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Can you take 2 minutes and fill out my 6 question survey? It’s anonymous and will help me build programs that better support you. Link here.​

Hey Reader,

When I was younger, I believed that the only good workouts were ones that made me sweat. I thought the longer I exercised, the better I was doing. I believed that my yoga practice should be full of difficult poses. I pushed my body hard, often without really listening to what I needed.

This was influenced by diet culture, for sure.

But it’s also generally accepted as good advice. Experts will point to the fitness guidelines that adults should be reaching and go hard on the fact that most Americans are not meeting those guidelines.

The problem is that if you are deconditioned (aka out of practice or habit), trying to aim for those guidelines feels like an impossible task.

This is why I champion small starts and short bursts of movement. Start with 1 pose. Choose your favorite one! Make movement easy and enjoyable. Make movement something you look forward to, rather than a chore.

This is also why I create movement programs like my Daily 5 program.

One of the women currently doing the program has done every single day of the Daily 5 and writes me everyday to let me know.

On the first day of the program, she wrote to tell me that it felt difficult for her, but she was glad she’d started because if 5 minutes of yoga felt hard, she definitely needed to be doing this program.

On day 2 she said she felt better than the day before but she could feel how out of practice she was.

Now she’s 23 days in and most days she's telling me how much she enjoys the 5 minute practice of the day and how good she feels.

This leads me to my Movement Snack this week.

Movement Snack this week:

If you want to get back into moving your body more consistently and you aim for the fitness guidelines, you might be able to manage that first hard workout, but what about the next day?

Starting small gives you the opportunity to lay a solid movement foundation with a lot less pressure and greater ease.

Here’s a taste of what a short, fun movement practice can be:

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This one is not from the Daily 5, but from my YouTube channel, where I share quick videos like this one nearly every week. You can watch videos for free there.

If you want to financially support my work, you can send me a donation via Venmo here: https://www.venmo.com/u/Naomi-Gottlieb-Miller​

(And stay tuned to my YouTube channel because next week I’ll release a practice with my personal favorite quick movements to help relieve stress)

Question of the week:

This might seem random, but I’d love to know what is your favorite movie from the 90’s. If you can’t pick 1, pick 3! Let me know by responding to this email and I’ll share my 3 favorites, too.

P.S. This question was inspired by my latest post on substack, Watching Mrs. Doubtfire During the Fall of Democracy. Spoiler alert: Mrs. D is not one of my favorite movies from the 90’s!

I look forward to hearing about your favorite 90’s movies and hopefully seeing you on the mat soon, too!

Warmly,

Naomi

Want to stay in touch during the week? Here are a 2 easy ways:

​Follow me on Bluesky, where I share daily movement practices as acts of resistance, connection, and strength.

​Follow me on substack, where I write about the intersection of movement, motherhood, and the culture that we are all moving through. Or better yet, subscribe so you have immediate access to stories like the one I am publishing this week about how living through stressful times can increase your bodily discomfort (aka experience more “random” physical pain) — and what you can do to combat that.