Crank up the angst

My imagination is virtuosic at coming up with magical ideas… and then in order to make those ideas exist in the Real World, I have to use my actual Making Things Skills…

and lemme tell ya, those skills do not match up with my imagination.

Like, ever.

Most of my coaching clients struggle with this same gap — Imagination vs Reality

They imagine what their movement practice will feel like, and who they will be when they arrive at the time they’ve set aside for movement.

And then they arrive at that actual moment, and (SURPRISE!) they don’t feel how they wanted to feel. The energy is off, the mood is wrong, the room is too hot, the body feels crunchy…

The temptation to SKIP IT is soooo strong.
 

The “I Don’t Wanna Do It If It’s Not Gonna Be How I Wanted It To Be” song is playing on repeat with the volume turned all the way up. (I know you know this song, it’s a banger.)
 

Something I’ve been playing with in my own personal movement practice, and offering to my clients as well, is this:

Dance to that song.

Oh, and interpret “dance” WILDLY.

But seriously, try this:

Give yourself permission to fully embody that Don’t Wanna energy. 

Let it fill you and move you and express itself for the length of one song. (The angstier the song, the better.)

Pout. Stomp. Feel the NO with your whole body as much as you can.

Be big. Be Awkward. Take up space.

Punch the bed or a pillow. Push against a wall.

(These are all just ideas — think of them as permission slips not a To-Do list.)

If, after the song ends, your willingness to do more movement shifts, go for it.

If it doesn’t, let this be enough.

You will have MOVED (gold star! Green checkmark!)

And you will have honored what is TRUE in your body.

Honoring what’s true in our bodies NEEDS TO HAPPEN MORE OFTEN. Full stop.
 

Here’s a playlist I made called Big NO Energy in case you need some fuel for your angst-radio.