How to build a movement habit that actually lasts
This week inside my Reclaim Everyday Ease course, our Movement Mindset theme is consistency over intensity.
Because when it comes to movement, we’ve been celebrating intensity more than consistency. The louder, sweatier, or harder it looks, the more it must be ‘working,’ yes?
But change that lasts a lifetime doesn’t just come from pushing harder a few times a week. It also comes from small, repeatable moments, sprinkled throughout the day, in ways that fit our real lives.
Why mindset matters to embrace everyday movement
When I created Reclaim Everyday Ease, I didn’t just want to give people more ways to move. I wanted to help them see movement differently, to understand that building a habit isn’t about forcing changes into our lives, but instead realising that it has to start with changing our beliefs about movement and exercise.
Each week, I share a short audio called Movement Mindset, because the why behind our actions shapes everything. Without it, even the best intentions fade.
Consistency starts in your head long before it shows up in your body. When we start to believe that small, simple moments of movement truly matter; that they add up, that they’re achievable, and that you’re capable of doing them. Once that belief takes hold, everything else starts to follow.
When movement becomes part of who you are
Something powerful happens when you stop seeing movement as a task to shoe-horn in and start experiencing it as part of life.
That’s when it shifts from something you have to fit in, to something that simply fits. It becomes a belief system, one that grows every time you choose to move because it feels good, not because it’s on a list.
And once you open the lid on that awareness box, you can’t help but see opportunities everywhere; which is exactly what the “O” in my Everyday Ease Method™ stands for: Opportunities.
You start noticing when you’ve been still too long. You catch yourself stretching, twisting, or reaching in moments you once overlooked. You start climbing on and off things as you walk. That awareness builds rhythm, and that rhythm is what turns intention into habit.
How to start building a movement habit that lasts
When I help clients build habits that stick, we don’t start with a plan or a timetable. We start with you; your body, your day, and the realities of your life.
From there, it’s a simple process:
Start small. Choose one movement that feels good and link it to something you already do. The kettle, the washing machine, the doorway you walk through 20 times a day, they all count.
Spot opportunities. Once you start noticing where stillness sneaks in, you’ll find endless chances to move. That’s the secret to sustainability; no added pressure, just gentle awareness.
Celebrate progress. Every time you make a small, intentional choice to move, acknowledge it. Those small wins are what train your brain to keep going.
These are just the starting points. In my signature course, we explore how to make them second nature, so consistency becomes something you do without thinking.
Why this approach lasts
The reason most movement habits fade isn’t lack of willpower, it’s lack of ‘life fit’. If it doesn’t feel achievable or meaningful in your own life, it won’t last.
We build habits from the ground up to create solid foundations of habits and movements. We look for what already works in your life and find the gaps to fill and expand from there, one small success at a time.
Progress is never about perfection. In fact chasing perfection often does the opposite. It’s about remembering, again and again, that your body loves to move, and that every small choice to do so counts.
And the long game
Consistency often gets mistaken for boring. But really, it’s the quiet, attainable rhythm that supports everything else. Intensity has its place, of course it does, but it’s consistency that gives you the freedom to move through life with confidence and ease and even maintains the foundations of movement needed to keep doing those intense sessions as we age.
So this week, pick one small movement that feels good that you don’t normally do. It could be sitting on the ground for a few minutes whilst you read the news, or bending through your hips and knees to choose a dustpan and brush over standing up with a broom, or deciding to stand up to put your shoes on, rather than sitting on the bottom step. Find one moment in your day to do it. Then repeat it tomorrow.
That’s how movement habits are built, not through discipline or demand, but through kindness, curiosity, and the steady rhythm of just continuing to show up.
Because consistency isn’t about pushing harder, it’s about finding what fits and repeating it. It’s about doing enough, often enough, with variety, to change how you feel for life.
If you’d like to make changes to your unique daily life that will help improve your mobility, strength and confidence, join the waiting list for the next time I hold the 8 week signature course ‘Reclaim Everyday Ease’ by clicking here.
