Movement is medicine
By: Laura Thompson
Tags: Work Life Balance, Movement, Personal Training, Wellbeing, Pregnancy

32 weeks pregnant and still as surreal as ever.

Managing a mix of emotions and energy levels, and wrestling with the overwhelming amount of information about the inbound bundle of joy, have I even had time to think about how life is about to change? Time is moving so fast yet it can’t arrive quickly enough! In the week just gone, I worked 40+ hours from home in our second bedroom, the study-come-‘baby room’, and I’ve managed to eat 3 healthy meals a day with plenty of fruit snacks, minus the much needed coffee or two, and have successfully not lost my rag with my corporate job too many times. So far so good.

In this whirlwind of exciting baby belly wriggles, evening cuddles with my partner, new bodily surprises and late night list making there is one thing that has been keeping me grounded — daily movement.

When I became pregnant I felt such excitement but also apprehension about giving up who I was. I have spent years enjoying all types of movement and exercise, building confidence and understanding what works for my body and my mind. I started to question whether the person who I love and appreciate would ever be the same again?

Before pregnancy I was an active person and a qualified level 3 personal trainer (including pre and post-natal). I revelled in high intensity spin classes, hot yoga studios, the competition of a hockey game and the burn from the latest leg press or squat. Unfortunately as many of us have all experienced, at the start of lockdown this happy outlet was cut off so I had to adapt and make the most of it. I started keeping a A3 weekly tracker of the exercise I was doing, really to keep me sane in our 2 bedroom London flat and to also help me maintain some accountability for my well-being. It was a god send!

Although I have been lucky enough to continue to work this year, at times work’s been busier than ever and my previous unwavering work/life balance was coming undone. Work was seeping into MY time like a debilitating disease and it was spreading like wild fire, I was working 10+ hours a day with no commute time, social or fitness class to switch off. My focus was being pulled in all the wrong directions, I was thinking about work, anxious about the next meeting and keeping up the pace I’d set, all the while I was growing a baby and not getting the opportunity to enjoy it and to just be. I took a lovely seaside holiday with my partner and after a wonderful restful week away I returned back to London and the overwhelming weight of work started again… Monday came and went and I sat on the sofa crying and wondering where’s the happy go lucky person that was here at the beginning of the year? I was exhausted. My partner went out for a run and I thought to myself: “Come on Laura just do some simple stretching, that always makes you feel better”.

After 30 minutes of unstructured movement, some dim lighting and a scented candle, I felt lighter. I’ve always known that exercise, for me personally, makes me feel good and it is usually the driver to my get up and go attitude however, life’s focus had changed so steadily during the year that I hadn’t noticed the negative affect it was having on me. I had lost sight of that reasoning.

I decided from then on whatever the day had in store for me I would commit to at least 30 minutes of free movement in the morning during the weekdays and that meant, whatever my body wanted at that time. Usually I feel most comfortable having some idea of what I want to achieve in that workout time but allowing myself to just move freely helped me to let go of any expectations I had built up, I started to feel calmer with more space to think and having some time to bond with my baby.

Work was now officially banished from seeping into my 8:00, 7:30, 7:00 mornings and that time was now solely mine and my baby’s.

Finally I started to feel light.

Exercise and movement is a fundamental to being human — we are built to move, whatever that looks like for the individual. Pregnancy is no different.

Set yourself a realistic goal otherwise you’ll constantly feel inadequate in your own mind which isn’t healthy or helpful.

Try to let go of expectations, especially those you place upon yourself. This is something I am terrible for and one I am constantly having to work on.

Find that thing that makes you feel light and enjoy the motions, it will only make your mind, body (and baby) all more happy and grounded.

Have a great day!

If you are ever unsure about your exercise during pregnancy, please consult your GP before continuing.