Exercise of One’s Own – FIT IS A FEMINIST ISSUE

“How was your weekend?” I asked.

“It was good. I’m so tired. I played soccer last night at 11pm.”

“11pm!”

“Yes! I started playing in this league in university and it’s the one time during the week that’s “mine”. My mother-in-law doesn’t really understand. We are always at their place for dinner Sunday nights with the kids and I know that I will be able to leave the kids with them and go play soccer. I need it.”

“You don’t have to sell me on why you deserve to go and have your soccer time! I fully support making time for exercise. It’s so important for mental health. I could go on, but I won’t. You know how I feel.”

This morning, while I was jogging, I got to thinking about the importance of “exercise of one’s own”. Of course, this is not a new concept. People needing time to go and move, blow off steam, have some quiet time, no speaking time, out-of-breath time, throwing balls time, splashing waves time.

Decades ago, my book club read A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf, which was published in 1929. It’s main theme is that women needed money and a space of their own to them to write fiction. These commodities were not readily available to women at the time this book was published. More women may have access to money and space of their own these days, but the expectations and pressures put on women, either from external sources or our own learned experiences that drive our patterns, can still prevent women from freely prioritizing the time they need to (write fiction, daydream, learn a new skill).

I have long been an advocate of the importance of exercise for mind and body. It seems more important than ever to take advantage of some time for fitness, to keep one feeling strong, to provide an outlet for strong emotions, for a space where the goal is to build sustenance for life’s challenges.

Whether it’s the mom with three little kids and a full-time career who finds a couple hours a week for soccer or the new mom who finds a couple hours a week for Pilates or a strength class or a middle-aged woman looking for the small signs of joy on an urban jog, I think we all have to support the idea of time for “exercise of one’s own”.

Aside from the regular day-to-day stresses, the news out there is rough. Between wars and hate crimes and despicable college frat boy rape crimes and a woman murdered on a Zoom work video call, there is ample need to find places for refuge from the news and the continuous stories about how women often bear the brunt of unnecessary violence and men seeming go unscathed.

Not only do women need “exercise of one’s own”, but they also need safe spaces and time for that exercise. They need safe spaces and time to write, learn, work, exercise, think, breathe, just be. So, whether you’re looking for these things as a brief reprieve from your daily routine, and/or a place to channel strong emotions, I bid you to go forth and find time and place for exercise time of your own.

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