Do you ever blame how you feel on your age?

My husband came home from his first “Daddy daughter” dance practice of 2023 with my daughter and said, “There is a lot of up and down in the dance and I was really feeling my old man knees”! My response, “Oh so what you’re saying is that dance practice is giving you an opportunity to strengthen your muscles and support your knees so they feel better?” He smiled and said, “yes that’s exactly what I’m saying!”

You see, he absolutely knows that actions like squatting and lunging and knee bends are exactly what helps his leg muscles stay strong and exactly what usually helps his knees feel better if they are feeling aching or sore, but out of habit fell into the mindset of deciding to choose to think that his uncomfortable knees were just a product of aging. His discomfort wasn’t because he was old…it was because he hadn’t been moving his body in ways that kept his knees happy lately!

Do you ever find yourself blaming how your body feels on aging? Have you found any benefit into thinking that way? (I’m guessing you haven’t!!)

As a Pilates teacher and a movement coach I want to remind you that your thoughts about how your body feels and about your movement time are are just as important as the movement time! When clients first start with us one of the things they will notice is that not only are the learning how to move well in their body, they are also learning how to re-think movement, exercise and their body.

So often people don’t even realize the negative mindset they have around exercise or their body and they find it so refreshing to be in a space with people who remind them of what they are capable of!

I’m giving you homework this week! See if you can catch yourself blaming how your body is feeling on your age and try changing that thought to a slightly more positive one!

Try something like…”Oh that feeling is reminding me to be consistent in adding strength and mobility movements into my life…that’s a great reminder!” Try to avoid blaming your discomfort on your age and focus on things you can control!