I was in the gym the other day and I was walking around the track with a couple of kettle balls. 

I walked by a couple and their personal trainer. This couple was probably in their late 60’s and the trainer had them in plank pose and their feet on the gliders. I remember briefly thinking – ‘wow those planks with the feet sliding side to side look pretty tough’. As I walked by the second time the husband and the trainer were both helping the wife get up off the floor. I guess she could get down but not up. Are you thinking what I was? What good is plank if you can’t do functional things like get up from the ground?!

This is why I am including so much mobility work on the floor in my classes.

This work is not easy!

My classes are not ‘easy’.

But they are also not challenging in a typical way. Typical would mean ‘advanced’ yoga with lots arm balances and handstands and backbends. Or exercise classes that ‘kick your butt’ and leave you exhausted because you have done lots of jumping jacks.

I mean not easy because being on the floor requires a lot of flexibility and strength in your joints and, at first, it is highly uncomfortable and somewhat tedious (wrist preparation anyone?). Most of us can function in a way that requires chairs and supportive shoes and ever more equipment. We can even exercise in linear and standard ways that never challenge our ability to do many of the natural movements our bodies are meant to do.

So when people come to my class, its is a hard sell sometimes. I have to do a lot of preparation for people’s joints so they can do the movements required to get up and down from the floor with ease. It takes time to get stronger and there are so many other things in the exercise world that seem to promise faster or more ‘sexy’. But what is less sexy than being helped up from the floor?

We associate movement with exercise and not the ability to move well. I know lots of yoga teachers who have real pain in their bodies from years of repetitive movement. I know athletes who’s knees are shot from running and women who do cross fit and pee a little when they jump.

So what does ‘health’ look like to you? What kind of movements will allow you to maintain quality of life as you age? How can you move for longevity and resilience?  What does the rest of your day look like when not ‘exercising’?

Let me know what you think in the comments below!