What role do movement and Parkour play in personal growth and self-discovery?

The journey from childhood play to structured Parkour reveals profound insights into discipline and self-development.

“In order to be free, you have to do what you feel is the right thing, not just what you want to do the whole time.” ~ Pedro Bessa (21:28)

The conversation examines the transition from casual exploration to structured training in Parkour, highlighting the importance of discipline, values, and self-discovery. Pedro shares how childhood experiences with activities like BMX and skateboarding laid a foundation for Parkour. He emphasizes that movement is not merely about physical achievement but about cultivating a mindset that fosters lifelong exploration and learning.

The discussion touches on coaching and self-training, focusing on the role of community and individual accountability. Pedro reflects on the impact of values like honesty and persistence in self-directed training. Additionally, he discusses how traveling and experiencing new environments and cultures enhances both physical practice and personal growth.

Takeaways

The transition from challenges to training — The evolution of movement from playful challenges to structured Parkour.

The philosophy of exploration — Applying lessons from movement to various areas of life.

The importance of values — How honesty and discipline shape self-coaching and personal growth.

The role of community — How collaborative feedback and shared experiences enhance training.

The impact of travel — How experiencing different cultures and environments fosters unique physical and mental growth.

The magic of shared play — How engaging with others in Parkour creates meaningful connections.

Discipline as freedom — How structured practice enables more profound personal liberation.

Resources

ADAPT Qualifications — The coaching program discussed, emphasizing structure in Parkour training.

Parkour Generations — An organization mentioned as a source of learning and coaching in the discipline.

(Written with help from Chat-GPT.)

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— Hello👋 I’m Craig Constantine.

In the Movers Mindset podcast, I talk with movement enthusiasts to learn who they are, what they do, and why they do it. I’m interested in the nature and philosophy of movement and in exploring themes like independence, self-direction, and human excellence. My interests color each conversation and provide some structure to Movers Mindset. But since I like to take the scenic route, every conversation ends up going somewhere unique.

The purpose of Movers Mindset is to create and share great conversations with movement enthusiasts. Each conversation feeds my insatiable curiosity, but I share them to turn on a light for someone else, to inspire them, or to give them their next question.

I appreciate your time and attention, and I don’t take it for granted.

— Thank you!

My mission is creating better conversations to spread understanding and compassion. And Movers Mindset is one of the things I do in service of my mission. Drop by https://craigconstantine.com/ for my weekly email, my other podcasts, writing and more.

The Movers Mindset project grew from conversations I started having as part of my personal journey rediscovering movement. The project started late in 2015, and it was initially simply a web site that shared others’ writing. The project grew, and in 2017 I started the podcast. I’ve worked extremely hard, but none of this would have been possible without so much help from so many people.

Thanks for listening!

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