My whole practice went backwards

When i first started training at tmc everything was moving forward, strength, mobility + skills, it was amazing and so exciting and as my practice moved forward, my self confidence increased.

During my pregnancy all of my practice went backwards. Yes, my whole practice went backwards! I found it hard to watch it slip away and unfortunately a lot of my confidence in myself and my body followed. 

Something I am constantly reminding members at TMC is that progress in a movement practice is not always linear. We love seeing our practice move forward, it's great to get stronger and more mobile and learn new tricks but the simple truth is that sometimes our practice goes stagnant or even backwards.

Things happen in our lives that make it difficult for us to make progress in our practice and I understand that can feel disappointing. It’s so important that you keep moving even and maybe especially when it feels hard.

For me, i had to keep my body strong so I could birth my baby and be strong on the other side. For you it might be moving the parts of your body you can while you are injured or as you get older realising that even though moving is getting harder as you age, maintaining a movement practice is so important for longevity.

A helpful way to view your movement practice and stay motivated to move is to put movement  into the same category as sleep and nutrition.

If you have a crappy night sleep you try again the next night and maybe even go to bed a little earlier right? 

If you go out to a party and your dinner is mainly salt and vinegar chips, party pies and red frogs… Do you go out the next day and stock up on more salt and vinegar chips? Haha! No, you hopefully try to eat a bit better tomorrow right?

Movement is part of your daily life. Whether it is walking up a flight of stairs or learning to handstand. Some days you have a great practice and other days not so good. It’s ok to have a crappy day, month, or year but the point is that you keep practicing because movement (like sleep and nutrition) is important!

Did you know TMC have a podcast now? Check out the link below. Episode 2 released last week answer the age old question "how long does it take" for progress in your practice.

Thanks for reading

Jeni Cooper 

The Movement Collective