Episode 019: Starting Your Journey to Joyful Movement with Gillian Byers

by Ana R | Nov 14, 2017 | Body Acceptance, Body Image, Body Movements, Exercise, Health at Every Size

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MEET THE GUEST:

Gillian Byers is an American Council on Exercise (ACE) certified personal trainer that has never fit in the fit box and won’t ask you to either! She discovered the joy of at-home body and free weight strength training, in her late 20’s, using small steps. She now thrives on personalizing exercises and programs to fit each of her amazing clients, helping them build strength in ways that feel good, safe, fun and supportive! As a highly sensitive extrovert, she loves meeting people and being in tune with the whole person and how that can affect movement and vice versa. After experiencing, and learning from others, the damage that a weight loss focus can cause she is committed to helping people build strength, ease of movement, function, and health without using the scale or measurements. Helping people move towards neutrality and even love for their body brings her joy. She’s also taken courses in Fibromyalgia and Arthritis and enjoys helping people ease into movement as gently as needed. She offers classes and one on one training both online and in person in beautiful Newberg, Oregon.

FIND GILLIAN ONLINE:

Website: www.MindfullyActive.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/mindfullyactive
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mindfully.active/

EPISODE SUMMARY:

Gillian shares about how she started helping people find movement that feels good and enjoyable. She focuses on “The Feel Good Full Body Warm-Up” as her way of helping clients tune-in and to start listening to their body.
One of the biggest things that Gillian works on is moving away from using weight loss as a motivator or indicator of progress. According to her (and I agree!), when weight loss is used as a motivator to move, it:
> Creates a barrier in listening to your body
> Makes it hard to get in touch with what your body is asking for – what actually feels good, what level and type of movement is sustainable
>Can impact the ability to take a break or prevent injury
She also talks about the top challenges she sees clients face when they’re moving away from movements that are driven by the diet culture and weight-loss focused culture.
She emphasizes kindness to the body and to also be gentle with yourself.
Gillian also mentioned the importance of taking small steps towards movement and provides examples of how to do this.