Winter is coming. And I'm not ready.

I suffer from osteoarthritis so my joints tend to get inflamed in extreme weather, hot or cold. But more so in the winter time. I experience joint pain, swelling and stiffness on almost a daily basis. So it's key for me to keep moving even though I just want to crawl back into bed and suffer in silence.

I have been kicking off my blog posts with quotes for over 10 years but today's post starts with a quote of my own.

Lately, I have been giving lots of thought to movement. Not just physical movement but overall movement within life. I believe that the mind, body and spirit are one. So if one is not right, it throws off the whole trinity. For me, I have been spending so much time getting my mind and spirit right that I neglected my body. And this made me realize that's why my MBS trinity was not at 100%.

I'm always tired or stressed. I work a lot and put pressure on myself to be the best I can be. I push myself beyond limits and sometimes it takes a toll on me physically. I haven't felt inner peace in a really long time and at this point of my life, I crave it. I need it. 

How can I inspire others and keep going, if I don't have that inner peace and my spirit tank on full? Life is draining enough and if you don't refill your tank regularly, how are you supposed to be at the top of your game?

So I started looking into movement in general. I don't aspire to lose weight and be some "Before and After" picture. In my opinion, weight loss is not the way to happiness because your Body is a part of that MBS trinity and not on its own. You can lose weight but if your mind and spirit ain't right... well, you get the drift.

I worked too hard to love myself as I am and in all honesty, my size has nothing to do with my MBS not being on point. It has to do with my inner health and how I choose to use my energy. 

Movement can be an incredible thing. For me, I love to walk and one day, I want to get strong enough to jog again because running is a form of movement that truly lets you be in the moment and feel free of the world around you. 

I have arthritis in both knees and my right ankle so I tend to get stiff a lot and have chronic pain. However, the irony of that is the more I move, the less pain I feel.

This is when I decided that I needed more movement in my life. I need to make time for myself and invest in myself and my MBS. If I can't show up for myself, how am I supposed to show up for others in my life?

I'm not a gym girl right now because I am still working on not being self-conscious in that space. Yes, I am confident and love myself but I am not perfect. I'm human and I am still working on not noticing the stares or whispers. 

However, I have the world before me, ready for me to take my first step and just start moving. Movement can be medicine for the MBS... I learned this from a friend of mine who I admire greatly.

Deb Malkin is someone I have known for years, who is simply amazing. Her Instagram page Move With Deb was what inspired me to look more into movement.

Movement can be anything, to be honest. It doesn't have to be just exercising. Deb recently posted about Movement Permaculture, which was a way for her and her partner to work on their garden in a fun way. It encouraged movement while they plant and grow things to sustain them in their lives.

This led me to introducing movement in my life via house chores, like dancing as I sweep and mop, squatting while I wash dishes or even lifting heavy things around the house as I clean. I also make it a habit to turn on the pedometer on my phone while I am in the supermarket and walk around it a few times. You can easily do a mile that way while shopping for groceries.

Find what moves you and incorporate that into your every day life.... this is what my goal right now is.

I actually take notes from Deb's IG page, especially the wisdom she offers her readers via comments about movement... Here's a few that resonated with me:

On being able to do things while comfortable - "There's nothing wrong with comfort! It's all about adding variety and seeing the movement we do all day long and not just shoving it in the category of fitness at a gym."

"Just thinking about movement in a whole body, throughout the day framework has shifted my whole world. It helps me feel so much more engaged in my everyday life and empowered in my body."

"Movement is a bigger category than fitness. There's a lot we can do to help get more flexible, have more strength and stamina in our everyday life. Going to the gym can be fun but that's just a tiny portion of our week. We have a body the rest of the time too and not to say we should obsess about fitness, it's more of a reframe of movement that is nourishing our cells as being available all the time. It's like the opposite of diet culture to me."

With that said, starting today, my journey of Fearlessly Moving will be a reality. My current goal is to feel empowered in my body again and as Deb said, more engaged in my every day life. And I'll see where this journey takes me.

You can follow my journey here on the blog and on social media with the hashtag #FearlesslyMoving. I plan to use this blog as a way to be accountable for myself and not slack off on my movement goals. And I hope I can inspire some of you to move along with me.

Because movement can be body liberation too! Having more mobility is freeing and honestly, after a day of walking and moving, I feel like a superheroine. And I want to feel like that daily. Movement can be joyful and I can't wait to share this journey with all of you.

Click here to follow me on Instagram to stay up-to-date with my #FearlesslyMoving journey.

How do you incorporate movement into your life? Any tips? Comment below and let me know!