Move your Body Like the Elements

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SOLO

I’ve been moving my body for quite some time now. I would even argue that I came out of my mom running. I’ve always liked to move my body in tons of ways but somewhere along the line, I forgot that this was integral to my health. Growing up I was a competitive athlete; I moved fast and pushed harder every single day. I challenged my body to be the best, whatever that means anyways. At the time I was told the best had to perform at a high level, train every day, sweat every day, and feel the burn. The worst part, the adults that coached me to move and think like this had no idea what they were talking about. After years of learning how the body moves and wants to move, I’ve learned that there is no way of escaping mindset work. Yep, you heard me . . . our mind and body have a direct correlation to each other and we need both to learn new things, thought patterns, and ways of approaching our life. That saying I heard so many times when I first stepped on my yoga mat ‘practice on and off your mat’ now makes so much sense.

So, here’s the magic sauce I wish I had when I was first learning to move my body in new ways and develop new thought patterns to help me feel better, MAKE SURE YOU’RE MOVING LIKE ALL OF THE ELEMENTS; fire, water, earth, and air. For years I just moved my body like fire. I pushed mySelf to my limits, I never knew when enough was enough and I absolutely needed to feel the burn to feel like I was doing something. Sound familiar? These are all my cross-fitters out there, the ones who love HIIT classes and nothing else, the bodies who only enjoy the intensity, the ones who pride themSelves in their athletic ability, the hot power yogis; I see you, I’ve been there too. I wasn’t moving like water, ebbing and flowing and inviting less rigidity into my body. I didn’t move like earth and experience relaxation, I mean true full-body relaxation. I didn’t even know how to move mySelf like air, like what the heck does that even look like. I moved like fire in my body so I carried this into my thought patterns and how I approached real-life situations. I felt like everything had to be a struggle to feel gain. I felt like everything in my life from work to relationships had to be hard to eventually feel good. See how this can get sticky, I always needed to feel like I was moving through the mud to get to the other side … not healthy. I wasn’t even able to see what was right in front of me because I was already on to push harder the next day.

It took me some time to teach my body new tricks and ways of moving but holy was it worth it. I now move my body like fire to teach my body and mind that I can do hard things. Feeling this in our bodies then radiates perseverance and determination off the mat. I move my body like water, flowy, and intuitive to teach my body that life is forever ebbing and flowing and it’s fun to paint outside the lines. Moving your body in this way teaches you how to go with the flow a little more in life because as we know change is the only constant and it’s about learning to ride those waves. What better way to learn to ride the waves then through movement and doing something fun. I now move my body in an earthly fashion to teach my mind that it is safe to land. I would argue that in our society today that moving our bodies in this way is the most important. Teaching ourSelves that it is safe to just be and do nothing for a moment in a world where we all move too quickly. And last but surely not least, I move my body like air. Air is kind of like an etch a sketch, when you shake it’s like a full-body + mind reset. This allows us to learn to not get caught in the rat race that is our mind and to drop back down and trust our bodies. Wild am I right? Now, how the heck do we start to do this?

For a moment you may think but that’s so much to do. I thought that too. But think about how much mental space you will create by teaching your body to move in all of the ways. Think about how much mind/body freedom exists on the other side of these movement shifts. You deserve to try. SO here are a few ideas to get your juices going to move your body in new ways → note that there are no rules here so feel free to get as creative as you wish . . .

• Fire

  • HIIT Classes 

  • Strength Training 

  • Boxing 

  • Traditional sports: hockey, soccer, rugby, football, etc 

  • Power or Sculpt Yoga

• Water 

  • Dance 

  • Zumba 

  • Swimming 

  • Zip-lining 

  • Yoga Flow 

• Earth 

  • Stretching 

  • Yin Yoga 

  • Gentle movements, close to the ground 

  • Walking - even better barefoot

  • Biking 

• Air 

  • Meditation 

  • Fresh air + nature 

  • Breathwork (pranayama)

  • 3-5 deep belly breaths 

  • Play 

These are just some of the MANY ways to move your body with the elements. It doesn’t need to be fancy, it doesn’t need to be an hour-long class but your body and mind do need all elements to grow, learn, and evolve. 

At first, moving my body in a way I wasn’t accustomed to was weird. I felt awkward, I felt less than because my inner dialogue told me I was doing it wrong. But once I dropped my ego, chose mySelf first, and decided to do the damn thing anyway, my body softened, I opened up and actually leaned into the fun of doing something different and new. As you dive into your multi-movement practice remember these 3 things: 

• Fun and enjoyment are a priority, I mean I know in a fire workout you will be cursing at moments but overall the experience should feel right 

• Movement or stillness is not a punishment, it is always to be used to care for your whole Self 

• You make your own rules. A movement session can be as long or as short as you desire. Your body gets to decide. 

There is an integral connection between our relationship between our body and our mind that we need to send some love to and this is how we start nourishing both. Happy embodying the elements, have fun with it!

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