Coming back to your body

With life, comes many waves and storms. Often during these tumultuous times looking after our body and it's needs can whither.

You may find yourself in a crisis, injury, your workload or family life overwhelming, the balance tipping us over the edge. This is where nutrition, rest, exercise and connecting with nature, community and creativity are often lost. As I fumble my way through a crisis, work overload and family overwhelm the balance has been lost. I have noticed a loss of appetite, a loss of creative motivation and a resistance to training and movement. For a while, it's like nothing can be done to change this, I simple have to ride the waves, be with the storms and ocean. I believe I am constantly present in my body. Which I know for many, is a foreign concept, most and constantly in the mind.

I have always been able to feel through my emotions, sometimes more violently and intensely than I would prefer. I am very spontaneous and reactive by nature. I find it impossible to plan ahead to the following day or week, let alone a five year life plan. A strategic game of Chess is always out of the question for me. I find it extremely challenging to keep contact with relationships abroad or simply friendships which are not in my day-to-day life. I fully live in the present. Of course, this can be a detriment too. I daydream off to the light and shadows which are cast from trees. I stop to smell the roses and get lost in the beauty of your face, or amazed by your articulation when you are speaking with me. I can feel my breath giving me life and when I drop in to a rare moment of meditation I can feel my entire body radiating and vibrating. Regardless, when neglect takes its course; it doesn't make it an easy ride back. Finding consistent training and exercise being the biggest challenge. I will always prioritise sleep and nature, but just like you, maintaining a consistent training routine a big f-off challenge. Yesterday I finally got my peach back into class, MetCon all off classes. I kept telling myself, 'I could just stay for one set, or maybe half the class'. That was how I convinced myself to go back to training after months away. I often get asked, 'how often do you train Shani?'. And when I respond most of you are shocked. I am not like some trainers who are fitness obsessed or who find sticking to regular exercise easy. Nope, I'm like the majority of the population, sticking to a routine is in the hardbasket. When I'm in flow I will train/exercise 2-3 times a week. Crazy huh? Many of our members show up 5-6 times, absolute legends and YES this is what we should and be giving ourselves.

We owe it to ourselves to feel the endorphins, to feel confident and capable of living life to its fullest. Our bodies deserve to feel strong and to stay strong as we age. This is the narrative I keep telling myself birds, willing myself back to training. I have just returned from back to back retreats, Morocco and Cornwall - 40 women wrapping their wings around each other, letting go, being looked after. Crying, laughing, learning, playing and simply being. For many of these women our lives ask a lot of us, too much, without the support from society and community we need. But life goes on, so we do our best to find community, to find support and to communicate our needs to those around us.

Our Fitbirds community has always been an environment which nurtures this, for me and for the birds in it - cooked meals, messages of support, hugs, conversations, flowers, childcare, the power of exercising together with music, dancing, laughing and crying. This is how community steps up when we need it. Whenever I write birds, I write from felt experience knowing that it will reach someone who needs to hear this. From sharing my miscarriage grief, to positive empowered birth stories. You've told me it hit the spot or supported your friend or a friend or a friend. So, in times our turbulence don't forget your community birds, don't make the gaps too big between looking after yourself; nutrition, rest, exercise and connecting with nature, community and creativity. I see this like glue, the glue which holds us together, individually and as a whole. See you in nest birds (because you're worth it) ;-) Shani x