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I have long been fascinated by the overlap of physical fitness and philosophy. My final paper in my very first college philosophy course was an overview of depictions of physical virtue across several works of philosophy. But the most direct influence behind the creation of KineSophy comes from Kelly Starrett, founder of Mobility WOD:

“All human beings should be able to perform basic maintenance on themselves.”

Since ethics is the study of how humans should act, Starrett’s use of “should” in his motto signifies that he is making an ethical claim. His statement falls in the same category as prescriptions like “all humans should be capable of performing basic mental arithmetic” or “all humans should be capable of judging right from wrong.” If you are a healthy adult human being, you should be able to move well and take care of your body when it requires basic maintenance.

Furthermore, self-care demands that you have a certain attitude about yourself and your value. You have to believe that you are worth a little bit of extra effort. You have to believe that your health and your comfort matter.

I know that sounds pretty simple, and you may find it easy to tell yourself “of course I matter.” But even if you want to believe your health and well-being are important, think about how often you also tell yourself “I don’t have time for that” when confronted with basic self-care prescriptions.

When you care for your body, when you believe that you should not be in unnecessary pain and you act to make yourself feel better, you are affirming your worth as a human being. That sense of self-worth is the basis for believing that other humans have worth. When you value yourself, you recognize that other humans value themselves and that you all deserve to be treated with respect.