Let's Talk Terms! Part 1
Updated: Mar 22, 2022
Image Description: GIF of the performer Lizzo with a long black ponytail with a hot pink scrunchie wearing 80s style activewear with a pink leotard over black bike shorts with a black belt, beige stockings, tall gray socks, and white tennis shoes. She is dancing in a fitness studio with 3 yoga mats on the ground and tall green plants in the background, and she has two back-up dancers who are wearing similar 80s style activewear but with a gray leotard over white bike shorts. The dancer on the left has medium brown skin and long black, straight hair in a low ponytail. The dancer on the right has light brown skin and shoulder-length curly hair with a white headband.
Terminology...movement edition! I've noticed that many terms we use can carry different meanings for different people. These are some common words and phrases and how I personally define them which will influence future blog posts and my work with Athena Movement Coaching. My hope is that by explaining how I view these terms, visitors to this website will have a window to my values and will be able to navigate this website with clarity and understanding. Future social media posts, blog posts, and resource links will continue the discussion about these topics, so follow along for more. I'll link to some resources here where you can learn more about these phrases and where I learned about them myself!
CW: I've tried to keep the definitions here as trigger-free as I could. Please click on links with discretion and understand that they may include detailed discussions of these various topics and may be triggering for some readers and may include some stigmatizing and/or harmful language either in the article itself or on other pages of the website. Furthermore, while I approve of the articles that are linked here, it is not an endorsement of any other content on the website itself or its other pages.
Joyful Movement (and other terms with similar definitions, such as intuitive movement, mindful movement, intentional movement, inclusive movement, and accessible movement): Many people simply explain it as "movement" that is "joyful," though I feel this description is incomplete or simplistic at best. Through my own journey with joyful movement, my own definition and understanding of it encompasses a "joyful" *relationship* with movement and activity that is mentally and physically beneficial for an individual and is not a punishing or disordered relationship with movement/activity/exercise. It is the antithesis of the "punishing relationship" commonly encouraged and conditioned in society.
Resource: Read more from Meredith Noble here: What is joyful movement? - Made on a Generous Plan Coaching
Health at Every Size (HAES): HAES is a multi-faceted concept that continues to evolve. HAES is about taking measures to improve one's health and quality of life without involving intentional weight changes. HAES also, and more importantly, incorporates recognizing and dismantling the systemic issues that affect people's ability and access to improve one's health and quality of life in the ways they would choose without these barriers, such as weight stigma, racism, socioeconomic status, and more.
Intuitive Eating (IE): Originally created by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch, Intuitive Eating is a path to freedom from diet culture and dieting. It is weight-inclusive and evidence based, and it focuses on self-care, mind-body connection, and introspection. I approach IE from both within self and outside of self and incorporate the harmful impact of systemic oppression on our ability to pursue the relationship with food and movement that our Intuitive Eating selves deserve.
Resources: Evelyn Tribole's own words in these two blog posts are fantastic summaries of her and Elyse's work: What is Intuitive Eating? - Intuitive Eating
Health/Healthy: I approach "health" and "healthy" as a complex spectrum and follow the Biopsychosocial Model of care (see below for more info on this model). I strongly believe that our collective and individual approaches to health should be weight neutral, inclusive, accessible, individualized, and morally neutral. What is healthy/unhealthy for you is unique to you and ideally incorporates your own lived experience alongside the expertise and education of medical professionals. Most importantly, our health status overall is only partly within our control and the extent to which we take control over that piece is complex and morally neutral.
The article linked below as a resource about "health/healthy" explains far better than I myself can articulate. There are 3 working definitions of "health." We as a society overemphasize the first and even the second definitions as described in the article, and we tend to ignore and avoid the third. When I use the word "health" or "healthy," it is the third definition that is closest to my own.
Resource: The three definitions of health The Meanings of Health and its Promotion (nih.gov)
Wellness/Wellbeing: Similar to health/healthy above, I use wellness and wellbeing to refer to the individualized, ongoing process of self-care and healthcare to improve one's quality of life from a biopsychosocial, holistic standpoint. The extent to which we engage in wellness and wellbeing is personal and morally neutral. Our ability to access these choices is complicated and interfered with by stigma, systemic oppression, and marginalization as well as the wellness industry itself. Mainstream "wellness culture" has been damaging and toxic, and I use terms such as "wellness" cautiously as a result.
Resource: Fantastic article breaking down many facets of wellness culture and the wellness industry Wellness Culture: Is It Only Making Us More Sick? (refinery29.com)
Biopsychosocial Model of Care (BPS): This is a patient-centered model that encourages healthcare providers and their patients to view their health and wellbeing from a multi-faceted perspective that goes beyond simply symptoms, tests, and diagnoses. It addresses the many factors that influence health and puts them into 3 categories: biological (genetics, physical symptoms, etc), psychological (coping skills, beliefs, etc), and social/environmental (socio-economic status, transportation, etc). It emphasizes the importance of considering all 3 in the pursuit of improving medical care both individually and globally.
Holistic: Frequently conflated or used interchangeably with "homeopathic," holistic simply means the "whole body" approach to health and wellness: mind, body, spirit, and emotions. Some definitions also include social factors, and holistic medicine is often closely aligned with the Biopsychosocial model of care. It emphasizes a team-based approach, preferably with the patient as the center or leader of their own healthcare team. (Homeopathy is categorized as a pseudoscientific belief that the body can heal itself.)
Diet Culture: For this one, I'm just going to let the resource articles speak for themselves! Christy Harrison and Hannah Magee explain and unpack many facets of diet culture and its harms. To summarize, it's a system of beliefs and an industry that prioritizes specific beauty standards (influenced and originating from patriarchal and white supremacist beliefs) and views "health" only through the narrow lens of unsustainable, unreachable, perfectionistic expectations.
Movement: To put it simply, movement is anything that involves moving the body. This could be anywhere from squeezing a stress ball or wigging your toes to participating in a triathlon or running a marathon. If you are intentionally moving any part of your body, it counts.
Anti-Diet/Non-Diet: These concepts push back against diet culture in order to unlearn it and decrease its power through dismantling stigma and oppression that harm marginalized people. Both anti-diet and non-diet are closely tied to Intuitive Eating and all 3 terms are sometimes used interchangeably.
Exercise: I use a basic, neutral definition when I use the word "exercise," which is the process of engaging in a type of exertion requiring mental and/or physical effort in the interest of achieving a specific goal. This goal could be increased strength, improved endurance, injury recovery, injury prevention, increased mood, or others.
Physical Fitness: Though many people assign an aesthetic quality to fitness, the truest and most basic definition of "fitness" is the ability of one's body to complete a task and adapt to stressors. Whether or not one is "fit" is relative to the activities one wants to perform. For example, a football player requires different aspects of "fitness" than a ballet dancer. Fitness is complex and is not "all or nothing," and it should be regarded as morally neutral.
Resource: Physical Fitness | SpringerLink
Physical Activity: Any and all methods of intentionally or incidentally moving one's body. Physical activity refers to specific exercise activities, such as going to the gym, going to a yoga or Zumba class, running, and more. It also refers to moving the body without the specific intent or goals of "exercise" and can include activity done at work, cleaning and other chores, playing with kids and pets, and more.
Are you interested in working with Lauren? Keep checking athenamovecoach.com for future opportunities or email athenamovecoach@gmail.com for more info.
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