Beyond Resolutions 🙏🏽
Hello friends!
It's been a while! I can’t believe it's been a few months since the launch of Warrior Rising, Chrysalis Kali's online training program. Last fall, I had the honor of guiding 16 amazing individuals through 2 months of deep exploration into Filipino Martial Arts as a decolonization practice. Together, we delved into solo training workouts and group discussions that explored the rich history of Filipino Martial Arts, understanding our nervous systems, and redefining what it means to embody the spirit of a warrior.
Chrysalis Kali had such an expansive 🦋 year last year (check out the highlights here!) that I've found myself needing to tend to my nervous system a bit longer than usual this winter (more on this later). As a personal trainer, I'm used to the surge of collective energy around January 1st as people fervently recommit to their fitness goals. However, January falls smack dab in the middle of winter – a time when our bodies instinctively want to hunker down and hibernate rather than engage in any kind of activity that requires us to rev up our internal fire 🔥 (like goal gettin' or vigorous exercise).
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for vigorous exercise in any season – if that's what your body is craving and it's in alignment with the season of life you are in. However, in my over a decade-long experience in the fitness industry, I've observed that by mid-February, the initial zeal behind most people’s New Year's fitness resolutions tends to fizzle out. It's a reminder that sheer willpower can only carry us so far. Pushing too hard, too soon often leads to injuries 🤕 or simply losing steam. And before people know it, another year passes without a consistent commitment to their long-term health.
But what if we shifted our perspective and embraced each season as an opportunity to renew our devotion to the ancestral altar of our bodies? What if we recognized and honored the unique qualities of each season, cultivating a more holistic approach to our well-being that resonates with the natural rhythms of life? What if we tuned in to the signals of our body and tuned out what everyone else was doing in order to choose our self-care practices? As we age, our movement practices will also change depending on the phase of life we're in. What if each winter, we reflected on how well our bodies served us in the year(s) before, allowing gratitude to guide our intentions for our health and buoy our actions as the seasons cycle again? Our commitment to wellness can become a sustainable, year-round devotional practice 🙏🏽 rather than a fleeting resolution.
As we work towards healing from the effects of colonialism, especially in how we relate to our bodies, exercise, and the passage of time, it can feel like a relief to surrender to rather than fight the seasonal shifts of energy. Instead of constantly chasing self-improvement, driven by the pressures of capitalism and its unattainable standards, adopting a more innate flow and cultivating self-acceptance can emerge as our most valuable resolution yet. ✨