What is intuitive movement?

It ain’t what you do, it’s the intention with what you do it!

For so long we have been bombarded with the idea that we have to follow a strict plan, schedule or course to look after ourselves both physically and mentally. Handing over our power to someone who doesn’t live in our body and can never really know what’s fully go on within us.

Intuitive movement frees you from needing to do certain activities, at a prescribed intensity, for a set amount of time in a way that is deemed ‘correct’. This gives us so much more power and agency on the way we choose to move and look after our bodies and minds through exercise.

But WHAT actually is intuitive movement? Intuitive movement is an approach towards movement that emphasises truly listening to our body and what it may want or need in that moment. This intuitive approach encourages us to restore and strengthen our relationship with our body, learning to exercise with a loving and nurturing way towards ourselves, rather than to loose weight / sculpt / slim / build / tone / *insert other toxic diet culture message here* 😅

So intuitive movement can LOOK like anything, but the most important thing is our intention and approach towards that thing. Here are just a handful of examples of what intuitive movement could look like:

• “I feel like my body wants to sweat today” – Goes for a run, takes a hot yoga class, or hops on a cardio machine. Focusing more on the feeling and what that will bring to your body / mind, rather than “I need to burn calories today”.
• “I need some alone time and want to move this energy around”- AirPods in and we walk, stretch, flow, move to the beat of our own drum 🥁
• “My mind and body would be grateful of some fun and social interaction today” – Joins a dance class, goes to play football or tries something completely new 💃
• “I’m sore. Rest” – Hello gentle mindful movement or a full on sofa day!
• “I gotta be outside today” Takes a hike, walks along the beach or takes a stretch out in the garden.
• “I’m not sure what my body is cueing today, let’s be curious” – Starts a yoga flow, but feels the intensity isn’t right, so decides to go it alone with some flow stretches

Intuitive movement can look like any sport, fitness class, gym routine, movement there is going and that’s what makes it so wonderful! Intuitive movement focuses on the internal experience, rather than the external outcome. However, learning to truly listen to our bodies can be tricky in the beginning – We may have years or even decades of conditioning from marketing campaigns and even friends and family…. Who else thought a single boiled egg 🥚 and two ryvita crackers were enough to replenish them after two hours hitting the cross trainer and rowing machine? 🤦🏻‍♀️ We’ll cover ways in which you can start to listen to your intuition and build up that relationship in the next blog post 🤩 I’m so glad you landed on this blog post today and thank you for being here 💗

Here are some class videos that focus on the FEELING over the LOOK, please enjoy!