My understanding of exercise is that having a body that is moderately aerobically fit with good muscular strength means that it will much more easily achieve my daily physical responsibilities, in a gentle way that doesn’t leave me exhausted or in muscle fatigue and pain at the end of each day or work week. Knowing what exercises I personally need to do has not come from what Serge Benhayon or Universal Medicine has said, but from feeling what my body truly needs to be supported.

Exercising in a way that is about feeling what my body needs and how it responds to each exercise, I soon felt that if I did too much exercise or pushed too hard, the exercise would counteract what I was working towards – to feel more energetically vital in my body and more able to stay gentle throughout my day. Instead, I would feel somewhat exhausted, hard or disconnected from my body at the end of the day. Exercising at too high an intensity, obsessively, competitively or to perform or look a certain way also felt very unnurturing and un-loving towards not only my body, but to me too. And these were things that I had also been inspired to change – to be more honouring of my body, more self-aware and more loving with myself.

Discovering a way of exercising that is gentle and honouring of what is felt in my body has been life changing for me. In the past I have participated in over 20 years of extremely intense sports including athletics, football, netball, swimming, basketball, triathlon, marathon running and adventure racing at state and national levels. Not only has it allowed me to change the way that I work out my own body, it has also changed the approach that I have towards my work, in the field of exercise physiology. It’s not so much changed what exercises I do or what I recommend to others, but it’s changed the way the exercises are done. I now see that in the past I have worked as a sports trainer or rehabilitation consultant to try to help people who wanted their bodies to look better, get the right size or shape, be pain free, or to perform better in their sport. When the focus was on such outcomes, the exercise was performed in a way to try to achieve the outcome, usually at the highest intensity possible, to get there as soon as possible. By exercising in such a way there was very little consideration of how the body was truly coping or responding to the training at the time, often resulting in further pain and injury, or no change at all. It was very disconnected to the body, and more mentally designed, based on how to get to the outcome.

I can confidently say that the inspirations of Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine, about being more connected to me and my body and being self-loving and nurturing, have allowed my exercise and my work to become of greater quality and integrity. No one has told me how to exercise or how to work, this all came from connecting more deeply with myself and my body. At work I now take the time to connect to the person, feel their whole needs, and ensure that the exercises we complete together are in line with the needs of this person and where their body is currently at in order to develop not only a fit and strong body, but also one that is energetically vital, gentle and connected. Exercising in such a way is much more honouring and also very enjoyable and often results in a change to not only what type of exercise is enjoyed but also the intensity or duration of the exercise.

By Anonymous