Why age matters?

The counting doesn't stop, even though the experience you accumulate is vast or not, time keeps ticking and I believe age matters because is an opportunity to reassess or redefine how life has been going. What is your definition of old now? Was it the same before? Don't think so... What is mature, what is childish? What is beautiful or ugly? Who or what is interesting or important now? Time passing by, gives the huge advantage of being able to change your mind. Expand vocabulary, clarify values and priorities or confirm your core believes; but just if we take an active roll while the years go by. That's why becoming older is a privilege if we open up to challenge our chosen paths and what are we after for ourselves.

Personally, the capacity of our body to change over time is good news! I am about to become 45 years old and the superficial layer shows white hairs and wrinkles, but in depth, I feel that I am going towards flourishing instead of deteriorating, and that's because of the assertiveness of my internal dialogue. When I was younger, this was a big issue. Unconfident, unsatisfied, sometimes mean in a sense of self acceptance. I felt a big shift around late twenties and at that point my priorities went all the way to pursue those things I was afraid of. Traveling alone, hiking or teach to other teachers (which was also frightening to me at the beginning). I tried ski diving, swam with whale sharks and many more special memories that became possible also because I changed my friend's circles. I wanted to be surrounded by adventurous and brave souls and I think so far this has been a constant until these days. My body craved also many emotions to express, so Muay Thai Boxing, Yoga and Parkour came into my practice. Internal conversations started to be "What if" "I think I can" and I often questioned my core believes. These dissertations guided me to how and why I teach movement as a general scope. Pilates tho, has a special place in my path because it was a big confidence booster from the very first time. It was not about releasing pain, or a rehab situation. On the contrary, my entrance to this method was about how my mind felt in unison while moving. I felt invincible, focused 100% in what was happening in the moment and that's why I still keep doing it. But the main point of telling you these stories, is because the key factor of going towards where you want to go is nurturing awareness and timing is sometimes everything. If your wishes are against the biological cycles of life, it can become harder to pursue your purpose. In my case, even when I felt absolutely fantastic at my 40's for seeking pregnancy, my body wasn't ready anymore. I could've push towards unnatural ways to accomplish it, but this wasn't what I wanted either. This situation changed my mind again, and life purpose have many shapes. Then again, what do you say to yourself these days?

Knowing when is time to push or rest, how this could happen respecting my body while being kind and open minded; that's what I have learned while ageing. Thanks to consistent curiosity to understand human's behavior and our physiological side, plus surrounding myself of people interested in this too; my strength, flexibility and motor control accuracy is much higher than when I was younger. But I can't deny that my body is slowly asking for more time to recover and that's absolutely fine. The peri menopause is on my horizon and I see that becoming aware of this now, will give me so much peace to embrace it. That's why one of my goals this semester is sharing my point of view about this topic for those women that appreciate it. The critical phase to make impactful change of habits that are not yet rooted is 30's & 40's. But analysing habtis it's important for all. Let's take a step back and reflect, that my invitation here. You may be already satisfied with what you've accomplish, but how often you participate in a new activity? How often you go out of your safety bubble and try something new?

GET DIVERSE EXPERIENCES

To learn something new as often as possible, is what I think defines the way you age on a positive note. As we get more attached to our identity, trying something new becomes unthinkable because discomfort is part of it, and that's the least that you want when you're used to know what to expect. Social, Cultural, Political, Religious nets where we cohabitate makes it even harder the most of the times. Looking for different experiences, is necessary to have greater understanding of why you choose what, who and how. Coming back to movement as a fitness experience, methods and disciplines like Pilates, Dance, Calisthenics, Functional Training, Boxing, Plyometrics, Body weight training have been significant in my life as a teacher, coach or trainer. It’s necessary to have clear vocabulary to define physical activity, but it has a huge downside when it becomes part of our identity. “I am a runner, I am a yogi, I’m not a dancer, I am bad at...” We already narrow opportunities to move differently when the social and cultural environment categorize us through grades, competitions or mainly success and failure. If we don't choose life towards being professional athletes, then the advantage is that we can play with all the possibilities that our body gives and actually identify ourselves as a “I am a human and I am curious” and then place a verb: “I could dance, run, climb, jump etc.” Pretty much I could “do” but is not entirely who I “am”.

The skeleton of the essential needs that our mind and body definitely could take advantage if you insert diverse inputs, that is the root of the movement habits I invite you to pursue: Meditate, Mobilize, Hang, Lift, Vibrate. They can be nurtured in many conventional and unconventional situations. In the upcoming months I will leave in this blog one by one, what are the benefits of including these verbs in your life, but for now, my humble advice is: Increase the awareness of how do your speak to yourself. More exposure to new inputs with discomfort involved. Question your core values often by interacting with different environments and people, and keep in mind the guideline I treasure the most:

The power over choosing what to believe about your mind and physical capacities is the game changer

Feel welcome to share your thoughts and add some extra advise with me.

Wishing you a wonderfully living day