Whether you’re scrolling through inspirational IG posts or wellness hub Tiktoks, you’re bound to come across some toxic positivity. Rather than absorbing it as your truth, try keeping it positively real.

When I first embraced being positive, I fell into the toxic positivity trap. I smushed down my feels and plastered on the fake smile. I didn’t talk about the things that were hurting me because I didn’t want to be a bummer AND I avoided people that I perceived as bummers because I didn’t know how to set boundaries.

I was fully toxic in my positivity, dismissing my own and others’ pain because I didn’t know how to acknowledge the pain without being swallowed by it.

After years spent finding the balance and tripping all over myself in the process, here’s what I learned:

• Being real doesn’t require you to drown in your pain (even if it’s all you currently know).
• Being positive doesn’t mean there’s no room for pain and struggle.

The balance is in being positively real:

• Neither dismissing your pain nor sinking into it with no intention of climbing out
• Acknowledging what’s real while looking for the light
• Asking for (and accepting) help when you don’t know what to do
• Having faith that you will pull through it even if it’s really, really hard

One can be positive without being fake and toxic, and feeling negativity doesn’t eliminate positivity. So bulk up your boundary muscles, get vulnerable with those you trust and keep the faith that no matter what you go through, you’ll get through it.

Your friendly neighborhood silver lining realist,

Amy

Photo (cropped) by Jernej Graj on Unsplash

The post Positively Real: Where Positivity & Struggle Coexist appeared first on Strong Inside Out.

When it seems like there’s always something new to fear, lean in to let go.

Because when we’re able to accept that there always will be something new to fear no matter what we do, we simplify the choice: Either let the fear eat you alive, or accept that another thing to fear is coming eventually AND that you’ll handle it when it comes (because you will).

This sounds super doomsday, doesn’t it? But actually, it’s pretty dang freeing. You know the quote, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself”? It’s got a lot of wisdom behind it.

Fear is what separates us from the moment, which means that fear separates us from our lives as we live them.

All this time you’re spending in fear is time you’re not spending being here. Fear is spent on a reality that’s not real.

As someone with anxiety and OCD, I know firsthand that it’s not as easy as “stop having fear.” That’s not the point of this email. These truths I’ve written here today serve as anchors to the real here and now when I find myself in a fear state. They help remind me of what’s real…and the possibilities we fear ain’t it.

I’ve always handled everything that’s ever come my way. So have you.

Every single thing you’ve ever been through, you’ve gotten through. No matter how messy the “getting through” was, you survived it.

There will always be something new to fear, and you know what else? There will always be something new to love, to be proud of yourself for, to learn, to share, to receive, to laugh about and to grow through. The unknown ahead of us will reveal itself, but until that then becomes your now, lean in to let go, babe. Don’t let it steal your very real life from you.

To what’s real,

Amy

Photo by Sasha Freemind on Unsplash

The post Lean In to Let Go appeared first on Strong Inside Out.

Thanks to a little thing called “body attunement,” I’m discovering things about myself and my body while I enjoy the movement I do. I work with my body instead of forcing her into submission, and I’m excited about a form of movement that used to feel like something I just needed to get through.

Body attunement is a pillar in my coaching practice; it’s key for intrinsically-motivated movement.

Because this connection brings me so much joy and Spring feels like the perfect time to welcome in a deeper relationship with one’s body, I felt inspired to make this video for you:

It’s a short pre-workout body attunement exercise I like to call a “drop in.” It’s about 5 minutes and will help you get in touch with your body, reach out an olive branch and invite her/them/him to communicate with you throughout the workout.

Even if you plan to push yourself (especially if you do), this exercise is a great way to stay in touch with your body throughout to avoid injury and all-or-nothing thinking.

I really hope it helps you find a deeper connection with your body so you can reap all the benefits that come from it.

Here’s to you being BFFs with you!
Amy

The post The Drop In: Pre-Movement Body Attunement Practice (VIDEO) appeared first on Strong Inside Out.

One of the biggest fears I hear from people who are really getting into the work of individualizing their health and fitness is that they’ll go back to where they were before, whether that be a weight, speed or mental state.

The truth is, once you start increasing awareness and making real changes in your habits, you can never really “go back.”

Even if your fitness gains become compromised or you start to feel emotional struggle again, it’s not the same as “going back.” You’d be in a completely different place even if some of the experience is the same.

All you’ve learned, all you’ve changed makes it completely impossible for you to simply go back to how you were before because you’ll never be the person you were ever again.

You’ll never lose this awareness and knowledge. You’ll never be able to partake in old, harmful habits in the same mindset you were in before all this work.

You will be you, now, in the “after,” experiencing a similar state to the one that the old you experienced…which makes it a completely new experience. The revelatory thing about that? You get to experience it and react to it completely differently, in a conscious state.

Plus, when you look at “backsliding” with a growth mindset, you realize that every step back is just a boost forward. You get to see things with new eyes, learn about what wasn’t sustainable and cultivate gratitude for how differently you perceive the world now. It’s all forward, baby!

So never fear that you’ll backslide into “before.” From here on out, you’re the “after.” And this time, you have consciousness, wisdom and resilience on your side.

To forward (even if you fall back),

Amy

Photo (cropped) by Dave Goudreau on Unsplash

The post You Can Never Go Back (it’s a good thing) appeared first on Strong Inside Out.

If you hate where you’re at in your health and want more than anything to be in a body you love, I feel for you. I’ve been there. Most of us reading this have. I’m hoping I can help you loosen up on the way you’re driving yourself toward lovability, though.

If you’re trying to get healthy from a place of self-hatred, every action you take to create that “lovable” body probably feels like punishment.

Aaaand punishment-driven actions don’t lead to great overall health in the long term.

When movement is punishment, you dread the next workout.
Who wants to feel like every workout is a slog? No one for very long, that’s who. That’s why punishment-driven movement is unsustainable and often leads to giving up or loathing the journey.

Punishment-driven restriction => activation of your inner diet rebel.
The rules feel stifling, limiting your very human cravings…which makes you want them that much more. Most of us swing right back into overeating or bingeing on all the things we couldn’t have for so long after periods of restriction.

We haven’t even talked about what punishment-driven actions do to your mental health!

Consider this: when’s the last time you were forced to do something as punishment? Did it breed lots of love for the person who punished you? 

Now imagine that you were punished over and over again for something that’s incredibly natural to you…like rest…or eating food that’s enjoyable. How much would you love that person who was punishing you? Would you even be able to enjoy what you created if you have to keep getting punished to maintain it?

You’re not going to magically love working out or restriction when you get to the “lovable” body. If you don’t find a way to love what you do in the journey toward health, you won’t maintain it OR you’ll hate it even when you get there.

So my encouragement for you this week: try to do at least one enjoyable form of movement, or lighten up on your diet. Experiment with it; you can always go back to how it was after if this doesn’t feel right to you.

…it’ll feel right to you, tho. That’s the whole point. ;)

To lovin’ you, no matter where you’re at,
Amy

This article was taken from a Weekly Motivational, a juicy (and free) weekly email sent out to Strong Inside Out subscribers every Monday. Get yours: click here!

Photo (adapted) by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash

The post You can’t hate yourself into a body you love appeared first on Strong Inside Out.