If you’re feeling stuck when it comes to your body, you’re not alone. My new FREE workshop is an opportunity to discover how to cultivate a healthier relationship with your body, food and movement—so you can embrace self-acceptance and prioritize your mental health without sacrificing your health goals.
So many of us are confused by the extremes in the fitness world and have fallen into this body-checking culture. Body-checking is the habit of seeking information about our bodies (weight, shape, size, appearance, etc). And it can be truly harmful to our self confidence.
So I decided to put together a FREE workshop to help you reclaim your body and freedom!
In a world that often fixates on appearance and external measures of health, it’s time to shift the conversation.
We’re going to uncover the myths and lies in the fitness, beauty and diet industries that have led to a culture of body insecurity and dissatisfaction. The goal that I have for this workshop is to show you how you can erase the lies and negative self-talk. You’ll walk away with a fresh sense of motivation.
You deserve that, I deserve that, and that’s what we’re going to dive into in the Stop being stuck workshop.
You may have heard someone say, “just listen to your body” and thought: “How do I even do that?” I get it. Learning how to listen to my body has been a practice of mine for the last decade—and I still have to be mindful about it today.
This skill is crucial for maintaining a sustainable health journey in today’s world where we’re often encouraged to ignore our intuition and physical cues. I know you’ve been told, “Push through the pain!” or seen an Instagram post that says, “Don’t stop when you’re tired, stop when you’re done.”
While these sentiments are meant to motivate and inspire, they can also be harmful because they encourage you to ignore your body. The problem is, if you push when your body says stop, you could hurt yourself. If you always force yourself to workout when you don’t want to, you’ll never stay consistent because you don’t enjoy the experience.
Long-term, sustainable health comes when you listen to your body, and then respond with care, action, and compassion. This has been a significant part of my health journey, and a big reason why I started Lindywell, so let’s talk about what it means and how you can start listening.
What Does It Mean to Listen to Your Body?
Listening to the body means cultivating a mindful awareness of what it (you!) needs at any given moment, followed by honoring that need. This intuitive practice will help you understand and make decisions based on internal cues, rather than steamrolling past your own limits.
The more present and responsive you are to these important cues, the more impactful your health journey can be. In fact, simply maintaining intentional body awareness (listening to your body), can improve:
Creating a mindful relationship with your body can also make it easier to instill positive habits around nutrition, exercise, body image, self-care, mental resilience, and coping mechanisms.
Emotional regulation
Attentional span
Self-acceptance
Brain function
Compassion
Stress management
Anxiety or depression
Plus, when you do what feels good to your body, rather than forcing something that doesn’t, you are often more consistent because you enjoy the experience. This, in turn, leads to better long-term results and feeling more confident.
5 Ways to Listen to Your Body
All that sounds great, but you’re probably wondering how to actually take action. Here are five practical strategies I’ve used to listen to my body and honor those cues each and every day.
1. Ask Questions and Scan Your Body for the Answer
Set aside at least one moment each day to pause and ask yourself, “How do I feel and what do I need right now?” Then before rushing into the next item on your to-do list, take action on what your body needs. Here are some examples:
I’m feeling tired, so I’m going to have a snack, take a short walk, and then come back to my computer feeling more refreshed and ready for work.
I’m feeling energized and craving movement, so I’m going to squeeze in a 15-minute Lindywell workout right now, while the kids are at school. That way I don’t have to worry about it when they get home.
I’m feeling some tension in my neck, so I’m going to do a few neck circles and stretches to ease that discomfort before driving to the store.
In your fast-paced and often hectic life, it’s easy to overlook these basic bodily necessities. The good news is, tuning in and asking what your body needs doesn’t have to derail your day. It may just mean you spend a few minutes stretching or taking a walk—and that will likely make the rest of your day so much better too.
2. Notice How Your Body Reacts to Certain Emotions
Emotions manifest in the body, especially within the cardiac, respiratory, nervous, and gastrointestinal systems. I know I often feel anxiety in my chest or stress in my head. You may be able to recall areas of your body where you commonly feel your emotions too.
Bringing awareness to these emotions, and tuning into where you’re feeling them in the body, can make it easier to soothe those intense reactions and get back to feeling balanced quickly. Next time a strong emotion comes to the surface, be curious about where you feel it.
Constriction in your throat?
Warmth in your cheeks?
Tension in your forehead?
Sweat in your armpits?
Nausea in your stomach?
A pounding heart rate in your chest?
Finally, visualize sending love, calm or peace to that area of the body while taking slow, deep breaths until you start to regain equilibrium. You may be surprised by how quickly the emotion passes compared to the times when you try to push it aside.
In fact, according to Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, all it takes is 90 seconds to move through an emotion if you stop, identify it, and simply maintain awareness of that emotion. Instead of letting that pesky anxiety hang around all day, let it go right then and there!
3. Build a Mindfulness Practice Around Meal Times
Bring mindfulness to meal times to start creating greater body awareness. The idea is simple: when you’re eating a meal, slow down and tune into your senses.
What do you smell?
How does it taste?
What is the texture like?
Do you hear crunching or slurping sounds?
By practicing this for even just one meal a day—eating dinner with kids is likely not the easiest time to practice this, but perhaps a solo lunch is—you’re training yourself to slow down and listen to your body. This may also make it easier to notice hunger cues that say you’re full or you want to go in for seconds; a skill that most of us have lost touch with.
In addition, mindful eating can reduce stress, promote digestive health, increase body acceptance, and curb emotional eating behaviors.
4. Choose Your Workout Based on What Your Body Needs
Your workouts are most effective when they match your current energy levels, stamina, and time capacity—all of which fluctuates from one day to the next. One morning I might wake up with the motivation to do a 30-minute weighted Pilates workout, while the next day, I desire a slow, 15-minute stretching session in the afternoon.
This is so normal for women and why cycle syncing your workouts can be really beneficial. If you don’t have a cycle, however, you can still choose workouts each day based on what your body is asking for.
Pause before starting a workout and tune into which kind of movement feels most enjoyable at the moment. Do your legs feel strong and ready for a challenge? Or does a slower-paced movement sound really good? Plus, ask yourself: do I have extra time or do I need to fit something in quickly? Choose your workout based on these answers.
It’s really easy for Lindywell members to honor what their body is craving (and their schedule calls for) because we have 300+ workouts, both gentle and challenging, that range from 10 minutes to 30+ minutes. As a member, you’ll find whatever workout you need, no matter the season or time frame.
Start your 14-day free trial to get instant access to all of our workouts, plus guided breathwork sessions and nourishing recipes!
5. Carve Out Alone Time to Connect with Your Body
When was the last time you thought of your body as a friend to connect with, instead of just a vehicle to move through life? All too often, the focus is on pushing through and getting things done so you forget to spend time with yourself and your body. I fall into that rhythm so easily as a busy mom and business owner and have to be really intentional about this.
Whether you can spare 2 minutes or 20, carve out time and space each week—if possible, each day—to be alone with yourself. Unplug from social media and other external distractions and just connect. You can do this by listening to gentle music, moving your body, meditating or even doing a breathwork session in the Lindywell app.
Practicing mindfulness like this, especially using meditation to do so, can improve your memory, mood and overall well being. Plus it helps you start to understand the language of your body so it’s easy to hear what it’s asking for.
Listening to Your Body Is a Integral Part of Wellness
Your body is always speaking to you—but are you listening? No matter how long it’s been since you last paid attention to those inner cues (or you never have before), consider this an invitation to start. These practical strategies will help you listen to your body, and as a result, get more consistent with workouts, choose movement you enjoy, and ultimately, see better results. It truly is the key to long-term health and happiness.
Take your relationship with your body one step further with my upcoming book, Well to the Core! In it, I dedicate an entire chapter to developing the skill of listening to our bodies and how we can break free from the confines of problematic fitness sayings and develop a more holistic and sustainable approach to our fitness journeys. Pre-order your copy now and get $300 in free bonuses!
You’ve probably seen or heard the phrase “mindset is everything” a lot lately—and for good reason. Your mindset creates the lens through which you think, feel, interact, and behave. In that way, it really is everything—and science can prove it.
For example, recognizing how I perceive stress in my life over the past few years has been incredibly eye opening for me. Understanding when my mindset is coming from a place of lack, scarcity, overwhelm and helplessness allows me to shift to recognizing the challenge while also seeing the many ways in which I can tackle it or make changes to support myself. This has been a huge growth area for me and has made a significant impact in my life.
To help you embrace the idea that mindset is everything, let’s look at just how powerful your mindset actually is for creating a healthier and happier life.
Proof That Mindset is Everything
Your mindset shifts your perspective, which in turn impacts how you navigate circumstances, make sense of experiences, strive toward goals, learn from failures, and confront obstacles.
1. Feel Less Stressed (Yes, it’s possible!)
Feeling less stressed may come down to how you think about stress, according to psychologist Alia Crum, PhD, an assistant professor at Stanford University. In one particular study, a group of employees in a downsizing financial company were told that stress could help rather than hurt them in an effort to reduce their stress. It sounds crazy, right?
Well, turns out, it works! This group of employees reported fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety, along with an increase in optimism versus the control group. While we don’t believe empty mantras and affirmations can change your life, we do believe shifting your perspective does—and this is one great example of just how powerful that can be.
In fact, I know that when I’m stressed with an overwhelming workload and I remind myself that the stress about my job pales in comparison to the stress that others are facing, I immediately gain perspective. Similarly, when I focus on the fact that I am grateful for work that challenges me and helps me grow, I can embrace the challenge in a different way.
2. Be More Resilient
Growth mindset, the idea that you can change the way you think (as opposed to a fixed mindset, in which what you believe cannot change), is a key element of feeling more resilient and persistent as you manage the ups and downs of life. (Let’s be honest, we all have them!)
A study of 2,500 students found that those in the growth mindset group scored lower on “mental health issues” and “stress due to life events” than those in the fixed mindset group. As the research points out, this is because this mindset “encourages healthy and adaptive ways of facing and tolerating anxiety, frustration, and disappointment, which promotes resilience.”
So often, we feel we’re at the whim of life when we don’t have to. In fact, science says that our mindset can help us feel more resilient in the face of anything that comes our way.
3. Jump-Start Your Wellness Journey
How many times have you started working out just to stop days later? I’m very familiar with this back-and-forth dance; it’s one I did for many years before I found Pilates. Part of this back and forth may be about the way you set goals when you’re just starting out.
This research found that groups who were prescribed “low-and-liberal” exercise recommendations (vs. high-and-stringent) felt that their movement was more adequate. This meant that they were more likely to keep going and feel better about their health a week later.
This is the idea that Lindywell built upon—and what ultimately helped me create consistency in my workout routine once and for all. When you can shift your mindset from “I need to work out hard for 60 minutes a day every day” to something more realistic, like, “I’ll just move my body for 10 minutes in any way that feels good” you’re much more likely to stick with it.
Chronic illness is complex. What I’m not saying here is: it’s all in your head—and mindset can help relieve some of the symptoms experienced. A study from the Journal of the American Medical Association reveals that if you expect a healing outcome, the body will listen and even respond.
This research found positive correlations between a growth mindset and functional improvements in the immune, cardiovascular, and neuroendocrine systems. What’s more, patients with type-1 diabetes, who believe their health can change, have lower blood sugar levels. The power of the mind-body connection cannot be overlooked.
5. Feel More Connected in Romantic Relationships
Your mindset is playing a critical role in your relationships, especially romantic ones. This collection of research explains that mindfulness not only enhances closeness and connections with a partner but when measured on the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS), researchers found a positive association with relationship satisfaction.
While not everything can be “fixed” with your mindset, you can shift the lens with which to look at your relationship. Being more mindful might help you overlook the little things that aren’t quite perfect while creating an even deeper connection with your partner.
How to Work on Your Mindset
At Lindywell, we have two favorite ways to work on mindset: Pilates and breathwork. Why?
At Lindywell, we’re continually reframing fitness and our relationship to our bodies through the words we use in every single workout, email and video. While Pilates is inherently a mind-body style of movement, we regularly remind our members to shift their mindset around not just the way they exercise, but how they think about perfection, self-compassion, strength, and so much more.
Similarly, breathwork encourages you to slow down and tune in. When you close down all the tabs in your mind (I have a dozen open most times of the day!), you can understand what you’re actually thinking and feeling. That’s when you can begin shifting beliefs and perspectives that are impacting the way you live your life.
The reminder I always want to share, however, is that it’s not a one-and-done. Consistently showing up on your mat or taking time to breathe with intention each week is the only way to reap the long-term benefits in your life.
If you want to start working on your mindset (while moving your body, feeling more confident, and so much more!), start your 14-day free trial of Lindywell today. You’ll get instant access to hundreds of workout videos, dozens of guided breathwork sessions, and all of our Lindywell recipes!
Bottom Line: Your Mindset Matters
Mindset is everything. It impacts your mental, emotional, and physical wellness by shifting the lens through which you see the world. As such, your mindset influences how you overcome setbacks, embrace new opportunities, interact with others, and evolve as a human. Don’t overlook this important aspect of your personal development if you want to live a happier, calmer, and more connected life.
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Self-love mantras sound good, in theory, right? Reminding yourself how brilliant or wonderful you are to overcome your self-doubt is a great idea—but it’s not taking the whole picture into account. This particular ideology says that if you believe in a certain outcome or think hard enough, the universe (higher power, source, God) will present it to you.
If that were true, I would be the world’s most patient mother! The thing is, your body can’t be fooled. No matter how many times you repeat a mantra, you can’t overwrite what your body already believes to be true.
If you’re quick to abandon mantras because they just don’t work for you, this could explain why. Before you give up entirely though, I have another idea. Let’s get into the science of self-love mantras (you know we love to dig into the science!) and how to reframe them so you can actually create the change you’re seeking.
Why Your Self-Love Mantras Aren’t Working
The goal of a mantra is to shift what you currently believe into a new, perhaps happier, or more supportive, belief and/or take action on something you want to change. Here’s the problem: in order for a mantra to stick, and actually shift your belief or spur you into action, you need to know it’s possible. You can’t simply “wishful think” yourself into anything despite what many social media influencers might lead you to believe.
I’ll use an example to illustrate. Let’s assume you’re unhappy with how little you’re working out and want to be more fit. You might develop a mantra to combat your body insecurities and motivate you to go to the gym, like: “I am fit. I love to work out. My body is toned.”
If you’re unhappy with how little you’re working out and how out of shape you feel, chances are this mantra is going to fizzle out in the long term because your body knows it’s a false narrative. You won’t decide to start working out every day or magically start loving your body just because you chant a few things you want to believe.
Instead, you’ll feel shame when you stay exactly where you are. The good news is, making your self-love mantras work is as simple as a reframe.
The Secret Sauce for Self-Love Mantras That Work
Reframing is what your self-love mantras are missing. Here’s what I mean by that. Let’s use the fitness example from earlier:
Current Desire: Work out more often to become more fit.
Useless Self-Love Mantra: I am fit. I love to work out. My body is toned.
Reframed Self-Love Mantra: My body can be active. My body can master new challenges. My body has overcome many obstacles and it can do that again.
This reframed mantra is effective because all the statements are true. Rather than forcing yourself to chant a hollow phrase you don’t actually believe, this mantra is empowering and reminds you of the capabilities you already have and that you’re more likely to feel are genuine.
This reframing formula leverages NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming, a language technique that can change someone’s thoughts and behaviors to help achieve desired outcomes). It also brings in the power of self-love while rejecting old shame deeply embedded in the fitness industry.
With all of this, you can tap into the body (somatics) and build new neural pathways (the result of neuroplasticity) to create new beliefs.
The Science Behind Your New Self-Love Mantras
The brain has a reward center in the prefrontal cortex (the front of your brain), which activates if you do something to cause a positive outcome. This matters because, when you turn your mantra into something you actually believe, you’re more likely to take action.
When you take action, and feel good about yourself for doing so, your reward center releases dopamine (the pleasure chemical). This has a domino effect, causing you to want to do it more and more, which is, of course, how real change occurs.
The best part about this is that even a small taste of success will ultimately breed more success because the brain is wired to continue seeking it out. This means, reframing your self-love mantras leads to long-term habit-building, growth, and happiness— and that’s what we all want, right? (I know I do!)
It’s Time to Reframe Your Mantras
To reap the benefits of self-love mantras, or any mantras for that matter, you have to echo what’s already true. You can’t overwrite your current beliefs or build new habits just by saying something over and over. You have to leverage what your body already believes to be true to take action. This in turn releases that pleasure hormone, so you’re motivated to keep doing it. Before you know it, that thing you started repeating to yourself has shifted your reality and you can’t even remember what life was like before!
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At Lindywell, we focus on Pilates mat exercises because we love how accessible they are. You can do your workout anywhere and sometimes, you don’t even need a mat! (Our standing workouts are a favorite in the community.)
Another thing we love is how fun these exercises can be. Forget workouts that are repetitive, long, and boring. At Lindywell, we always want to make workouts challenging but also enjoyable. I mean, why else would we do it, right? Plus, when we love what we’re doing, we’re more likely to be consistent with it. A win-win!
Let’s talk about the importance of building more fun into your workout routine. Afterward, I’ll share some of my favorite Pilates mat exercises that are as fun as they are effective.
The Benefits of Making Fitness Fun
It’s no secret that a consistent wellness routine is important for both your physical and mental health. If you don’t look forward to exercise, however, chances are, you won’t stick with the program. That’s because interest and enjoyment are two main predictors of sticking with a workout routine over time.
This fun factor boosts your intrinsic motivation, which helps to build more consistency. Plus, this has a positive effect on your mental wellness too. There’s a direct correlation between exercise and dopamine (your happy hormone). The more you love it, the more you do it, the happier you are. That’s an equation I can get behind!
Finally, prioritizing fun in your workouts can help with social connections as well. When study participants took part in group or community exercise programs they felt more energized, experienced healthier relationships, and felt more satisfaction in life overall.
You can’t argue with science—fun fitness pays off!
8 Fun and Playful Pilates Mat Exercises
While I think most Pilates exercises are fun, I especially love these ones, which come from our Joyful Movement workout.
If you’re not already a Lindywell member, sign up for your 14-day free trial to get instant access to this, along with more workouts, a weekly workout calendar, and daily featured workout suggestions—say goodbye to decision fatigue! Plus, our breathwork sessions help alleviate stress and regulate your nervous system!
1. Spinal Warm-Up (10 repetitions)
Allow your body to move in an unstructured, free-flowing manner. This is a fun and comfortable way to loosen the spine, increase circulation, and work out any stiffness or tension. Remember to softly bend the knees, maintain a neutral posture, relax the shoulders, then let the arms swing freely as you twist from one side to the other—and have fun!
2. Prancing (10 repetitions)
This movement activates the calf muscles and helps strengthen the feet and ankles, an area that can be easily forgotten. As you perform this back-and-forth motion, maintain a lift in your pelvic floor and length in your spine.
3. Standing Balance (5 repetitions on each side)
This is one of my favorite Pilates mat exercises for challenging stability. Balancing forces your accessory muscles (all the little muscles) to work harder, so you’ll build even more strength. Remember to continuously use the core to stabilize yourself as you move through this exercise.
4. Rolling Like a Ball
Rolling is so silly and playful—and it’s also a great way to massage the spinal column while building core strength. If you find that you’re falling flat on your back as you roll back, tuck your pelvis more (creating more of a c-shape with your spine) to get that rolling motion. This one is fun, so enjoy it!
5. Open Leg Rocker (10 repetitions)
If you love Rolling Like a Ball, you’ll love this one too—and the added challenge can make it even more silly because it’s not always easy to do gracefully! Remember that you can modify this position with a slight bend in the knees.
6. Hamstring Pull with Roll-Ups (5 repetitions on each side)
Tension in the hamstrings can lead to injuries or limit flexibility and range of motion in the hips and lower back. This is a great Pilates mat exercise to do regularly to stay mobile if you sit at a desk all day—plus, it’s also great for your core.
7. Seal Pup (10 repetitions)
Unleash your inner seal with this exercise—”barking” noises are optional, but encouraged! As with all of the other rolling exercises, remember to tuck your pelvis and activate the core so you can flow while building strength.
8. Plank Hovers with C-Curves (5 repetitions on each side)
This movement creates resistance in your shoulders, arms, spine, abdominals, glutes, quads, and calves. It’s one of those amazing full-body Pilates mat exercises that’s so efficient! Exercises like this make your workouts super effective—and fun.
Make Your Workout More Fun With Pilates
No matter where you’re at on your fitness journey, Mat Pilates is accessible, beneficial, and enjoyable. You can adapt each move to your own comfort level while building strength, balance, and flexibility. If you want to make fitness fun, give these exercises a try—and don’t forget to sign up for your free 14-day Lindywell trial to enjoy this full workout and many more like it!
