Fitness is Resistance: Your Movement Matters

In the face of stressful, emotional or frightening situations, it can be easy to set aside physical movement and fitness practices. When the house is on fire, there’s no time to be going for a walk or doing some strength training, right?

Right. I get it. In sudden, acute, intense situations this is true.

And if you happen to know that the house is going to be on fire for a long time, we have to look at it differently. Whether you are dealing with the long-term illness of a loved one, a stressful situation in your work or, I don’t know, maybe the threat of authoritarianism in your country, things might feel urgent and pressing but the truth is that the situation isn’t going to resolve quickly.

Taking care of your fitness, whatever that means for you, is essential and high priority. Because if the house is on fire and you aren’t strong enough to carry water or to get yourself out, then the gig’s up.

Your physical care may seem small and inconsequential in the face of big problems but it is not. Sticking with your own, personal fitness routines might seem selfish but it is not. Your movement practice might appear to be the first thing you should let go of, but it is not.

A note here about what I mean by “fitness.” My definition of The World’s Greatest Athlete is anybody who is moving and challenging themselves, even a little.

I’m not talking about being a triathlete or being able to bench press twice your body weight (unless you are a triathlete and you can bench press the moon, in which case, cool!). What I’m talking about is your fitness and taking care of your body – whatever that looks like for you right now.

Maybe it’s going for walks in nature or around your neighborhood. Maybe you have a strength training routine you love or a class at the gym that makes you feel strong. Maybe for you, it’s breath practice or yoga. Maybe you’re injured or have abilities that limit what you can do with your body and if that’s the case (it has been for me at various times), do what you can to move and connect to your physical body.

I’m not talking about hierarchical standards and linear comparison to some Tik Tok influencer, your partner or your next door neighbor. I’m talking about you moving in any way that pushes you a little bit and allows you to grow (remembering that sometimes the challenge is to do less). Whatever feels good and even a little bit challenging in your body, I’m inviting you to keep doing it even when stressful things are afoot.

And here’s why:

Four Reasons Your Movement Matters (Plus Bonus!)

1. Feeling strong and resilient in your physical body supports you feeling strong and resilient in your mind and heart, too.

When I sustain my focus on my fitness and movement, I have more resources to draw on when things get rough. Research shows that “exercise intervention has been associated with cognitive improvement and stress resilience in humans and animal models.”(The Contribution of Physical Exercise to Brain Resilience, Ricardo Mario Arida, Lavinia Teixeira-Machado) That’s fancy science talk for exercise helps you be strong in more than physical ways.

2. Get comfortable with being uncomfortable.

When we challenge ourselves, even a little, during exercise, we are allowing ourselves to get comfortable being uncomfortable. This is a radical practice in modern life which tends to eliminate any and all discomfort! Adding progressive challenge to what you do with your body allows you to recognize that discomfort is ok and you will be ok even if you are uncomfortable. This skill can then translate to other situations that might be uncomforable like having a difficult conversation or doing something outside your comfort zone socially or politically. The key here is to take small, safe risks to expand your capacity rather than blowing it up by doing too much too soon.

3. Helps process emotion.

Emotions are energy in motion. But many of us tense up or stuff down our feelings. Movement moves your physical body, of course but it also moves emotional energy. Exercise, even light to moderate exercise, let’s you metabolize what you’re feeling in a productive way. When in doubt, just try moving a little. If you start to feel a little better, keep going. If not, you can bail.

* I joke that it’s a good thing I teach movement because if I didn’t, I would often be too grumpy or anxious to show up at all! Yet almost always, I do feel better by the end. There are exceptions to this. There are times when I’m too tired or too sad or too something to get moving but this is the rare exception.

4. Invites staying present in this moment right here rather than stewing in the past or spiraling into the future.

Focus on the sensations that are happening in your body while you’re moving. By using mindful concentration, you are practicing residing in the present which is where life is happening. Times of intensity, stress or fear, it’s easy for the mind to spin into what-could-happen and slide into if-only-that-didn’t-happen. Movement and physical practice invite us to be right here, right now.

BONUS: Dance Particularly Promotes Resilience

Research finds that dancing is a particularly beneficial form of movement in stressful times. In a multi-disciplinary review published in the May 2025 journal Psychology of Sport & Exercise, researchers Klaperski-van der Wal et. al. found

“strong empirical empirical evidence for the beneficial stress regularly effects of music, social contact, and movement, illustrating that dance can promote coping and foster resilience.”

Which, yeah! We knew this and it’s cool to read about the science behind it.

AND if you’re in Charlottesville, please join us for some resilience building at the Keep Going Together event at the Tom Tom Festival on Saturday, April 19 from 1-2pm on the downtown mall. Find the details here and invite a friend!

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Former National Institute on Aging Director, Robert N. Butler, M.D. said, “If exercise could be packed in a pill, it would be the single most widely prescribed and beneficial medicine in the nation.” This is particularly true when life feels uncertain, stressful or scary. Even though it might seem like the natural thing to cut back on in intense times, the opposite is true. Your movement matters for moving through difficult days.

Community Change Cannot Happen Without You

Change in Washington cannot happen overnight.
Change in Washington cannot happen for free.
Change in Washington cannot happen with scrolling and liking.
Change in Washington can happen without you.

Change in your community can happen overnight.
Change in your community can happen for free.
Change in your community can happen by sharing information.
Change in your community cannot happen without you.

~ Atticus Tyler Gore, Public Policy Major at William & Mary (and Susan’s nephew)

(Auntie addition: Change in our community is how we change Washington.)

When I emerged from the black depression that was the 2024 election, I had a couple of realizations. The first was like waking from a delusion. The second was a vision of how to move forward.

My whole life, I always thought that if we just get the right people at the top, then the problems could be solved. Elect super smart, deeply empathetic people who want to make lives better, and *shazam* problems, solved.

But it never worked. Not really. No matter who we elected.

This, I realize is a patriarchal capitalistic delusion. I have been acculturated to believe in the white male hierarchy. I have been taught to turn over my power to the anointed few who lead us. Sure, I voted. I followed what was happening but otherwise, I figured it was their job to fix what wasn’t fair or working for everybody. I awoke from this delusion with eye-rolling sheepishness that it took me more than 40 years of adult life to see this. But you don’t know what you don’t know until you know it, I guess, so there you go.

Now I see: the politicians aren’t leading us, we are leading them. We have to show them where we want the country to go.

Which brought me to the second realization: the most positive impact we can make is local, in our own communities. Big national campaigns are sexy and glitzy and exciting. But the real work? The real difference we can make? That happens only right here in front of us in our own neighborhoods. Stay hyper local in order to make a positive difference.

Whatever change you would love to see – no matter how big – start right where you are. Right in front of you.

There are lots of reasons to choose to take local action. Here are three:

1. Act locally to help directly.

Almost $16 billion was spent on the 2024 election. Take that in. $16 billion. Imagine if that money had gone directly to people and organizations that needed it? Imagine if it went toward directly easing suffering, reducing harm, and solving problems.

This is the power of local action: your effort goes directly toward the needs in your community.

In September 2024, we did a fundraiser for the presidential campaign. We raised more than $2500. In the scope of a $1 billion campaign, that wasn’t even a drop in the bucket. Last week, we did a fundraiser for a local community center. We raised more than $1600. In the scope of a new community center, it made a world of difference to them.

2. Act locally to build relationship and community.

How do you understand and respond to the needs in your community? Listen to those in local non-profits and other helping organizations to build connection and trust. Local action means working together and taking the lead from the people doing the work. Offer the skills you have to fill their most pressing needs. This is supportive to them and sustaining for you.

3. Act locally for YOU.

It’s important to understand what’s happening. When what is happening goes against your values and/or the rule of law, we must stand up, speak up, and act to resist it. When wrongs are happening, silence is complicity. Consuming news, protests and rallies, boycotts and strikes are essential parts of the resistance.

AND so is doing positive things to directly help the community. Show up and say NO and resist. And be sure you are also showing up to support by doing positive action.

You may feel righteous and resilient at a protest. That’s great! And tap into your feelings of compassion, generosity, and care by doing directly helpful things, too. Donate money, goods or time to a cause – for them and also for you.

For most of my life, my understanding of social and political change was upside down. Now I see that the only way we shift things is by shifting the culture and the only way we shift the culture is to do it from the bottom up. We can speak up about what’s happening in the larger sphere. We can stand up for our values and against wrong-doing. And that resistance will have more impact and change the world faster, if paired with direct, partnered, local action.

Keep an eye on what’s happening in the larger world.

And put your energy into your local community.

Say no to what you see as wrong.

And also say yes to what you want to build.

Overwhelmed? Make the NEXT Step (Even) Smaller

“My second-grade teacher, Ms. Edson, told us: If something feels too hard to do, it just means that the first step isn’t small enough. So often when we’re struggling, we tell ourselves that it’s a sign that we’re broken or that something is our fault, and then we freeze. But when something is too hard in the moment, tell yourself Ms. Edson’s advice.”
- Dr. Becky Kennedy, clinical psychologist, parenting expert and founder of Good Inside

In the past couple of months, I’ve had many conversations that have gone something like this:

Me: Hey. How are you? (I ask out of habit but when Person gives me a stricken look, I remember that this is no longer a throw-away question. So I down-shift.) I mean, really, how are you?

Person (wide eyed): Well. Things are a mess. There is so much going on that is terrible. I don’t know what to do.

Me: Yeah, I know. I feel it, too. It’s so hard. It’s a lot. It really is.

Person (is it possible that their eyes are vibrating slightly?): I mean. I’m just one person. And I don’t have much money. Or time. I want to do something but … I don’t know where to start. *waves hands around* There’s so much. I’m trying to keep track of it all and *more waving* I want to do something to help but I don’t know what to do.

These conversations could be about something personally overwhelming – a struggling child, an aging parent, their own health issue, or a rift with a friend or partner. The conversation could be around the overwhelming sh*t show of our world right now with massive upheaval, reckless destruction, and intentional destabilization. For some, it’s both.

I’m always grateful when people tell me the truth about how they are rather than blankly (and unconvincingly) saying they are “fine.”* When we tell the truth, we understand that we are in or have been in the same overfull, overwhelmed boat.

For me, I notice two things when I feel like I’m up to my eyelashes in leach-infested water:

1. I feel a buzz and I separate from my body. For me, there is a swirling feeling in my head and I may get foggy or confused or even feel a little light-headed. When another layer of awful lands, my mind tries unsuccessfully to take it in and, like my friend’s waving hands, I float a little outside my own skin.

2. I get scattered and distracted and I’m not sure what the best next thing to do is. In writing this essay, I got pulled away a bunch of times to answer another email, respond to a question, prepare some food, answer a survey, read an article, listen to a talk, prepare for a class. I come back to writing and I can’t remember what my point was. I look at my list of things to do and everything goes a little fuzzy.

This is why I love the quote from Dr. Becky Kennedy, above, about her 2nd grade teacher’s advice to find a smaller next step. When you’re in the swirl of an overwhelming, challenging time, here are things that can help:

1 ~ Get in your body. Feel your feet on the floor, the sensation of your physical self by connecting to sensation. Look around and see color and movement. Drink some cold water or warm tea. Listen to whatever sounds are around you. Give yourself a squeeze: shoulders, hands, thighs or hold your face. And breathe. Which leads to…

2 ~ Get as calm as you can. Once you feel yourself in your body, do whatever works for you to settle your nervous system. It might be doing more of the things above, or maybe it’s intentional breathing, maybe it’s wrapping yourself in a blanket or putting a weighted pillow on your lap. Then once you feel more calm…

3 ~ Find one small thing you can do to next help (including helping yourself). This part is key: choose what your next step is and make it a small one. Super small. Embarrassingly small. Instead of calling all your representatives, just write down their names and numbers. Instead of tackling that project, just find the files you need and put them on your desk. Instead of going to visit your sick friend every day, set up a time to call them or send them a card. Instead of going to every protest that happens, commit to showing up for one...for 10 minutes. Make it small but commit to doing it.

3A ~ Ask for support or help in doing your small thing. Going to a protest for the first time (or the 100th) and feeling wobbly? Ask a friend to join you. Putting off your writing? Ask a friend to text you at a particular time to ask how it’s going. Going to get a test done or receive results from the doctor? Bring someone with you so you don’t have to do it alone. Just the asking for support can be your small next thing.

4 ~ Repeat. Then start over. It’s likely that even doing the small act can rile up your nervous system. So go back to getting in your body (if you can, while you are doing the one small thing), then settling, then choosing one more thing (which may well be taking a rest).

Life will endlessly dish up challenges and difficulties. Just LOOK at all the posts I’ve written about this very thing here, here and here. You will do no one any good, especially yourself, unless you can get in your body, settle yourself, and then choose to act in a small way.

It may be that your small act leads naturally and easily to another. And it may be that your body and mind will need a lot of support to take each small step. Whatever is true for you, you will only know that truth if you stay in your body and let it show you the next small thing you can do.

* Ironically, one of the ways I know that I’m definitely NOT fine is when I tell myself and other people, “I’m fine. I’mfineI’mfineI’mfine.” Ha!

A Bevvy of Birds in a Fromager Tree: The Wisdom of Community

When my husband Frank and I travel, we walk. Sure, we rent a car and all that but whenever we can, we explore by walking.

Explore-walking is great for a bunch of reasons: our bodies get movement, we interact with people and nature, we can pause for views as long as we want and we always see things that we never ever would have seen if we'd only been driving.

Wouldn’t it have been sad to have missed these guys? We would have if we’d only gone by car.

I mean. Seriously. This thing is the size of a man’s finger.

On our February trip to Martinique, we saw lambs and donkeys, those extravagant caterpillars, and more crazy explosions of flowers than we could count.

One day, we saw dozens and dozens of village weaver birds in a massive ceiba pentandra tree.

See all the brown nests?

The ceiba pentandra tree grows not just on the Northern coast of Martinique but in other tropical places from America and Mexico to Central America, Africa and Asia. It has many common names like kapok or silk-cotton tree but in French it is (very French-ily) called le fromager or the cheese maker because it's said that the wood is as soft as cheese. But the biggest thing to notice about the ceiba pentrandra is that it is, well, big: in fact, the largest species on Martinique and can grow to over 200 ft.

Me and a tree whilst hiking.

We saw les fromagers while hiking and along the roadside.

This one actually stopped us mid-sentence. We both said WHOA.

There was a towering fromager on the road to town. We'd driven under its wide canopy many times and vaguely noticed its size. But the morning we walked under it, it stunned us. Not just because it soared over the road, but even more because it was alive with about a hundred village weaver birds chattering and flying in and out of their upside down nests.

The village weaver birds meticulously craft their hanging nests with strips of palm leaf and grasses and it is common for 80-100 bird pairs to nest in a single tree. The birds are in and out and calling to each other, frankly, making a joyful racket. It seems that they choose to nest all together for the whole safety-in-numbers thing but to be honest, it also seemed like they were just having a great time.

SO MANY BIRDS! SO MANY NESTS! SO MUCH FLYING ABOUT! SO MUCH TALKING!

I’m not just telling you this as an excuse to show you travel pictures. There is wisdom in this colony of village weavers in a fromager tree.

First, slow down. Look around. There are wonders everywhere. If you find yourself rushing and overwhelmed, pause. It may seem counter-intuitive when there is so much to do — but take a breath. See what you might be missing.

Second, there is not just safety in community, though there is that. But there is also connection. And joy. There’s work to be done, sure – palm leaves to weave and food to be collected and baby village weavers to raise – but why not do it together? Why not gather and do the work but also chat each other up and have fun?

Finally, indigenous people considered the ceiba pentandra tree to be sacred. In different cultures, the tree holds various meanings and is the place of a range of ceremonies from harvest to burial. In general, though, the fromager “represents a turning point in the trajectory of our life. We may feel powerless due to circumstances that are beyond our control. Now is the time to reevaluate our life by going inward and controlling how we react in order to move forward.” (Source: Tree Spirit Wisdom) My opinion is that we get to choose what is sacred to us.

Slow down. Look around.

Do what needs doing together.

And also reflect and look inward. Treat community as sacred, even if (especially if) it’s fun.

Also, keep fingers clear of enormous caterpillars.

Waves: Using My Own Advice To Stay On My Feet

Chest deep in the Atlantic, feet grounded in the sand, I am focused, a little nervous, excited. The waves are powerful and relentless but I keep turning toward them and diving straight in. Over and over.

"I got this," I think. "This is like living in our country right now. It's relentless and we just have to keep looking straight at it and keep diving in."

“Aren't I brave and strong and clever?” I think. “I'll write an essay. It will inspire people. It will be great. We'll keep diving in together!”

Then a wave towers up and starts breaking sooner than the others. I am caught in between and hesitate, unsure when and where to leap. I duck under but too late. The water rushes my legs out from under me and sucks me backwards. I find my feet only to see another wave breaking too soon, too high, too fast. It wipes me out again.

Breathless and scared, I get to shallower water. I don't want to get out of the water, but I need to get my bearings. Watching the waves from this safer distance, I can barely believe I'd been swimming in any of it at all.

For months, I've been counseling people to limit news consumption and to focus on local action. Don't just spin in the awful. Bring your energy to what you can do. Connect with other people. Literally or figuratively join hands with them.

My first invitation to those stepping into activism is to answer these three anchoring questions *:

1. What is good, beautiful and working?

2. Who or what are you willing to stand up for, clasp hands with, and work for?

3. What is your superpower? What do you do well and with joy?

But here I am traveling on a tropical island and I've wandered away not just from home but from these anchoring questions, from the very advice that I disperse. I keep diving into the news over and over, I keep looking at the big, national, global picture and getting wrapped around the axle of my helplessness. I get whipped into a lather of fury and fear about sh*t that I cannot do one. single. thing. about. And I feel alone.

By not following my own advice, I have whipped my own legs out from under me. I've created my own dangerous, ugly riptide on this beautiful island of flowers, fan palms, and tiny, sweet bananas.

After grump-tramping my way through a hike one morning, I dive into the turquoise sea. Its salty warmth literally buoys me. I feel myself start to soften by taking in what is good and beautiful. As soon as I look, it’s everywhere.

Instead of going back to the news, I meditate in the cool of the afternoon. I draw for a while: a palm tree, a lizard. I make a pattern of crabs and stones and fish. I play around with drawing hands holding each other.

These are difficult day, no question. Keep checking in with yourself: are you in your body? Is your mind spinning? Is your stomach (or jaw or shoulders or stomach or hands) clenched? Keep finding your feet. Keep coming back to yourself. It’s the only way out of the riptide.

It sucks to feel so scared. My anger can literally take my breath away. I have to remind myself, over and over, to extend my exhale, to not gobble the news, to see what else is around me. And there it is: a huge sweeping rainbow. And a bright green lizard. And a tiny banana, as sweet as can be.

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* More on those three anchoring questions:

1. What is good, beautiful and working?

This question grounds us in the full vision of the world. It is a terrible, cruel mess, yes. And everywhere, always, there are good, beautiful things. People who are helping and working to take care of those who are suffering. In order to proceed with calm, centered and clarity, we need to be able to see all of it.

2. Who or what are you willing to stand up for, clasp hands with, and work for?

This question helps narrow our focus to align precisely with our values. I can care about lots of things but in order to use my time, energy and money wisely, I need to focus on just a few. I can’t do everything. I can’t even do a lot of things well. This question targets our efforts.

3. What is your superpower? What do you do well and with joy?

This question identifies what you can do that will make the most impact on the world. Twentieth century philosopher and theologian, Howard Thurman said, “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” When we are frightened and desperate, we can find our selves agreeing to do work that deadens us because we think it’s what’s needed. I’ve done it so many times. But what really makes a difference, what really makes positive change and the world a better place is you doing what makes you light up. Go. Do. That.