9 Fun Healthy Happy Movement Challenges to Try (with actionable ideas to get started!)
Looking for inspiration to be more active and ENJOY being more active? Here are some fun, realistic, actionable healthy happy movement challenges to become stronger and happier.
In this post we’ll discuss:
- What healthy happy movement is
- How to start building habits and set SMART goals
- 9 types of healthy happy movement you can try, including what’s in it for you by doing them and specific ideas to get started
I encourage you to choose one of these ideas (or something else you have in mind!) and try to do it every day for 30 days. See what a difference it can make in your life!
You can live intentionally with passion and purpose as God’s beloved.
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Let’s dive in!
- What is a healthy happy movement?
- Why we're talking about healthy happy movement
- The science behind habit building
- Set SMART goals
- 1. Set a walking goal
- 2. Prioritize healthy posture each day
- 3. Practice mindfulness
- 4. Stretch daily
- 5. Dance!
- 6. Plank it out
- 7. Try sun salutations
- 8. Squat it out
- 9. Lift slowly and repetitively
- Articles related to ideas for healthy happy movement challenges
- Wrapping up these healthy happy movement challenges
What is a healthy happy movement?
Though I can’t take credit for coining the term, here’s my definition of healthy happy movement.
Healthy happy movement – pursuing movement that is healthy for you and brings you joy – either before, during or after the movement
Coffee Chats and Yoga Mats
Basically, a healthy happy movement is all about being active in a way that’s
- Healthy for your body, mind, and heart. For instance, if spinning in circles makes you nauseous, swing dancing may not be your jam. Likewise, if you feel worse about your own body after group fitness classes. (Hint: You have other options!)
- Injects joy into your life. Perhaps it’s the excitement beforehand (I’m gonna conquer a mountain!), during (Hiking feels so good!), or after (That was hard, but, boy, do I feel like a boss now!) – or all of the above!
Want some data to back this up? Read Why You Need Healthy Happy Movement in Your Life.
With this definition of healthy happy movement in mind, here’s why I’m so passionate about healthy happy movement.
Why we’re talking about healthy happy movement
Perhaps you, too, always thought that regular workouts were for “athletic people” – a club you could never join.
Maybe you think you just don’t have what it takes. You aren’t:
- Well-coordinated
- Flexible
- Strong
- Fast
- … whatever that may be
As a kid, I was always discouraged from pursuing physical activities. I didn’t “have the genes” to be athletic.
As a teenager, I dug into health magazine workouts and tried out a Denise Austin Pilates video. And… my whole understanding of fitness, work-outs, and athleticism was overhauled.
On humid afternoons, I’d sweat it out to Denise Austin’s encouraging voice, “Just one more!” Each time I came back to the video or tried another move from Self magazine, I felt stronger than before.
This was my introduction to healthy happy movement. Fitness could be fun and empowering. Plus, I could do it on my own terms! (No chasing sports balls necessary!)
Years later, when I started grad school, I gifted myself a Yoga and Pilates teaching certification. Not only did this certification open doors to friendships that became family, an amazing opportunity, and support me through two years of job-searching, but it also helped me manage the extreme stress I was juggling.
Soon after beginning my work at ASU, I began to teach PiYo (a blend of Pilates and Yoga) during my lunchtime breaks. I continued teaching PiYo until my increased job responsibilities and high-risk pregnancy led me to put that on pause.
Over the past decade or so of teaching PiYo, I’ve seen firsthand how much healthy happy movement can profoundly improve the quality of life for my students and myself. That’s why I can hardly wait to share these ideas and tangible ways to implement them with you!
Hopefully, it’s clear that you need healthy happy movement in your life. Now let’s dive into the research behind habit building, which can help you more consistently engage in healthy happy movement.
The science behind habit building
Did you know that you can achieve awesome things through your habits? That consistently showing up in small ways can often help you make some big changes?
If you’re curious about how small changes can make a big difference to your quality of life, read
Since Clear did the research (and a whole book!) about habits, I’ll hit the highlights and hope you look into more of his writings. Here are key points from his post: How to Build a New Habit: This is Your Strategy Guide: As you choose your own healthy, happy movement, keep these points in mind. Giving yourself grace and consistently showing up (even when you don’t want to or even half-heartedly) can make a big difference in your progress. When you set these goals or give yourself these mini healthy happy movement challenges, use the SMART goal-setting framework. For instance, rather than saying, “I’m going to walk more,” be specific. You could instead say, “I’m going to reach 10,000 steps by bedtime each day.” This goal is more specific (what walking goal you’re aiming for), measurable (10,000 steps a day), achievable (you could actually do this in a day), relevant (you want more healthy happy movement in your life!), and timely (you’ll aim to hit your target by bedtime each day). When you set your healthy happy movement goal (or any other intentional goal), it’s okay to set a goal that isn’t for 7 days a week. Perhaps you decide to commit to the activity 5 days a week. That’s fine! Just start. With the data in mind, let’s dive into some super fun ideas for healthy happy movement YOU can try out – starting today! Here are a few highlights from AmericaWalks: Here are some more tips for how to make walking part of your life. If where you live is really hot (Howdy from Arizona!) or super cold and this tends to stop you from walking, have a backup plan for what you will do if the weather is intolerable. Can you walk in place in front of the TV? Walk in circles around your house? Use a treadmill? Have a backup! Here’s what slouching or slumping does for you: Slouching or slumping over can: misalign your musculoskeletal system; wear away your spine – making it more fragile and prone to injury; cause neck, shoulder and back pain; decrease your flexibility; affect how well your joints move; affect your balance and increase your risk of falling; make it harder to digest your food; make it harder to breathe Yikes! With all that in mind, you could challenge yourself to start improving your posture by: This article has more detailed tips for how to improve your posture. Start with one small shift. You don’t have to immediately move into a perfect posture for an entire day. (Heck, will you even REMEMBER to do that after NOT doing it for years?!) For instance, you decide to focus on not crossing your legs. After that becomes more instinctive, move to another shift, like relaxing your shoulders, and so forth. I love this quote from Headspace about what meditation is. (I also think it describes mindfulness super well!) Meditation isn’t about becoming a different person, a new person, or even a better person. It’s about training in awareness and getting a healthy sense of perspective. You’re not trying to turn off your thoughts or feelings. You’re learning to observe them without judgment. And eventually, you may start to better understand them as well. Consciously choosing to become more mindful about your body, thoughts, and emotions can be so good for you. (Want to know more? Here are 12 Science-Based Benefits of Meditation.) As your resident blogging yoga instructor, I’m unashamedly biased – stretching is incredibly healthy, simple, and mood-bosting. Want some data? Stretching keeps the muscles flexible, strong, and healthy, and we need that flexibility to maintain a range of motion in the joints. Without it, the muscles shorten and become tight. Then, when you call on the muscles for activity, they are weak and unable to extend all the way. That puts you at risk for joint pain, strains, and muscle damage. Basically, your body is more flexible, adaptable, and energized by stretching. Who doesn’t want that? You don’t have to be a good dancer to enjoy shimmying around your home. According to Potentash, dancing around your space can… Want some dancing guidance? Check out films on Youtube or through your local library. A couple of my personal favorites are below. (I’m a big Bollywood dance fan…) Not sure what a plank is? Here’s what it looks like: (By the way, I’ll post videos that involve planking – stay tuned!) Planking (or holding a push-up position for a period of time) has many benefits. Here are 7 benefits of planks from Healthcorps.org: I gave myself a 30-day plank challenge earlier this year. The 30 day plank challenge I chose involved increasing how long I held a plank each day by 15 seconds. Eventually, I’d worked myself up to 8 minutes or so each day. (Note: It can also be helpful to adjust your position – like into a downward dog – as you go.) It was an empowering challenge that required minimal tools or scheduling – just do it! Here’s a short video to walk you through it. Basically, it involves the following steps: Why would you want to try doing regular sun salutations? Here are a few reasons from Brydie: Here are 12 benefits of squatting from Urban Fitness: If you’re new to lifting, I’ll have a video with lifting in the future. Stay tuned! Intimidated by lifting weights? Guess what? You don’t actually have to lift weights to reap benefits. You can also just lift soup cans, water bottles or other heavy things you have around your house. According to Global News, here are 8 reasons why lifting weights (or water bottles!) is good for you: Don’t have weights? That’s okay. Grab a couple of water bottles, soup cans or something comparable to use for your lifting. Don’t overthink this. I hope you found some actionable ideas for adding healthy happy movement to your life! As we’ve discussed, healthy happy movement is all about movement that’s good for your body, mind, and heart. The DIY challenges we’ve discussed are: You are God’s beloved. Your life matters. Move your body intentionally! What healthy happy movement challenge will you choose to do? Or if you’re already doing something, what healthy happy movement challenge do you like to do? Leave a comment and let’s chat! P.S. Want some crazy simple steps to start living intentionally? Grab the Embrace Your Potential Playbook. It’ll help you zoom in on your God-gifted personality and give you practical tips to be more intentional, passionate, and purposeful as God’s beloved so you can become the best version of yourself. I’m Cortney, a recovering over-achiever and God’s beloved who loves helping fellow Christian women like you embrace your God-given gifts so you have the confidence to live authentically. I’m also a full-time mama to two sweet little boys, wife to my best friend, motivational speaker, and part-time Christian life coach. Chai lattes, strong coffee, podcasts, yoga, dance, and fairy tales nourish my soul and add sweetness to life. Discovering the joy of embracing my God-given gifts and who He created me to be was a game-changer—a journey that brought freedom, unexpected delights, and relief from guilt. Finally, I felt free to be myself and ditch the pressure of being someone I wasn’t. Incorporating those gifts into my day—from weekly planning to deciding on commitments, nurturing my marriage, and parenting—transformed everything. Now, I can’t imagine life without the perspective of fully embracing who God created me to be. I was missing so much without it!Set SMART goals
1. Set a walking goal
Why is walking a great healthy happy movement challenge to try?
Walking challenge suggestions
Bonus tip!
2. Prioritize healthy posture each day
Why is healthy posture a great healthy happy movement challenge to try?
Improving your posture challenge suggestions
3. Practice mindfulness
Why is mindfulness a great healthy happy movement challenge to try?
Mindfulness challenge suggestions
4. Stretch daily
Why is stretching a great healthy happy movement challenge to try?
Stretching challenge suggestions
5. Dance!
Why is dancing a great healthy happy movement challenge to try?
Dance challenge suggestions
6. Plank it out
What is a plank?
Why is planking a great healthy happy movement challenge to try?
Plank challenge suggestions
Personal experience: I did this challenge!
7. Try sun salutations
What is a sun salutation?
Why are sun salutations a great healthy happy movement challenge to try?
Sun salutation challenge suggestions
8. Squat it out
What is a squat?
Why are squats a great healthy happy movement challenge to try?
Squat challenge suggestions
9. Lift slowly and repetitively
Why is lifting a great healthy happy movement challenge to try?
Lifting challenge suggestions
Articles related to ideas for healthy happy movement challenges
Wrapping up these healthy happy movement challenges
This is great stuff. Thank you for sending it to me. It’s not quite as good as your classes were, which were excellent but then you aren’t here.
Thanks, Red. I’m glad to hear it’s useful!
It’s definitely not the same as teaching a class! I’m slowly figuring out my video setup and should have some PiYo videos up soon – yay!!