Fear of Public Fitness is Stifling Our Nature

We’ve all heard of or experienced a fear of public speaking. Have you ever had a fear of public fitness? Or perhaps you’ve been uncomfortable with others’ fitness regimes in a public space? What is it about skipping along the road that catches an eye? What makes you look twice when someone’s holding a plank position on the grass or lunging along the balance beam? It’s simply different. It’s beyond the norm of our cultural expectations. Sitting is expected. Standing is expected, sometimes. Swinging arms overhead or touching one’s toes seems out of place. This is to our health’s detriment. It means we value inactivity in a place meant for activity, like a park or sidewalk. It means our culture steers others with peer pressure and judgment towards stifled body functions and needs.

We are made to move. As adults, our culture grinds out our playful nature as we see kids moving so gracefully in the park. Health research shows that exercise, outdoor time, and laughter/playfulness will improve your health. It also shows that ‘sitting is the new smoking’ and Canadian’s inactivity leads to chronic diseases. Let these prairie winds shift our culture towards moving for life. Let these prairie skies support our sitting with grateful mindfulness and at least turn inactive into positive mental and spiritual health. Next time you hear of an exercise class outdoors, challenge your cultural bias, grow your mindset and step into health with the class, one breath of fresh air at a time.