Gym Revelations
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[00:00:00] Welcome to Move With Deb. I'm Deb your friendly neuroplastician. And this is a podcast that explores the relationship between the body and the mind from a health at every size, judgment, free perspective. I teach you how developing a new internal conversation based on curiosity, self friendship and simple neuro-plasticity techniques can rewire your bodymind out of pain and emotional overwhelm to help you build the rich full life that you want to live. Disclaimer, this is not a replacement for medical care.
[00:00:50] Hello and welcome to move with Deb, the podcast. And um, this episode is a compilation of. Two episodes, or not even episodes, two videos that I shot in my car after going in the gym. Uh, and I love that they were indirect. They were like indirect conflict with each other. So one, one was like amazing, super pumped, like, oh, everything felt great and everything worked, and blah, blah, blah, blah amazing gym session. And I shot a video in my car after that and I never posted it just 'cause sometimes these things just don't happen. Then the next one was the week after and that one felt really hard and I had some insights from that workout. And then there's a little video at the end, a little commentary conversation with my coach, Melissa.
[00:01:46] Um, that I'm also sharing cuz where she kind of invites me. And now we invite you. To do this thing, which is like, take the story out of the sensation or take the story out of the feeling. And you know, one, just let it be varied and two, just like take it as information and notice how that changes in your body.
[00:02:15] So, um, and then I'm gonna post a, a link to an Ellen Langer. Um, conversation on Curable podcast. Um, cuz one of the things she talks about that is really foundational for this kind of series of conversations with myself, basically, or series of conversations with you, is one that we don't wanna take a snapshot and make that one slice mean everything.
[00:02:47] Right. So always in pain recovery work or emotional work, we just wanna, you know, have these little moments of checking in and being like, what am I making this experience mean? And you can notice if there are habits and trends that you start to make. One, you're just training your brain to really pay attention to negative, uh, strong emotions, negative physical sensations, and that you're making these moments mean like so much about you.
[00:03:20] What's possible for you? What is kind of the truth of everything, rather than just this getting in this habit of like checking in at different times. Not globalizing. Really spreading out this experience and also just recognizing, like even with I did with my coaches, it can feel one way, but having an outside observer, um, guiding me, we actually noticed that I had all of the strength available to do those movements even though my leg felt a little bit weak.
[00:03:57] So we start by becoming really kind with our self-awareness, right? Just noticing that we can be really kind with our curiosity and our self-awareness and this process of training our brain to notice things without the rest of the story, without like painting the entire picture.
[00:04:21] Um, and that's, that's this mind body neuroplasticity process that we are engaging in, that I am engaging in. I am also doing this work. Right, and what I notice is when I look at my life through this lens, more things are possible. And I notice that, you know, both my emotional pain and overwhelm symptoms and my physical pain symptoms, um, tend to move through much more quickly, and I'm able to become stronger.
[00:04:53] And that's what I'm doing physically. That's my goal, is to work on strength and physically where I am today in, what was it? February, 2023 is a, is a like light years away, super far cry from where I was, um, last year and over the summer, which was, I was in a lot of pain and I still have like stories that I've not told about that, but I will get to it.
[00:05:18] Just take my word for it. So, This is this practice of letting it be different, letting healing be dynamic, and using a neuroplasticity framework to help you make kind of change over time. That's what we're looking for. All right. I hope you enjoy this episode, and thanks for listening. And if you wanna work with me in the show notes I'll put a link to my Calendly.
[00:05:49] And I'm currently working with people in 12 week increments, um, doing pain recovery or doing general life coaching. This kind of hyp, hybrid hypno coaching process that I do. And, um, let's just work on creating some shifts into self-compassion and creating these mind body shifts for healing. Okay.
[00:06:13] Hello. Lovelies. So I just finished working out with my coach, Melissa, and one of the things like today fucking rocked is one of those like fucking rocks kind of days. And I think for me the. thing that was really powerful was a few weeks ago I was stuck in this like feeling a lot of weakness on my left side.
[00:06:44] And I think what a good coach does is helps you see the, like, gives you these minor corrections or cues. Really, they're like cues that changes the embodied experience. And so what I saw. And what I've been practicing from that time was just these little adjustments that I could make in adding some accessory work, um, but also just imagining, like visualizing that leg being strong.
[00:07:18] And then what I noticed today was the continuity of my strength throughout the workout was so different, and I like that alone. It's not about how much I lifted, it's not about how deep my squat was, but the continuity that showed me this is working. And that was such like this powerful, profound experience. Like I totally cried in there.
[00:07:47] I'm gonna, I did. I cried in there. I'm pointing. That's where I was. Um, That continuity of strength, the seeing that change happen, like the noticing the difference between making small, tiny, almost imperceptible changes. Um, it was just tremendously powerful. And what it did was it lifted me from this sense of doom and despair, this sense of feeling like whatever this is, it's always gonna be this way, you know, and like, or where my brain wants to loop into like, well, you used to lift three times a week or you used to be able to do this thing. And I'm just am like leaving the past in the past and being with my today body. But also just seeing that change doesn't require radical change. It doesn't require.
[00:08:46] being somebody different. I'm still me. I'm the same me when I walk into the gym. I was the same me there a few weeks ago, and I'm the same me today. And yet today's workout felt so different and it just. Gets me excited for like continuing all of these relationships, the relationship with my coach, my relationship with my body, my relationship with the weights when I'm lifting them, and they're hard, the relationship, like that's happening on the inside of me as I am building muscle and, um, moving blood around and oxygen, like all the, all of mes that I am caring for right now, and the me that like has a hard time when things feel hard.
[00:09:31] Because of all of the messages that I've absorbed about what it means to live in a bigger body. And so yeah, I'm just like, really? I'm really, really stoked. And I just wanted to share that with you. For anybody who feels stuck, that like the ability to unstick yourself to just start that change ball rolling.
[00:09:58] Um, it can happen. And it can, when it feels good, let it feel good. Fill up your whole body with that good feeling and, and enjoy. All right, I will catch you later. Bye.
[00:10:14] Okay, y'all. It's Deb and I. This is a follow up to the other video that I haven't posted yet, but well, I will post before here. Um, this, today's workout was, . Interesting. I went up and weight, but my body was like feeling that same kind of difficult difficulty in my patterning in terms of my squat and weakness in my leg, and I was just like, noticing like this little feeling of defeat and this little feeling of like sadness and this little feeling of like, oh, you know, I thought last week it was like we were done with that. And I was like, okay, so today so useful. Because what really showed me was like one that. Idea of like we're past this and whatever.
[00:11:11] It's like one and done like can be a little bit of a perfectionist fantasy. So just noticing that like, I don't need to feel defeated today. And then also when I put in the time and did the work and work with my trainer, we actually went up and weight which is awesome, only in that I had all the strength available to do the movement, even though it didn't feel like that.
[00:11:36] And then I did, we did some other kind of accessory and mobility work to address these muscle patterns, and I think it's just like the real answer is to let it be a little messy. Let it be like a living dynamic process. And that's what I'm taking away from today's workout. Um, and it still feels good. And I still feel like that kind of like woosie, like, ugh, I got this really nice feeling after I've lifted things, lifted heavy things.
[00:12:10] I really enjoy it. I enjoy my trainer, I enjoy being at the gym. And um, those are things I've worked really hard for, to have those feelings, those positive feelings that I enjoy. I created them. They were not created for me. I created them. The gym certainly didn't create them for me. You know, we all know like fat people in gyms and whatever so I'm giving myself a pat on the back.
[00:12:38] I'm giving my trainer a pat on the back cuz we end up like geeking out about neuroplasticity and movement patterns and how to create safety and like I really fucking love that. I have a partner in this who also holds this greater knowledge than I do about what's possible for my body. Because when I only, if I were to only be doing my own workout, I think I would've, um, not challenged myself. So that is today's update, and I love that it comes as this like kind of counterbalance to the other, um, you know, super pumped, hyped up video. Uh, and there's, there's just nothing wrong. All is well. All right. Thanks for listening.
[00:13:27] Deb: What it was, I think it was you were saying like, like what can we do here? Um, with my leg.
[00:13:33] Melissa: With your leg? So instead of making the story that the leg is telling you Yeah. Or that you're receiving the main character mm-hmm. , um, of just thinking about it as more information. Yeah. But trusting your body too.,
[00:13:47] Deb: and I actually love that cuz also then I, I felt weak, but I lifted more so, yeah.
[00:13:52] Melissa: You lifted more because, amazing. Because you made that story about your leg, just part of the information about how you felt that day. It was just one piece of information. Mm-hmm. , it wasn't the entire leg.
[00:14:02] Deb: And then today is totally different. Like that story is gone today and my leg felt totally different.
[00:14:08] And, and you trusted, your body my squats felt really relaxed and confident, which is very exciting.
[00:14:14] Melissa: Your squats were awesome today.
[00:14:15] Deb: Thank you.