How to Get Started with Joyful Movement in the New Year
Would you like to be a runner?
How about a CrossFit warrior?
A hiker?
A fit mom?
Maybe you have taken on one of these fitness identities in a past life, or aspire to be one in 2021.
But the barrage of exercise equipment and program advertisements around the New Year can stir up confusion and build more obstacles around exercise:
Indecision: There are so many options, which one is best for me?
Doubt: Am I fit enough to even try that exercise program with the super fit models?
Despair: How can I ever afford that $2000 Peloton or the new Tonal Smart Home Gym starting at $2,995?
Feel free to tune out the media, and let these questions help you tune in to what you really want, or more so, who you really are.
New Year, New You with Joyful Movement
It’s the beginning of the year, so you may feel super motivated to turn over a new leaf. The whole, “new year, new you” feels pretty appealing. Most of us want to get rid of everything 2020, including who we became.
Identity is actually the start of habit change according to the book Atomic Habits. The author depicts habit change as a series of circles, the innermost being identity, filled by processes, and finally, outcomes.
If you want to start a new fitness habit, you’ll need to dig deep and discover who you are, and let your fitness flow from your core identity.
The key to cementing a new habit is not to focus on what to do, but who you are.
This is the basis for joyful movement: feeling the pleasure of movement and choosing what benefits you.
But first, you have to know what benefits the core of you. Instead of choosing what kind of movement you want to do, first know who you are. And even more, who you are in Christ. Your identity in your Creator is the wellspring of life—where efforts never run out because you are drawing from the source of Your joy.
You are no just a runner or a soccer mom. What do you does not define you, but who you are in Christ:
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17
We are always becoming newer in Christ (2 Corin 4:16) so let us continue seeking how to abide in Him for more joyful movement.
Joyful Movement and Your New Years Word
Many people focus on one word for the New Year, based on how they want to grow. This word is usually born out of what is already in their heart, and how they want to focus on growing.
So, who are you already, and how do you want to grow this year? That is where you will find joyful movement. Some words could be:
Abide
Humility
Patience
Restoration
Faithfulness
Whatever speaks to your heart that you crave more of, go for that. You can search 1 Corinthians 13 for words on love, 2 Peter 1 for words on godliness, Ephesians 6 for words on godly armor, Galatians 5 for the fruit of the spirit that you’d like to cultivate.
How To Get Started with Joyful Movement
Now that you have given thanks for who you are in Christ and landed on an attribute you want to grow in this year, now you can focus on the how joyful movement can support the person you are becoming.
Answer the following questions:
1. My focus for this year is ______
2. The kind of person I want to be is _______
3. This type of joyful movement will reinforce who I am in Christ: _________
Here’s an example:
1. My focus for this year is abide.
2. The kind of person I want to be is present.
3. This type of joyful movement will reinforce who I am in Christ:
1. Regular movement to keep my mind active
2. Mindful movement to establish better mind-body connection
3. Adventurous movement that helps me be more engaged in creation
Now, choose specific movements that fit into your joyful category from question 3. A few fitting examples for the above situation would be Pilates, walking, yoga, dancing, hiking, biking, climbing, etc, as long as it is regularly accessible for everyday life to fit the “regular movement” requirement.
Go ahead and fill your questions in so you can get an idea of what would support your identity.
James Clear from Atomic Habits speaks to the impact of strengthening our integrity by doing what flows from who we are:
“When your behavior and your identity are fully aligned, you are no longer pursuing behavior change. You are simply acting like the type of person you already believe yourself to be.”
If you want to focus on being faithful this year, when choosing (or not choosing) exercise, you can ask yourself the question, “Is this what a faithful person in Christ would do?”
This way you can, in a sense, take a step back and see who want to be by asking what this kind of person would do. In all of these efforts, always assume you are a person “in Christ”, because without abiding in Him, you can do nothing:
“Remain in Me, and I will remain in you. Just as no branch can bear fruit by itself unless it remains in the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me.” John 15: 4
Hold fast to Him, and His joy will naturally overflow into obedient movement!
Benefits of Joyful Movement
As you go forward this year, may you be freed from the fitness expectations that do not fit you. In Christ, you are no longer chained to the law, but supported by grace. Joyful movement does not answer to trends, BMIs, or societal standards. Joyful movement cannot be bought, only discovered.
This will not be a 30-day process, but a life journey of figuring out what you like, what you can do, and what fits your season, adapting as you go. The good news is that you’ll never have to sign up for a one-and-done program, but get to move free throughout your whole life!
If you’re still not sure if joyful movement will “work,” here are some comparisons to the cultural approach to fitness compared with joyful movement.
Here are some downsides to traditional fitness programs:
Box you in with body size, ability, or commitment
Require high cost of time, money, and effort
Leads to dependence on program for fitness guidance
Here are the benefits of joyful movement:
Allows you to change your movement with body size, ability, and commitment level
Prioritizes identity and supports who you are with appropriate movement
Frees you to listen to your body and empowers you to make needed changes
So, do you want to be a runner, a dancer, a CrossFit Warrior, a biker, a fit mom? With joyful movement, you can do all of these things, but you don’t have to tie your identity to them.
“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:28
You are free to be more you, the way God created you to be, and discover His wonderful design as you move.
Want More Joyful Movement?
Body Blessings Journal
Sign up for my email list for updates on when we will release the Body Blessings Journal. It is a 30-Day Journal to Praise God with Your Body Through Prayer, Intuitive Eating, and Joyful Movement. With this resource, you’ll be able to journal eating and movement patterns to discover what brings you the most joy in Christ.
Joyful Health Course
If you’re still wondering how to start and need not only a coach but a group of others to walk the path with you, my friend Aubrey from Gracefueled Nutrition have created a course to guide you through what it means to ditch diets and discover how to eat well and move free, by grace. This 12-week course opens up March 1st to a whole new group of 30 students, so if you’re interested, please sign up for the waiting list so we can get you all the info when it opens up!
