Intro to the #NewYearNewMoves Challenge [Self-Love Letter]

Hi ByteWellness Fam!

How are you feeling?

I feel a sense of calm- which is something.

When there’s so much happening around us, sometimes our reflex is to feel nothing.

We push forward with whatever the present goal is, because it needs to happen. And, if we don’t do it, who will?

That disconnection from emotions is a staple in the Strong Black Woman handbook.

We don’t feel we have time to process feelings, and we certainly don’t have time to “wallow”. We’ve got our world strapped to our backs and are racing against the clock to save it and ourselves. Where is the time or space to mourn how heavy it all is?

Watch the #PhyteWellWednesday recording to see how keying into our feelings and using the STEM framework can help us see the barriers that keep us from working out every day.

Text 2024 to 1(866)717-1919 to join the 2024 New Year, New Moves Challenge to build a workout habit 1 minute at a time. We’re only one week in!

Solange Knowles might have been talking about this in Cranes in the Sky, when she tries to write, run, dance, spend away her unnamed feelings. She keeps moving, almost as if she can’t afford to, with the unrealized hope that her feelings will magically disappear. Of course they don’t. By the end of the song, there they loom like cranes scattered across newly developing neighborhoods in Miami, “metal clouds” in the sky.

Amani Allen, PhD (University of California-Berkley researcher ) describes this attempt to disconnect from feelings in her research on what she calls the Superwoman Schema. According to her research, we shouldn’t be too quick to dismiss our Strong Black Woman/Superwoman mindset. Like most of the experiences our mind concocts, this one exists for a reason.

As a public health researcher, Dr. Allen positions our practice of emotional detachment as a coping mechanism- an unsurprising cultural response to the overwhelming (and largely uncontrollable) stressors of racism and sexism. Of course our brain tries to protect us from a series of traumatic experiences by limiting what and how much we allow ourselves to feel. In fact, Dr. Allen’s research suggests we can’t write off this style of emotional regulation as all bad or all good. One might even help us protect our physical health, lowering the chances that stress shows up in your bodies as conditions like high blood pressure and heart disease.

However, Recognizing what we feel and figuring out how to honor it is a huge component of building a new wellness habit.

Especially this month, during our 2024 New Year, New Moves Challenge our feelings (frustration, discomfort, actual pain) are a flashing marquee naming each of our workout barriers as they show up.

Are we in pain while doing our workout? Maybe the workout we’re attempting to do is too hard for us right now.

Do we feel a sense of frustration? Maybe we don’t have the equipment we need to do this workout right. Or, maybe we’re not experienced enough to do it. These are all signals that we need to make a change in our workout plans. The path we planned to walk is blocked. If we’re going to build a lasting workout habit, we need to find a detour.

This week, when you do your workout, take a few moments and feel. Feel what comes up before, during, and after the workout. What do those feeling reveal about the barriers you’re experiencing? Is this a surprise? What are you going to do about them?

Happy Healthy Living,

Dr. Wuse