Fitness isn’t always as fabulous as social media paints it out to be. Contrary to Instagram’s curated imagery, wellness goes way beyond a gym’s squeaky-clean surface. Indeed every element plays a role; resistance training, cardio, and meditation. Although, the essence that brings them all together is not easily seen.
Throughout college, I would climb flights of stairs and walk miles on end every day. Whenever I made time for them, I would go to cycling and yoga classes, too. That amount of physical activity diminished the moment a complete lockdown was activated to halt the COVID-19 spread. At first, I was fine with the first few weeks of lounging around the house. At that point in time, the lockdown was understood to be a temporary solution, and nobody foresaw how permanent it would turn out to be.
One morning, I got out of bed and, before heading to the kitchen, I pulled out my old yoga mat from my closet. I rolled it out on my terrace floor, typed in YouTube’s search engine, “Yoga stretch session” and pressed “Play”. Later that same day, I searched for HIIT workouts and jotted them down on my dry erase board. That afternoon, I tied my shoelaces and moved my body for 40 minutes. Unconsciously, this turned into a daily routine, even after the major lockdown was lifted.
I canceled my gym membership and continued working out at home every day after work. Moving for 30 to 40 minutes in my backyard and enjoying the bright sunset with the rustle of the trees not only gave a sense of accomplishment, it felt like I was on a genuine verge of internal healing.
Although the path of physical and internal wellness is a fluctuating one, it is a journey you must take to mend your relationship with your mind and body. Fitness is not necessarily limited to a certain space or gated by a select group of people. It is a state of mind within all of us, a relationship between you and your body, and it looks different for everyone!
For me, fitness was a matter of discipline and competition. Spending years as a skinny and chiseled girl in tights and leotards led me to believe that I had to follow the path to perfection. When my body underwent puberty, I translated that discipline into unhealthy eating habits and extreme bodily exertion. In college, I went to the gym and took supplements attempting to achieve unrealistic features I thought I needed in order to accept myself.
In a year, my ideology of fitness changed, and I learned to love myself more through movement. I learned that fitness can be spiritual, playful, meaningful—anything you want it to be. It’s not always blue skies and sunshine, but working towards your absolute well-being is a debt you owe to yourself.