DO YOU move?
Mette Skjærbæk“As winter slowly but surely sneaks up on me over the months, my motivation to workout tends to decline. The cold weather has me leaning towards introversion rather than extroversion. This isn't the ideal scenario for me, particularly considering my busy mind. I must be a strict boss-lady to myself, ensuring that I engage both my body and mind.”
I get so many associations when I think of movement. The physical act of moving the body. The psychological aspect of moving the mind. Moving from one place to another. To move someone emotionally. To move energy between people. To move beliefs. How we always move as inhabitants of planet Earth, spinning around Earth. There is movement in everything.
Science has documented that it is good to move our bodies and our minds. Like the movement of water in a river can cleanse and purify, so can movement clear our thoughts, an uneasy feeling in the body, stagnated blood in our vessels, and so forth.
As winter slowly but surely sneaks up on me over the months, my motivation to work out tends to decline. The cold weather has me leaning towards introversion rather than extroversion, although I do enjoy a good dinner party or social time in general, albeit less frequently than in the summer. My natural energy levels are lower during the winter.
This isn't the ideal scenario for me, particularly considering my busy mind. I must be a strict boss-lady to myself, ensuring that I engage both my body and mind. The benefits are numerous, and the inner state of my mind and body significantly improves when I get rosy cheeks, enhance oxygen intake, activate muscles, and experience clearer thoughts through increased blood circulation and muscle activity. Movement is also skincare from within. Increased blood circulation benefits the skin, as nutrients, minerals and oxygens are better transported through the system.
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The power of power walking
This winter I have had less desire to join classes and the like, instead I do power walks. Spending much more time indoors in winter, I feel like I need to GET OUT.
Power walks, where you walk so fast that you are close to running, may initially seem a little strange. I was recommended to do this type of exercise, and honestly, in the beginning, I was quite self-conscious when walking at high speed among people. More than anything, I felt like I looked like someone in a hurry. And so what?
It works wonders as the core and the lower body really must be activated to maintain high speed, and the strengthening of the muscles is quite remarkable. It was easy to feel the day after my first power walk when the muscles showed signs of having been thoroughly used, much more than if I had just walked at a more normal speed. The heart pounds faster, indicating a good cardio workout, the body warms and the mind feels more set free. It is a great way for me to get outside, feel the fresh air and get some daylight, and even on days when I don’t make it out in time before the sun sets, walking in the dark is lovely too.
The other night, I threw on my jacket, hat and gloves after placing a lasagna in the oven. I set the oven to a slightly lower heat than normal to give me a little more time. I went to the harbor nearby to get some sea breeze and to see all the lovely lights over the city. I called a girlfriend and had a good update on her life, and the crisp air in my lungs felt so good. Upon returning home and taking the lasagna out of the oven, my mind and body were in another state than when I left less than an hour earlier. I feel joy inside after powerwalking, and that motivates me to do it again the next time I think of it. The body remembers what does us good.
If you are bored of training, change what you do
I also really like reformer training and pilates, appreciating how they gently yet efficiently tone and strengthen the entire body. Additionally, I love ‘Living Yolates’ and ‘Dancing Yolates’. Yoga is very beneficial for my mind, and I try to attend a yoga class regularly. While I don’t practice it as often as I would like, face yoga is also brilliant for releasing muscle tension, improving skin glow, and generally promoting relaxation.
My best advice: if you are bored of training, change what you do. Find something new. This summer I bought rollerblades as I was missing the time back in the 90’ies when I lived in New York where I rollerbladed everywhere. Rollerblading in the sun gave me a feeling of being in my twenties again. Whatever works for the individual is key to getting it done.
I hope that my thoughts above have inspired you to fill your DO YOU “cup” with movement because it really makes a world of difference to our mental health and bodies.
With love,
Mette Skjærbæk, Founder of Karmameju
Mette’s skincare for movement
- Dry brushing gives me the feeling of a tiny skin exercise every morning. Both face and body, I really would not be without it.
- When going out in the cold, I always apply either CALM balm or GLOW face oil to my face and hands just before I leave, to protect the skin from the wind, the cold and dehydration.
- When exercising outside: I always wear BB face cream: my SPF protection, day cream and light foundation.
- Deodorant: one of the most important choices you make in skincare, if you ask me. The armpits have a vital purifying function in the lymphatic system, and we need to treat them gently in terms of the skincare ingredients we apply, and never impede the body’s natural processes. I alternate between BREEZE and SOFT.
- BLAZE tension release is in my bag, my car, my bathroom and by my bed. I also often apply it just before doing exercise, and always if I have sore muscles from a workout.
- YIN & YANG lip duo. My lips often feel dry in winter, and my one eye often tears making the skin under the eye a little sensitive, either YIN or YANG is always in my pocket or handbag.
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