6 Steps to Create a Trauma-Sensitive Approach to Your Home Movement and Exercise Practice
As the call from doctors to “flatten the curve” of the coronavirus pandemic became the social media influencer’s call to #flattenthecurve, free at-home workouts began to flood the social media, many of them declaring, “No excuses!” and “No rest days! And while I am happy that more workouts are becoming increasingly accessible to more people, I am terrified of the messaging that has left the commercial gym floor and landed in the sanctity of our homes.
Let’s be clear: I do think taking care of our bodies is critical right now. Each day I ask my husband and daughter what they are going to do for their body that day. Yesterday my daughter said, “Dance!” (She’s teaching herself K-Pop dances.) My husband said, “Go for a brisk walk.” “Rest,” I said. And I did, even though my new stay-at-home training program from my coach declared it a strength training day.
I elected to rest because I was exhausted from being worried. I am not always worried right now. My worst days are reminiscent of my days struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The day before opting to rest, I had become hypervigilant and on guard against an invisible threat — in this case, a virus. My muscles had braced for hours against attack. My mind ran a million threat sequences and came up with a…
