fp movement: what moves me
Recently Free People expanded their lifestyle & workout wear line, FP Movement, to include three new categories: ballet, yoga, and surf. I was so excited about this because I’ve never been particularly drawn to activewear and have always just worn old sweatpants and tshirts to the gym, but knew the Free People aesthetic would lend itself to pretty clothing for sweating in.
What moves you? What moves me is the desire to sweat a little bit every day, to thank my body for all the work it does for me. What moves me is the desire to connect with my body in a way that makes me feel a little more fluid, and a little stronger every time. A day in which I have found the time to move is always a good day.
A few years ago I broke my ankle. I slipped on a nasty patch of ice and my bones snapped like twigs. I acquired long pins in my ankle to make up for torn ligaments, and had to keep off my ankle for three months. I hopped around on one foot with crutches (if you want a tough cardio workout, try that!), and crawled up stairs on my knees. By the end of those three months my shoulder and knee pain was so bad that I spent more time crying than not crying. It was no fun. It took a long time and months of physiotherapy to get to a point where I could run around the block. Once I was able to go for longer runs, I was so grateful for what my body could do, and I felt lucky to have the ability to resume my normal routine. Even if to this day I have an ankle that hurts when it rains and swells to a fine cankle width. When you can no longer move much, movement is the thing you crave most. I might not be an athlete, but I sure am happy with what I can do.
Lately my favourite workout besides yoga has been Ballet Beautiful, probably because things have been a little ballet-heavy for me lately, as you can see from my recent posts. I love putting these on in the privacy of my own home where no one can see me—they help me connect to a feeling of gracefulness that ordinarily escapes me (and safely, I might add! These are ballet-inspired, not workouts for advanced ballerinas). Pictured here are the classic DVDs from a few years ago but I’ve since tried this newer one and it’s my favourite since it uses small hand weights.
I couldn’t wait to try out these embellished Capezio slippers because they remind me of the Capezio slippers I wore when I took ballet lessons when I was 7. I still remember going to Malabar to buy them; I loved those slippers and kept them for years, even after I decided ballet lessons were not for me. Here I am wearing them with the Remi leggings—so comfortable! They’re a bit slouchy on me, which makes me feel like I’m wearing legwarmers (which I love). I always enjoy stirrup style leggings as well, although I know they should have gone over the slippers (that’s probably why I never made it as a dancer). I wore them on a run and I’ve done yoga in them, and they’ve worked really well.*
