminding yourself WHY will be your compass and help keep you on the right path even if you are not quite certain where this path is taking you. It’s okay if you still feel lost right now (we all do), however, knowing WHY you are here in this adventure called ‘life’ will pave your path forward. When you know WHY the way will appear. In addition, connect your WHY with a greater vision for your health and fitness. How do you want to feel? Take time to reflect on, write down or journal about and refine your WHY and create a vision for yourself and your health and fitness. I guarantee this is one of the most powerful ways to MO’tivate yourself and start building MO’mentum towards the future version of yourself.
Re-connect with others. Affiliation with a community is one of the strongest ways to encourage commitment, consistency and perseverance in health and fitness activities. COVID-19 lock-down restrictions may have us feeling isolated and alone but we don’t have to be!!! Find new ways to connect virtually to keep you and your tribe engaged. Virtual ‘hangouts’, ‘rooms’, ‘fitness classes’ and ‘events’ are popping up everywhere and on every platform. We have had to pivot and innovate to make this happen and there has been much I have had to learn in the last couple of months in order to stay connected but it has all been worth it! Reach out to family, friends, your members and clients and check in with them to see what they are doing and if you can join them in some online fitness groups or activities. Or why not start your own group and activities? Be the leader and trailblazer! You could even organize going to an open space which allows for physical distancing where you can be physically active. If you are looking for a fun and MO’tivating way to connect and get more active than join the fitness activity challenge I’ve created for my community this month!
Discover or re-discover something new to learn. Learning a new sport or trying a new type of physical activity is both motivating and challenging. This will challenge you to get out of your comfort zone but in doing so you will grow, work different muscles and different parts of your brain, and it will break you out of any rut or slump you may have slipped into since this global crisis began. It is both motivating and necessary to switch up our fitness activities so we can get stronger and improve our health and fitness. Doing something different is fun and exciting and will increase your MO’tivation to get back into fitness. Or is a sport or activity that you really enjoyed doing some time ago but have not had time for in a while? While the world is still slowly recovering from the lock-down you still have time for trying new things or re-discovering old favourites. Have you tried any of my fitness videos on my website? Click here to access the video library. Or check out the online class schedule I have created for you to follow along and guide you to kick-start your recommitment to fitness here.
Wherever you are at this month I wish you well and hope you will accept the challenge and take time and opportunity to renew your commitment to fitness!
