Peace in a Pod

(I am crawling out of the void to come at you with a piece that dawned on me today while I was working out - cue me pausing mid-glute-bridge to type furiously in my Notes app. The main idea I want to put across here is how empowering exercising feels, and why meaningful movement of any and every kind needs to be a priority for all of us.) ‘Meaningful movement’ is how I’ve recently begun rebranding ‘exercise’. While all of us come to fitness with different experiences, feelings, and self-perceptions, as long as you schedule different types of meaningful movement throughout the week, job’s a good’un. Think of it like making an appointment for future you. Movement for me varies between traditional weight-bearing gym workouts, 20-minute HIIT sessions in the comfort of my apartment, yoga, a stroll outdoors, an incline walk or run on a treadmill, or a cycle. Living in the desert means that outdoor exercise, for me anyway, occurs between October and May, as anything outside of that is just u...

Straight out of the gates, I will hold my hands up and acknowledge that the phrase ‘main character energy’ sounds kind of ridiculous and feels very Gen Z, trendy, and abstract - saying something but nothing at the same time. But the wider concept of feeling like the ‘main character’ in your life - in other words, valuing yourself and honouring your power and worth - is something that really resonates with me, and has helped me gain perspective on issues that have cropped up and caused me pain. My learnings on this particular topic stem from a situation that happened in the last year which had me feeling really down, anxious, and insecure in myself. It dogged my thoughts for months - sometimes it was all I could do not to ruminate on it all day. It was the first thing I thought of every morning, like a thick, grey cloud that settled over my head for the day and never left; the sun might peep through here and there in flashes but that was it. Overall, life was gloomy and I didn’t allow ...