Shilling’s Dialectical Lens

Data Collection
Approach #1 Material Body: Human body in fitness is living, breathing and moving: a
material body
1. An advertisement on the billboard in the Fine Arts Center shows a dancer with a
tiny waist and very flexible back.
2. At my nonprofit health organization, I see a flyer that shows ways for healthier
living with a woman in running clothes moving down a street.
3. While walking around campus I notice a flyer on a pole with a girl in tree pose,
telling how yoga promotes a flexible and balanced body.
4. At the grocery store, a yogurt label says, “Fit & Active” with a happy woman in
workout clothes on the label.
5. The gym shows people engaging in different sports along the windows as I walk
by, each with different body shapes.

Approach #2 Reciprocity: Society affects you and you affect society when it comes to fitness
1. My friends back home in Chicago Snapchat me that they are going to the gym at
six in the morning on a Wednesday.
2. I tell my roommates at the end of the day how many bruises I have from dancing
all day and they respond with, “that looks like it hurts.”
3. During the summer, I told my brother and sister I was getting a gym membership,
and they ended up attended the gym more often than usual.
4. My friend Danny told me he spends two hours at the gym five days a week.
5. I was inspired by Edith to start dancing in my kitchen on days I don’t have class.

Approach #3 Learning: Learning from Society about Fitness Behaviors

1. This summer I learned that I could use my living room space for workout videos
with my mom when I didn’t feel like going to the gym.
2. At the gym I learned that one should generally begin a workout by warming up on
a treadmill or elliptical.
3. I learned that men often lift much heavier weights than women, but not always for
the strength that it gives them, sometimes just for the bodily aesthetic.
4. At home, my family often eats out for breakfast, making it difficult to engage in
physical activity early in the day after a heavy meal.
5. In the dance studio, my warm-up is limited to exercises that only use my body and
other dancers’ bodies.

Approach #4 Change: Resistance creates change in fitness behavior

1. I decided to take the stairs at the airport when I traveled to Italy this summer,
even though everyone else took the escalator.
2. My friends and I decided to do yoga in my front yard despite the passing cars,
because I wanted to be outdoors and without a classroom setting.
3. I turned off the screen in front of my face when I stepped on the treadmill at L.A.
fitness to focus on my posture while running.
 4. I was running late to my next meeting and my car was parked on the other side of
campus, so I ran to my car to get a quick workout and to make it on time.
5. On vacation, some of my family members took a cab back from the museum while
my cousin and I decided to walk the two miles.

Data Sample Analysis

Most Often Most Socially Most Hidden in Most Intriguing
Found in your Prominent in your examples from
Observations your Observations your
Observations Observations
#1 Material Slim women in a Fit men are bulky You’re either More women
Body sports bra and and fit women “fit” or you don’t than men care
yoga pants are toned “fit in” idea about healthy
eating as part of
fitness
#2 Reciprocity We tend to think Going to the gym We may say we We often
we should be is the most need more exaggerate what
doing what common form of fitness, but not we tell other
everyone else is fitness actually act on it people about
doing our fitness
routines
#3 Learning Each Learn by It is easy to stop People learn
environment has observation of being fit when about fitness for
unique lessons the same sex the other people other reasons
to teach us since we have around you than well-being
different don’t make it a or elevated
physiological priority performance
fitness needs
#4 Change I engaged in It seemed I was Feelings of I enjoyed each
fitness activities the only one judgement for fitness activity
more often and going against being “different” more when I
more efficiently societal norms changed it to
benefit my body
and goals

In analysis of the material body, I saw this as the most superficial way to look at
fitness. In my example from the grocery store, I noticed that women are more likely to relate
fitness and healthy eating. It is often expected that women do the grocery shopping; therefore,
it makes sense there are fit women featured on the dairy and “low-calorie” products with
label designs and colors appealing to feminine preferences. In reciprocity, I found that going
to the gym was the most common, yet individualized way to achieve physical fitness. In my
examples, going to the gym was an activity that I could engage in with my brother and sister,
but also have a conversation about with my friends who had very different fitness goals. In
learning about fitness behaviors, I found the most difficult analysis was to find a commonality
between my examples. Each environment taught me about fitness in their own, sometimes
contradictory way. In my third example, the gym told me that I needed weights to build
muscles; however, my first and fifth examples in the studio and my living room taught me that
I only needed my own body to engage in fitness. Finally, resistance to subconscious fitness
patterns was surprisingly freeing. I enjoyed my yoga practice more since it was outdoors and
in the comfort of my own home, as in my second example. I felt running to my car was useful
for engaging in more frequent exercise. In this way, fitness will become an unattachable part
of my life no matter the environment.

Takeaway

In my studies of Integrative Health, I understand that our human experience

encompasses the wellbeing of our mind, body, and spirit as it connects with our environment
and society. Through Shilling’s Dialectical Lens I learned primarily about the connections
between physical fitness and physical wellbeing. In Shilling’s perspective of the body as a
living and moving object in space, I saw how fitness and wellbeing are often portrayed in the
same way. To be a fit body is to also be a well body. The images in advertisements portray
people who have chosen a fitness routine that keeps them well. On the contrary, to be a well
body does not always mean being a fit body. Someone could be well, but not appear fit by
society’s standards: a 45-year old mother who has no chronic illness or pain but has a higher
fat to muscle ratio. She may not look like a “fit” middle-aged woman when compared to
examples in the media, but she is healthy. For me, the connection between our physical
wellbeing and physical fitness was clarified with this primary research.

In Shilling’s next three points I understood fitness as holistic, just like I see wellbeing in
integrative healthcare. There is an emotional investment in fitness. When considering
reciprocity, becoming aware of how our close friends and family view fitness can give us
mental insight on how to achieve our own fitness goals. In recognizing how we share good
and bad fitness habits with each other, we can cultivate compassion and make fitness more
accessible for everyone. There is a greater mental focus available to us in fitness. With
learning, I realized our environment has a big impact on our motivation to stay fit. When we
put ourselves in places designed for fitness activities and minimize distractions it is much
easier to engage both the body and the mind. Moreover, there is spiritual integration
available in fitness, just as in wellbeing. This spirit gives us the will to resist and the creativity
to change our habitual tendencies. Stepping outside of our comfort zone and societal norms is
intimidating, but the result is enthusiasm to stay fit. In my primary research, I’ve learned the
emotional, mental, and spiritual components of fitness are just as important as understanding
the physical body.