I didn't need a better routine. I needed a doorway. Movement has always been one of the most reliable things for my mental health — and I still go long stretches without it. Here's what I finally understood about why.

I used to think stress arrived like a wave — obvious, undeniable, dramatic. But for me it's rarely a wave. It's a slow internal tightening. A quiet drift away from myself that doesn't register as "serious enough" to deserve a pause. That's the trap.