The first set is always the hardest...

"Brainy What-Why-How"

Your weekly nibble of brain-based tips to help you move and feel great!

🧠

What:

I've been going to the gym a lot lately, following workouts posted by the head trainer. 

As someone who's quite new to the gym landscape, I'm doing a lot of moves that I've never ever done before.

And lemme tell ya...

The first set is always the hardest. 

It often feels awkward. 

It makes me feel weak and confused. 

The second set is always mindblowingly easier, despite my muscles being more tired.

Why:

When we do something totally new, our brain has no information on how we did it before. 

We are literally birthing cute new little baby neural pathways 👶 

Even if it's just MINUTES later, your brain can use its FAVOURITE TOOL EVER to feel safe: prediction.

Your brain is always asking

"Is this safe?" 

and in order to help decide, it also asks:

"Have I seen this before? What happened last time?"

If your brain can't answer those questions, it might not feel super safe. 

This can result in feeling slightly weaker, less balanced, less coordinated, and less mobile. 

i.e.: me on my first set at the gym.

How:

We can put this information into practice by remembering that:

1) Novelty is GOOD for us, even if it makes us feel weak or stupid at first. 

2) The second time will almost always feel better. 

This is why the short classes I upload every Monday to ​Move With Adell ​are full of novelty...

AND they loop, starting and finishing in the same position so that you can pick it up from the start and repeat it. 

Two of the most common comments I get are:

"These movements are too complicated for me" --
from people who try once and give up, 

and

"This felt AMAZING, especially after I repeated it." --
from people who don't give up straight away. 

There's just too much research* on the benefits of novelty on overall health and well-being for me to stop adding weird new movements to my yoga classes. (It's only weird because it's unfamiliar.)

So give it a try, or learn to add your own weird to your movements with my ​Brain Based Creative Sequencing Course​.

Or just keep in mind that it's normal to do something for the first time and feel like the most awkward, uncoordinated, graceless klutz on the planet -- whether it's movement, speaking up instead of staying quiet, or listening to a point of view you don't agree with. PERSEVERE ANYWAY.

Persevere!

Adell xoxo

*​a​​n interesting article on novelty​ Want to go way deeper on all of this geeky brain stuff?​
• Join me on Move With Adell -- I upload 2 new videos a week -- ​Click here​ to start your FREE trial.
• Check out the courses from Z-health, where I started my education in brain-based approaches: ​Click here​ for my discount codes on their first 3 courses!
• Sign up to the ​waiting list​ for my next NeuroYoga TTC where I teach YOU how to blend yoga + neurology.
• Get my book ​"Too Flexible to Feel Good: A Practical Roadmap to Managing Hypermobility"​