up:: Health Mindsets MOC X:: Intentional aging and the grey panthers tags::#on/aging#health novelty:: 3

url: The Quiet Glory of Aging into Athleticism

Key Ideas

Anne Helen Petersen writes in The Quiet Glory of Aging into Athleticism about how the Physical Education System really failed her, and because of that she had a lot of issues with her body growing up.

It’s only now that she’s older that she’s appreciating her body more and starting to understand how she can be in relationship with it to keep growing.

She writes,

Instead, I feel something far more akin to curiosity. If part of me feels weak or tweaky, what’s struggling in other parts of my body and needs strengthening? And if I’m attentive to my body, if I’m legitimately kind to it, can it do more than I thought it could?

That’s interesting because I think P.E. killed curiosity, and it’s possible to take a journey to get it back

That reminds me of Play is a state of Mind

It’s similar because we want to cultivate curiosity and wonder when it comes to movement and our bodies, not shame and requirements

It’s different because this is still about performance and athleticism. I think play is less about athleticism and more about exploration

It’s important because there are people who are motivated by competition, even with themselves