Wildfitness Wonderations

In the 10 years that Wildfitness has been running, we have cut loose more and more from the tethers of the ‘old paradigm’ of fitness. We have been inspired by the spontaneous and purposeful variety of physical activity undertaken by natural tribal people that results in graceful, skilful and beautiful physicality. And we have become more and more suspicious of contrived, boring and prescriptive training and diets.

From perfection to purpose

Hunting - a purposeful activity with amazing fitness as a side-effect

It wasn’t a drive to get the perfect body or achieve the best race time that animated our hunter-gatherer ancestors. Purpose infused every physical activity. It seems that a feeling of purpose is more animating and robust than personal ambition. And paradoxically it results in a skilfulness and naturalness that has more beauty than the sculpted but unwieldy body-builder. The difference between a body builder and some of the fishermen here in Watamu is in their grace, proportion and realness.

Perfection, Muslims argue, is something reserved for Allah alone. But even if you can get close to perfect, if doesn’t seem to help. The problem is, if you are perfect, the mind-set that got you there is probably making life hell. You can’t eat anything that isn’t perfect, even the birthday cake your mum made you. You can’t miss your daily training session, even if you are feeling run down and have a party to go to.

The amazing posture of many African women is a necessity, not just about aesthetics.

The lessons from our ancestors are clear: Enjoy yourself, rather than better yourself. It shines through as a deeply attractive quality. Engage in the process, not in what your end gain will be. Some quotes:

‘The more beauty you absorb, the more beauty you exude.’

‘Joy is the best make up.’

It is not the message that comes at us from the media, but to be gnarled and real, adds so much more to life than to spend your energies sculpting your perfect self.

Laura’s mum (Laura does marketing for Wildfitness) said it well: ‘We never used to worry so much about ourselves, we didn’t have time, we had to work hard to make sure everyone around was supported. We didn’t have time to think about how we looked or what our dream life would be – and we were a lot happier’.

From motivation to inspiration

There is something dead, corporate, something essentially de-motivating about the concept of motivation. It feels like being pushed from behind.

Being physical, if it needs motivation, will peter out, and has none of the perpetual motion of inspiration.

Dogs don't suffer when the exercise! They love to run, sprint, jump and play.

Perhaps we can blame capitalism for the eternal motivation it gives us in the world of fitness. The best products are the ones that don’t fulfil a need, that don’t actually work – so that you will keep buying more things. The ones that make you feel motivated. Like protein powders, or dumbbells or diet plans.

Here is an extract from ‘Why My Dog is Smarter than Me’ by the brilliant Frank Forencich: ‘[My dog Mojo] sets whatever pace he wants. If he feels like running, he runs. If he wants to stop and sniff the bushes, he stops. On some days he walks, some days he does wild sprints, some days he goes swimming. He mixes these activities up with no regard to periodisation, macrocycles, mesocycles, tapering or peaking. He has no motivation, no ambition and no work ethic.’

If a dog feels naturally inspired to be physical, I think there is hope for us! The key is to love it. Do that activity, whether it is tennis, dancing, walking or boxing, that turns you on. And if none of these things make you feel like doing them spontaneously, look for things that fit more closely with what’s important to you – gardening, biking to work, building. But more importantly, do your thing with the mind set of being lifted, not pushed from behind. Don’t train when you are too tired, or really don’t feel like it. Train with friends, in a spirit of fun or positive competition. Use your own steam to get around or be useful. Learning physical skills adds to your whole intelligence.

From compulsion to peace

One of the key facts that we have observed that support the natural evolutionary diet we teach is: everywhere that a western diet has been introduced, the problems of heart disease, obesity and diabetes have followed.

The humble croissant cannot be blamed for all our problems...

With the exception of France.

Croissants, cigarettes and mille-feuille, and yet the French are incredibly trim and healthy.

Using the same sentiment from the famous pro-gun slogan: ‘Guns don’t kill people, people do’, we could say – ‘donuts don’t infect people – people choose to eat too many’. Donuts as things, if you don’t eat too many, are harmless.

There is definitely an argument to say that certain modern foods can cause people to over eat; from more-ish e-number flavourings, to the blood sugar roller coaster of refined carbohydrate snacks. But still this doesn’t seem to affect the French.

Moderation is of course the answer, and can be practised anywhere by anyone. Luigi Cornaro, in 1558 in his book ‘Discourses on a sober and temperate life’, wrote with ageless wisdom ‘[do not eat] a greater quantity than can be digested’.

Perhaps it’s not about the diet? Perhaps it is something deeper – a culture, a mind-set that is introduced, that causes these diseases, not merely the fault of the innocent food stuffs.

A fascinating insight into over-eating.

William Leith in his book ‘The Hungry Years’ wrote: ‘Around the world, obesity is concurrent with the increased incidence of these things: TV, mobile phones, cars, multi-storey buildings, computers, pornography, credit card use, cocaine use, binge drinking, celebrity gossip, images of extremely slender female models, images of male models with six pack stomachs, media driven by advertising, depression, increased consumption of serotonin enhancing drugs such as Prozac and Seroxat, increased incidence of self-harm, shopping malls, pain killers in bright shiny packets, and supermarkets with upwards of 20,000 products under the same roof.’

Leith describes his hunger as ‘a pang in the centre of my body that feels like hunger, but also like other things – anguish, loneliness, basic misery. A sort of all-purpose craving.’

An obesity expert was asked: ‘If the government could do one thing to stop the obesity crisis what would it be?’ The man paused and said, ‘That’s the trouble, there is no one thing you can do. You have to do…..everything.’

What do we do at Wildfitness? Everything? Well we do while you are on the course. You have nourishing, natural food that is exactly what your body has evolved to flourish on. You live in a small supportive tribe within the natural rhythms of night and day. You play and train purposefully in pristine nature. You aren’t judged or drilled into the ground in order to achieve some perfect state. You are miles from adverts and images of ideals. You can relax inside and outside and have a chance to stop chasing your tail, stop fighting to be in balance and stop feeling you need to change. For the time you are with us.

But the real world can be crazy, overwhelming. The routines throw your life out of balance, the culture triggers compulsions and the messages form the belief that we need to be more, different, ideal.

All we can say is that we are holding out for a new paradigm, one that is so infinitely more groovy that it seems inevitable that the tides will turn.