Movement Is Medicine

I’ve always been a lover of movement. I often danced around the house while I got ready for school and savored the walks my Mama and I took to the playground down the street from her house. 

Around the time I was 11, I attended my first yoga class with my Aunt Betsy. This experience was pivotal for me. One, because it was a new form of movement, and two, because it meant Aunt Betsy was welcoming me into a practice she did for herself. 

In seventh grade, I joined cross country and track and found myself quite disappointed by the way I began to see my body. I was still a tiny kid, still under five feet tall, and I hadn’t gotten my period yet. I was baffled to see I was the only girl without perfectly shaved legs and a six-pack, wearing spandex shorts and a sports bra. I felt like an outsider, an inevitability as my school was too small for our own team, so we merged with a local school. 

I realized that the other girls on the team, especially those on the varsity team, were focused on working their bodies until failure, instead of running for the sake of enjoying the movement. I joined because my dad’s a runner, and he ran for the same team I joined with the same coach, strangely enough! 

I got involved with basketball later in middle school and again in high school, but I began to notice my own insecurity with my lack of muscle mass, which other girls on the team proudly showed off. I had one semester of volleyball for the sake of qualifying for the National Honor Society, but, again, it didn’t make any real impact on me. 

At the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, I found myself looking for ways to stay active. I would run up and down my driveway (roughly 0.05 miles down and back) just to move my body. I listened to an incredible amount of new music through this practice and found a deep love for podcasts. 

I also found the practice of yoga crept back into my life around this point. I didn’t utilize it for more than stretching before and after, but it made itself known as a way to show my body some love. 

I would like to say the freedom of college gave me more time to dedicate to my yoga practice, but this is unfortunately untrue. 

This leads me to my goal for this new year. 2026 will be my year of intentional movement, complete with greater care for my needs. 

I want to center yoga and mindfulness in my daily life. Even if the practice is only 10 minutes before bed, it’s 10 minutes I wasn’t dedicating before. I want to improve my strength, and for me, it begins with centering my core.

I was recently informed I may need a serious surgery for my hips in the near future, and I want to strengthen my joints now while I can to ensure a safer recovery for the future. 

If you spot me in the gym, please join me! I would love a yoga buddy to help me stay accountable to myself!

I’m learning to love myself, and it starts with taking charge of what I have control over. I’m utterly grateful I utilize movement to heal parts of me I’ve not always shown love to. 

This is the year of taking action even when it’s inconvenient. I’m proud of who I am becoming!

• Action
• movement
• working out
• yoga