How many of my students and private clients have expressed the idea that if they’re not doing an hour of this or that or if they aren’t completely exhausted after moving or if they aren’t sweating buckets that they didn’t “try hard enough” or they aren’t “committed enough.”
Too many. And because an hour and exhaustion and that kind of sweat feels like a LOT when we think about it, we have already defeated our healthy impulses before we even begin. If we manage to begin, that is, with those kinds of heavy ass expectations.
I’ve talked a lot in the past about overcoming asshole brain’s desire to stay on the couch in front of the TV (or wherever you are stuck) by telling it “just five minutes” and then once you’re moving, it’s quite easy for those five minutes to turn into 20.
But those five minutes do not have to turn into 20.
Those five minutes count for something all on their own. By doing those five minutes, well, you’ve done the thing and you’re training your brain to get out of the way. You’re, again, doing rewiring work which takes longer than we want it to but that’s that.
Now I’m talking about ten minutes.
Craig got me roller skates for Christmas. I haven’t been on roller skates since my teens. At the time, I was good on them. Solid. Could even do a couple tricksie things.
And for some reason I expected them to be like getting on a bike again after years — pretty much easy peasy.
NOT!! I SUCK!!!! But that will not stop me.
I practice in our basement because it has that super low carpet that slows me down just enough but still allows me to glide.
Here’s the thing: I’m only doing 10 minutes at a time. There’s more going on with this than meets the eye.
I’m working some forgotten muscles, for sure, but my brain is exploring and learning a ton of new material here. It’s been long enough that I am totally back at beginner level, and this is where we get the best benefits in terms of brain health.
Ten minutes at a time. That’s about it. Sometimes closer to 15 but mostly just 10.
Why? Because if I tried too hard for loo long right at the beginning, I would get overly frustrated (and overly sore). I don’t want to be frustrated. I want to be learning from a place of joy.
THAT is the magic RIGH THERE.
When we were small, we didn’t do things for any other reason. If we didn’t like something, we tried something else. And when we liked something, we stuck with it because it was giving us this sense of joy. (This is our natural state. I’m not speaking to shitty parenting that forces…that’s another issue.)
Ten minutes. And let me tell you… even after just FIVE times on my skates, I was already significantly better. And not frustrated. I still look forward to skate days because I didn’t go at it like some downhill freight train. I’m flirting. I’m testing. I’m playing. I’m joyful.