Well Fit | Moving Mindfully
The fitness culture as a whole is motivated by cosmetic appearance, however we need movement in our lives for more than just aesthetic reasons. If we look back in time movement is walking, climbing, lifting, swimming, hunting and gathering. Unfortunately convenience has made us less active, with machines doing much of the moving for us. To make up for this many of us spend several gruelling hours in the gym hoping to undo the days of being sedentary at a desk. However completing a workout at the expense of not enjoying the process is not sustainable. WELL CURATED chatted to Movement Coach Kim Hartwell about the importance of moving for a healthy mind and body, and the rewards of taking exercise out of the gym to the great outdoors.
Fitness is so much more than muscle tone, what is the most important element of keeping fit for you?
I think that only thinking of fitness as a means to muscle tone serves a huge injustice to all of the other things you serve to gain from it. As my movement journey has progressed I’ve realised how incredibly empowering fitness is for the mind and body. I used to spend hours at the gym for the sole purpose of looking good. What I was missing out on was the absolute euphoria and joy that you can feel when you set your sights on all of the other aspects of fitness and let any of the aesthetics be a nice bonus.
For me true empowerment comes from the freedom to move your body in a way that feels amazing, to laugh, to play, to relish the incredible things your body can (rather than can’t) do for you. Nothing fires me up more than climbing up a cliff face, surfing a wave or creating a new fun movement flow for my students. At Rock & Soul Adventures (our climbing and movement focused retreats) we show people how incredibly rewarding it is to be able to embrace these things, to push out of their comfort zones, to embrace the wonders of moving in nature. The biggest reward? Seeing a huge grin and absolute elation on their faces when they ascend their first climbing route, ride their first wave and learn how fun and playful movement can really be.
There is a misconception you have to spend hours in the gym to engage in exercise, why is it important to have a mindful approach to movement?
I think of the hours and hours I crashed and smashed my body about the gym when I was younger. I lived in New York for a while and it was a very “trendy” thing at the time to do HIIT classes daily (sometimes even twice daily). Although I loved it (mostly), I realised the route of WHY I was doing these classes wasn’t coming from a place of respect and love for my body. It was quite the opposite. It was like I was punishing my body for everything I thought it wasn’t and everything I perceived that I wanted it to be. When I learnt to listen to my body and really explore my passions of movement, what exercise I absolutely loved, what felt good in my body, that’s what truly set my soul on fire and I found a whole new world. I used yoga and movement to listen to my body, I climbed rocks to embrace my inner adventure monkey and playfulness, it became so much more than weights on a bar. Sure I think there absolutely is a time and place for strength training, for intelligently planned HIIT training but for me it’s not about butchering my body any more, it’s about empowering it to do what I love for longer.
Do you ever have days when you don’t feel like moving, how do you approach these?
Like everyone I have more motivated and less motivated days. On the days when I don’t feel like moving I start with some stretching or a mini flow on my mat and find that especially if I’ve got a good playlist I find my groove. Failing that I’ll just get out in nature on a walk or a bike ride, that’s usually enough to lift my energy a little. Worst case I listen to my mind and body and realise it might just not be a day to train and I’ve made my peace with that. Although I rarely go more than 2-3 days without movement as it’s what sets my soul alight and I really feel my mood and mindset shift if I don’t do it. Even ten minutes in a day can make a world of difference.
How do you encourage your clients to keep active?
I like to share my perspective of movement and training with my clients. Through that I help them find their passions; what they love doing.
"Play" is one of our highest forms of adaptation, so for me I’m like “why wouldn’t we bring play into our training?”. My clients work hard, they’re strong, they’re mobile, but more than anything they’ve learned to embrace the beauty of their body, to embrace the power of what makes them enjoy movement. I just help to lead them in the direction of that. For me that’s the biggest privilege I can have as a coach. I want to empower my clients to empower themselves. I do this through sharing my knowledge, making them question why we’re doing what we’re doing and making it as enjoyable as possible so it’s something they want to do, something they love to do - life’s too short to do what makes you miserable.
You have made a career out of movement, as the world of wellbeing continues to evolve, have you seen in a shift from traditional Personal Trainers to Movement & Lifestyle Coaches?
I think the wellness world as we know it has had some huge changes over the past few months. What’s been one of the positives (in a horrible situation) is seeing people get outside more. People have realised they don’t have to go to a fancy gym. They can just move, wherever they are. Movement is for everyone.
For me I love that I can now connect with people the world over (vs just the people in South West London). I think with this change people the world over have had access to teachers and coaches with so many different influences. I for one make it my mission to never stop expanding my knowledge in my field (and elsewhere), lockdown has been the perfect place for us to all develop and learn new ways of moving and connecting to our bodies. With that I think we will see a huge shift in how people train. This will undoubtedly bring a shift in movement coaching.
From rock climbing to surfing, you make the most of the natural environment to boost your endorphins, where is your favourite workout spot in the world?
Osssh such a toughy, depends which activity! Sri Lanka is my absolute favourite place to surf (Hiriketiya or Ahangama are INSANE). I also surfed in the most magical spot in Lombok where we had to take a fishing boat to the middle of the ocean to find the break which was just the most incredible experience. Costa Rica is also just the best place for all things nature and wilderness exploration. Portugal (Cascais) is our favourite place for rock climbing - it’s the first place we learnt to rope climb, you can climb cliffs right next to the oceans and it’s just the most magical thing. It’s one of the spots for our Rock and Soul Adventures retreats! The UK also has some amazing spots for getting outdoors, sometimes we just have to look for them and go whatever the weather! Adventures are always a good idea!
Many sportswear brands are supporting the movement towards sustainability, could you curate your champions of eco-friendly activewear?
My faves for sustainability for swimwear are Stay Wild Swim and for activewear Silou London.
