22/01/2026
SPORT. BODY. SENSATION. TRUTHS THAT ARE NO LONGER COMFORTABLE.
After more than 30 years in sport –
as an ice hockey player, later an international referee, a triathlete, runner, gym-goer. I’ve come to conclusions that sound very different today than they once did.
For years, I treated my body as a tool.
A machine for results, ambition, and proving my worth.
Sport was my escape.
In theory healthier than alcohol or workaholism, but driven by the same mechanism:
running away from emotions, from silence, from myself.
I pushed my body to the limit.
At the cost of relationships.
At the cost of loved ones.
At the cost of sensation.
Until my body said: enough.
Not as a whisper. As an ultimatum.
Either I start listening,
or I will spend the rest of your life running through pain to avoid meeting yourself.
That’s when I understood something uncomfortable:
👉 Sport in its modern form is not health.
Even amateur sport. Sometimes especially amateur sport.
It creates frustration.
It steals what little time is left after work.
It gives the illusion of “doing something for yourself”,
while fueling a never-ending chase for results.
Modern sport has moved far away from the ancient Greek idea of
kalokagathia – harmony of body, mind, and character.
We’ve built an upside-down pyramid.
At the top: results, performance, numbers, control.
At the bottom: the body, expected to adapt and endure.
But it’s the opposite.
The body is the foundation.
On it we build relationships – with others and with ourselves.
Only then does meaning and direction appear.
Without sensing the body, the whole structure collapses.
That’s why today I move differently.
According to how I feel.
As much as my body needs.
Without pressure for outcomes.
That’s also why I gave up electronic gadgets.
Watches. Apps. Headphones.
They don’t teach you to listen.
They teach you to control.
They drown out breath and inner signals.
Without them, what remains is what truly matters:
breath, movement, bodily response, presence.
Today I rely on simple foundations:
daily mobility and gentle movement,
breath and awareness,
strength training, occasional intensity,
and recovery.
Not to be better.
But to be closer to myself.
Because the body is not a tool for releasing frustration.
It is the foundation of growth.
And the first teacher of truth.
One last thing.
Don’t look for the perfect sport.
Look for movement that brings you joy.
For some it’s dance.
For others, walking in the forest.
Swimming.
Yoga.
Climbing.
Cycling without counting kilometers.
Play. Exploration.
Movement doesn’t have to look “athletic”.
It has to be alive.
It should nourish you, not drain you.
When we truly start to feel our bodies,
sport stops being an escape
and becomes a form of presence.
And that is what I am learning now the most.