It took hitting rock bottom for it to hit me that I needed to find a way to make time to help me feel good again. I had stopped making my physical body a priority and as a result my mind and spirit were in a terrible way. I needed to get moving. So the next morning after being diagnosed with PND I put on an episode of Playschool for my kids, went and stood at my kitchen bench and, despite being the last thing I felt like doing, I began doing some of the moves I used to do on my ballet barre; raising my leg up and down behind me, some bending and straightening of my knees. I felt this tiny bubble of an emotion that I hadn’t felt for what seemed like so long that it took me a while to recognise what it was. It was Hope. I did 10 push-ups at the bench and the feeling of strength through my body very faintly sparked an inner strength that I thought was lost. I only lasted two minutes until my daughters called out to me but that was all I needed.
There was born my 2-Minute Moves; my first do-able small step that my excuses couldn’t get in the way of. I didn’t need to leave the house, be away from my kids or have any equipment. I didn’t need to talk myself in to doing something that seemed too big and too hard. I only needed the space of a yoga mat and best of all, I only had to have two minutes.
Photo cred : Tanya Lake
I went on to discover there were so many moments I could get active in my day. Dips on a park bench at the playground, wide squats while brushing my teeth or push-ups at the kitchen bench while my kid’s dinner was cooling down. All these moments of doing something for both my mental and physical health added up to me not only surviving, but also thriving. It is such a privilege that every day I now get to help other women do the same.
Love Lizzy
