Resolutions are no good if you’re not having any fun.

In my last article I wrote about New Year’s resolutions. They are peddled around this time of year to ad nauseam that it’s hard to avoid hearing about them. And they don’t always reap any rewards if your whole being isn’t into it.

But let’s say, it just so happens that come January you knew it, you’ve been feeling it rise up inside of you and voila, you say, “2020 is the year.” You feel ready to embark on a new exercise program, diet, mediation practice or lifestyle habit of some kind. I lump them all as forms of self improvement, no matter the method. Day one usually starts with a plan, goal setting and ways in which to measure your progress. Whatever it is that you feel compelled to do can feel overwhelming at the beginning. After all, the pressure to succeed on social media is a real thing.

Twenty years in the health and wellness business, I have experienced my fair share of new diets, exercise methods, supplement and lifestyle trends. There is one common thread that I try to maintain if I decide to take on any lifestyle change of my own and that is to have some fun in the process.

Being dedicated and driven are wonderful qualities along any new endeavor, but we often miss the opportunity to have fun and keep it light.

This is a major quality that I feel is missing from our current culture. We are taking ourselves too seriously and rigorously trying to improve ourselves to death. And when I say death, I mean the death of all things joyful and make life worth living.

Just because we have goals and we are dedicated to meeting those, doesn’t mean we need to lose our sight on the joy of doing something new. Let me explain.

Recently I have discovered red light therapy. It’s a fairly new therapeutic method for all things that ail you. It’s benefits, or rather the claims behind it say it improves skin tone, reduces fine lines and wrinkles, enhances muscle recovery, repairs sun damaged skin, reduces inflammation, helps with joint stiffness, sleep, depression, circulation, cellular growth….it solves complex math problems and assists with slowing climate change…… okay, maybe not those last two.

I decided to try it because I live in a cold and dark climate in the winter and I get a little depressed. I have poor circulation and am always cold this time of year. I also have something called Raynaud’s syndrome, which is a blood circulation disorder. So this year, I felt compelled to try this.

Now, I am all for increasing collagen and improving my skin complexion, what woman over 35 isn’t. And to increase circulation and reduce joint stiffness, yes, sign me up. The benefits sound almost too good to be true.

Before I tried it, I looked on the internet and found some great You tube videos about red light therapy. One of these videos was from a well know celebrity trainer who has 2.5 million followers on his channel. I watched his video and realized, this guy is a biohacker extremist. He is all about improving his health, his physique and clearly his chiseled cheek bones. In the 20 minute video, he never laughed or smiled. This self improvement is serious business and if you are not getting results then why are you doing it?

I admit, I sometimes fall for the biohacker extremes, I have been known to do some myself. I am a curious person, but that story is for another day.

So, I decided to give it a try. It’s been about 2 months. I really am not sure if I am noticing an improvement in my wrinkles or sagging skin, that darn collagen is tricky. I still have some joint stiffness here and there. What I notice is that it feels good. The warm bed, the bright light and soft hum of the bulbs put me to sleep most of the time. It’s the best nap ever.

This is why I am going to continue. You might ask? What about the other benefits? Yes, I do notice an improvement in my circulation. I have had only one Raynaud’s episode this winter. I am not as cold. I feel a little less sad, but I am also taking supplements to help with this and exercise frequently, so it’s hard to say if it’s all contributed to the red light therapy.

It feels good.… It makes my day a little lighter and I walk out of the bed feeling rested and rejuvenated. This is good enough for me, but for the celebrity trainer, I am not sure if he has the same kind of measurable scale as I do…

Maria’s measurable scale:

Yucky

Not fun

Meh

Kinda nice

Oh this feels pleasant

Wow!…

This is clearly a very scientific scale. And one that I know at least one other person uses, my son.

Just the other day, I took my boys to a trampoline park. My youngest son is a ball of energy and loves to jump. He piles up pillows and mattresses and practices his flips at home all the time.

Why does he do this? He does it for fun, because he likes to jump and go upside down and try new things. He says it feels good and is one of his favorite things to do. He is not on a trampoline team, he does not have any expectations for himself, he has some small goals to do multiple flips but the goals are part of the fun for him.

When I watch him jump, laugh and play, it makes me smile. I am reminded that exercise can be fun. We have all been kids. We used to play for fun. We used to run for fun. We used to have pick up games at the park where people would just show up and play basketball, soccer, flag football or tag. I remember doing “penny drops” on the monkey bars in elementary school.

We all started getting older and stopped having fun. We started measuring ourselves by a set of standards that excluded the joy of moving, learning and exploring, because these cannot be measured, hence my new scale above. Somewhere along the lines self improvement became a sabotage on our fun.

Back when I started my Pilates studio, I had a way of measuring people’s progress. We would start with a goal sheet and move from there. I would measure flexibility, strength, stamina, etc. This was probably the most boring time in my career, but I felt compelled to do it as I thought this was the only way to measure growth.

Nowadays, most of my clients work hard, we have fun and we see where it goes. I ask everyday how they feel and how they would like to move that day. I know what their goals are and I keep them in mind, but I also try to find some balance. Goals are one thing, but not by compromising other unseen benefits, like “it just feels good.” Don’t underestimate the power of play, laughter and joy.

I often call my studio the Pilates playground because I want people to feel the joy of being playful again. They walk out with a smile.

Now I know we need measurements, this is why we have scientific studies to prove effectiveness. I am not against measuring or creating standards. I am for balance. There are always variables that need to be considered, but there is more than one way to get there.

And I have seen this.

My father was a high school volleyball coach for over 30 years. One of his favorite coaching games to play was to put himself on one side of the net and try to ace 9 times out of 10 against his team. Often times he would egg them on and taunt them as each ball would hit the floor. He aced them quite a bit, but as the season progressed the girls got better and better and the game would start to change. They were teasing him more as they were able to pass more balls and he couldn’t get a ball on the floor. The girls would pass, set and hit to perfection. It built strong teamwork, it taught them how to pass better and they had fun doing it. He played this game usually near the end of practice as a way of getting his players to goof around, he didn’t make it mandatory or call it a drill. The first rule he taught each and every player he coached was to “seek fun and enjoyment.”

He was a decorated coach and inducted into the Inland Northwests Sports Hall of Fame just this last year, proof that success can come with hard work and play.

We can always reach our goals and measure our progress by a set of standards. We can even be driven and dedicated, but I would ask you in your new year, with your set intentions or your resolutions, whatever they may be, are you having fun?