I started skiing when I was in first grade. Once a week during the winter, I would board the bus at the end of the school day full of kids heading to Holiday Mountain for our ski club trip. We would arrive at the mountain, get our rentals, take our lesson, and then ski for hours until our parents would come to pick us up and force us to go home. Some of my favorite memories of being a young child happened on the ski hill. It was a place I always had fun and a place I always felt safe. 

It’s easy to lose these fun forms of movement as we get older. As an adult, I barely prioritize going skiing more than once per year. Fun activities we used to love as a child become things we wish we had more time for, but it is these things we deprive ourselves of that often make us feel most alive.

I have great exercise habits through discipline. I make sure I get in my strength training workouts multiple times per week and get outside for walks. I do these workouts because I know they are good for me and they always make me feel great, but I don’t always have fun. I do know I’ll always have fun, however, while moving my body through activities I loved as a child, such as skiing and playing sports. 

This past weekend, my husband, Cosmos, and I spent Saturday playing ice hockey with his family and went skiing on Sunday. Although my legs are very sore after these two activity-filled days, my heart couldn’t be more full. 

I feel alive, rejuvenated, and excited to get back to my regularly scheduled exercise routine because I remember that prioritizing my strength and movement allows me to move my body in ways that are extremely fun. I am inspired to write this article about how important it is to take time to move your body in ways that you love, all because I allowed myself to move my body in ways that I love this past weekend.

We often look at exercise as something we must do or as punishment. It becomes a daunting task that seems to take up our time and limit us from other opportunities. When I play sports and ski, I remember that exercise is such a gift. I am thankful that I am able to move my body any way I want to, and I’d like to do everything in my power to keep it that way. 

Moving my body in ways that are fun reminds me that I get to choose how I want to live the rest of my life, and I choose to live it in the strongest, most athletic body possible. 

If you’re feeling uninspired to exercise, think back to what activities you loved to do as a child and find a way you can incorporate those into your life now. If it seems impossible to recreate your childhood activities, think about what new sports or forms of movement sound interesting to you that are more accessible at this stage of your life. 

The most challenging part is getting started. Once you give yourself permission to play, everything else gets easier from there.

Xoxo

Coach Maggi