Why the Way You Relate to Movement Matters
If you're navigating chronic illness or living in a larger body, the relationship you have with movement is as important as the movement itself. Shifting from a mindset of exercise as punishment to movement as a safe, chosen resource is the key to building a sustainable practice that supports healing rather than causing harm.
Moving Beyond Exercise as Punishment
For many people, the word “exercise” is loaded with history. It often stirs up feelings of inadequacy, shame, or even past medical trauma. If you have previously experienced movement as a means for punishment, self-harm, or a way to earn your worth and health, it is time to redefine its purpose.
The word “movement” can open up a sense of possibility and an invitation to a different approach. Movement is not a box to be checked or a tool for self-criticism and comparison. Movement doesn’t have to be a performance. While exercise often feels like an external imposition of shame, along with resistance or increased pain signals, movement can start small, allow curiosity, and create safety. To truly transform your health, your movement must feel safe, supported, and flexible.
The 50% Rule: Choosing Quality Over Quantity
A common question in rehabilitation is: How do I know if I am doing it right? The answer is simpler than you might think. If you are living with a chronic, energy-limiting illness, chronic pain, or just getting started, movement should feel easy and light, as if you could sustain it for a long time. However, the strategy is to choose to do it for only a short time, then rest.
After trying a new movement, evaluate your response over the next two to three days.
- If you feel well: This means you may be able to repeat this movement without an adverse response.
- If you feel extra fatigued or in pain: This is a signal to rest, and reduce your effort.
If you feel like you are paying for your activity, or you’re experiencing post-exertional malaise, you can try changing your position, and/or reducing what you did by at least 50%.
If a walk was too much, try a seated movement. If a seated movement was too much, start horizontally. Choose sustainability over striving and quality over quantity.
Is Easy Movement Actually Doing Anything?
You might wonder if movement is effective if it feels easy. The answer is absolutely yes. When you choose movement that is inviting and easy enough for your body to appreciate, you are teaching your nervous system that movement is friendly.
Consistent, gentle movement builds a foundation of trust between you and your body. This trust allows you to slowly enrich and deepen your movement practice over time without triggering the push-crash cycle common in chronic illness and chronic pain.
Words Matter: Why We Say Movement, Not Exercise
The shift from using the word exercise to movement is intentional. For patients navigating Long COVID, ME/CFS, or size-bias in healthcare, exercise often represents a history of being dismissed or harmed by well-intentioned providers.
Movement, on the other hand, represents options and possibility. It is a way to discover what your body is asking for today, not what a plan or provider says you should do. Movement is adapted, personalized, and chosen by you as a way to care for yourself on purpose.
If you have experienced weight-bias or are navigating a complex illness, you deserve support that listens deeply. You deserve a movement practice built on trust, not shame.
Schedule a free consult today to gain personalized strategies and to create a customized plan unique for your needs.
Hoppers M, Yellman B, Bateman L, et al. Clinical Care Guide: Managing ME/CFS, Long COVID, and Infection-Associated Chronic Conditions (IACC’s). Bateman Horne Center, 2025: 13-17.
