Tag: decolonize fitness

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Hey again, Marie Kondo || Part 2, mostly fitness stuff

So I’ve noticed a few parallels in terms of dealing with fitness and konmari-ing:

Making the wait delicious

Instead of jumping right into doing the thing now, I’ve been deciding to hold off on different projects.

I’ve found myself reading about them, itching to get started. I’m finding that makes me more excited once I do get started.

And then when I do, I’ve been taking on less than I can handle (inspired by Tiny Habits), which makes continuing those habits really tempting.

Not sure if this will work with other things too, but interested to see!

Reduce focus on opposition

Another parallel with exercise is the fact that so much exercise is framed in opposition to the body instead of building it up. Or the destruction or reduction of things, like fat or weight. Or numbers that ultimately aren’t the *best* reflection of wellness.

For instance, I kept finding myself taking the most pleasure in the number of reps going up or increasing my weights.

I’d then find myself unfortunately glancing at the scale and getting a tiny bit deflated when I saw the numbers go up, when isn’t that exactly what I’d *want* to see happen if I’m weight training?

I’ve instead tried to focus on the tiny little bump at the bottom of my bicep that’s now starting to bulge, or the way I just *feel* stronger.

I realized that I need to reduce taking pleasure in the numbers; I need to reduce that focus to stay healthy.

I started noticing a similar thing with Konmari-ing. Like I was thinking about all the things I need to get rid of, all the material pounds I need to shed or bags of stuff to donate or throw out, all the *decluttering* I needed to do to slay the clutter monsters.

But I’m not sure where I saw this but somewhere it was mentioned that Konmari is more of a mindfulness exercise. And I realized that something may have gotten lost in translation.

Just like yoga has become about “poses,” Konmari has become about “decluttering” instead of really about the mental shifts that are at its core. I need to focus more on that inner work now, to process the grief and fear that’s making it hard to break the attachment to random shit.

Beware false / exploitative messengers

I’ve also been trying to be better about the people I’m allowing myself to read.

Like I’ve started listening to my gut when I notice that certain subreddits about these topics make me feel not great, make me feel more dragged down than uplifted.

I’ve also been hating on all the ways in which content can be exploited. Like, let’s be real, there are articles that are really just basic Konmari principles + getting us to buy shit + not citing the WoC who popularized the ideas in the first place. Let’s not pretend that you came up with that “pose” yourself; it’s an asana that’s existed forever.

Obviously a lot of content creation and teaching is about repackaging ideas in ways that are more applicable and beneficial for the audience, which is a huge value! I’m just saying please cite your sources, please and thank you.

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On squatty potties and the commoditization of fitness

Like many others, I’ve been trying to use quarantine to focus on making fitness a habit.

While trying to build new habits, I’ve also been thinking back to old, deep, multigenerational lessons about maintaining our well-being well into old age.

Here are some thoughts:

  • I really hate reading about fitness. GIFs work, photos are ok, videos that are like 30 seconds long and just show me what I need to know are cool, but goddammit I really don’t know if I’ll ever get through “Starting Strength.” Sorry bro.
  • I was reading about proper squat technique, mostly because I have shit knees on all sides and want to *try* to prevent that, and then found myself thinking again about really old folks I’ve known who were able to maintain deep squats into their 90s and beyond because their environments were engineered for them to do so. As in they had squat toilets and so needed to deep squat on a regular basis. As in they weren’t made to sit in chairs and instead naturally rested in a squatting position.
    • I thought about squatty potties, a classic example of how our culture created a problem and then tried to sell the solution back to us.
    • I also thought again about how the idea of needing to exercise is such a by-product of office-oriented work; folks who are essential workers are already active.
  • I found myself recording my workouts in a notebook, carefully tracking reps and sets, and I totally see the value in that and will probably continue to do it. But IDK, isn’t truly functional fitness about doing things that are useful instead of just the weight we can lift? Like are there downsides to this? I’ve already sometimes found myself occasionally resisting doing a movement because I don’t have my tracker nearby; I’m super curious if there’s anything about if tracking sometimes leads to less movement.
  • I also thought about yoga, and how it makes you consider every precious piece of you. Your eyes, your toes, the back of your knees.
  • I also think this is a great time to see how much I can do myself for free; yes I had an impossible to cancel gym membership that I never used, hundreds of dollars wasted to a not even that great company.
  • It made me realize how much fitness has been commoditized because of its compartmentalization from daily life – why do I even need a different physical space or a separate time set aside to fitness? How can I focus on better integrating into my life more naturally?
  • Why do I need names for a farmer’s walk (literally just walking around holding a heavy weight) or to be Googling proper form for something that would be a daily part of my life elsewhere?
  • Why am I so focused on things that could potentially injure me when there’s so much intuitive movement that could do me a world of good?
  • Also I’ve always hated sitting in chairs, and finally it’s looking like that’s a good thing. I’m curious if those studies looking at how bad sitting is for you also looked at different kinds of sitting (cross-legged, squat, on knees).
  • Also like why is on the floor seating seen as juvenile? My roomie and I dreamed about it but then ended up getting “grown up beds.” Sure it was partially to avoid roaches and mice, but also there’s the whole perception angle to it, you know?

Cool, ok, bye.