Personal Journal · Apeldoorn, NL

Not medical advice. Everything on this site documents my personal observations and private practice only. I hold no medical, physiotherapy, or nutritional qualifications. Please consult a qualified healthcare professional before changing any exercise or eating habit.

Three Years of Notes on Flexibility & Movement

I am Yussef Joe. This journal holds three years of private observations about gymnastics floor work, daily stretching, and what I personally notice about eating habits alongside my practice — written for myself, shared openly.

Read the Journal How I Practise
3 Years of personal notes
60+ Journal entries
0 Health qualifications
The Journal

Recent Entries

These posts come directly from my personal notes. They document what I observe in my own practice — they are not instructions, guides, or advice for anyone else.

Movement
21 March 2025

My Wrist and Shoulder Observations After Three Months of Bear-Crawl Floor Work

For twelve consecutive weeks I included bear-crawl variations at the start of my morning floor sessions. I was curious about what I would notice, if anything, in my shoulders and wrists — not from a clinical standpoint, but simply because I had started paying close attention to how my upper body felt at different points during the day. What I observed was specific enough to fill several journal pages, and I share those notes here exactly as written. I am not drawing conclusions — I am recording observations.

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Nutrition
8 January 2025

Eight Weeks of Eating More Magnesium-Rich Foods: Notes from My Personal Observation Log

I went through a period where I deliberately added more dark leafy greens, seeds, and whole grains to my daily eating, partly out of curiosity after reading about magnesium. I kept parallel notes throughout — recording what I ate and what I noticed during my movement practice on the same and following days. I want to be completely clear that I am not qualified to interpret these observations scientifically, and I make no claim about what any food does. These are simply the notes I kept during that period.

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Flexibility
14 October 2024

Gravity-Assisted Positions: What I Personally Observed Across a Full Season of Practice

At some point in my second year of keeping notes I began spending more time in positions where I relied entirely on gravity rather than muscular effort to deepen a stretch. I held these positions for much longer than I had previously and I tracked what I noticed in a dedicated section of the journal. This entry brings together the most interesting observations from that five-month period. As always, these are personal notes about my personal practice — not a guide, not a recommendation, not a claim about what stretching does.

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Practice Duration
3 yrs
of daily personal notes

No qualifications in any health, medical, or fitness field. This is a personal journal only. For health matters, consult a qualified professional.

About Me

Three Years of Paying Attention

My name is Yussef Joe. I live in Apeldoorn and I work a desk job that keeps me seated for most of the day. Three years ago I started spending time each morning on a mat in my living room, working through gymnastics-inspired floor movements I had put together myself. I had no plan and no qualifications — I just started moving and writing down what I noticed.

Over three years those notes have grown into a proper journal. I now document my morning floor sessions, the passive stretching I do most evenings, and the patterns I personally observe when I change what I eat. The journal has never been planned as a product or a programme — it exists because I find that writing things down helps me notice them more clearly.

I am sharing it publicly because I believe there is genuine value in honest first-person accounts of real personal practice, even when — perhaps especially when — they come without expertise. I do not know why some things feel different than others. I can only tell you what I observe, that I have been consistent for three years, and that I find it interesting enough to keep doing.

Apeldoorn, NL Three years of notes Home floor practice Food observation logs No credentials
How I Practise

The Three Parts of My Personal Routine

Three years of notes have settled into three consistent areas. This describes what I personally do — not what I recommend for anyone else.

01 — FLOOR

Gymnastics Floor Movements Each Morning

My day starts on a mat. I work through a self-developed sequence of gymnastics-inspired movements — controlled rolls, bridging shapes, lateral floor sweeps, spinal extensions. I spend between twenty and forty minutes here depending on how much time I have. I came to each of these positions through personal trial rather than instruction, and my notes reflect what I personally observe in how my body feels during and after each session.

02 — STRETCH

Evening Passive Stretching With Gravity

Most evenings I return to the mat for a shorter session focused entirely on passive stretching — positions that I enter carefully and remain in without effort, relying on gravity and time. I have been doing this for two of the three years I have kept notes. In my personal practice I have observed that the character of these sessions feels very different from the morning work, and my written observations reflect that difference. I have no scientific explanation to offer — only a record of what I notice.

03 — NUTRITION

Tracking My Eating Habits Alongside Movement

From the beginning of my second year I started noting what I had eaten alongside my movement observations. This began as a rough habit and became more deliberate over time. I have made several periods of dietary change over three years and kept notes throughout each one. I make no claims about what food does or does not do. I am not a nutritionist. I share my food observation notes alongside the movement journal as part of one honest record of one person's practice.

Questions

Frequently Asked

Honest answers to what people ask me most about this journal.

Important

No — absolutely and definitively not. Nothing on this website constitutes medical advice, and nothing should be read as medical advice under any circumstances. I am a private individual writing a personal journal. I have no medical training of any kind and I am not attempting to provide guidance of any sort. Every word on this site is a first-person account of my own personal observations. If you have any concern about your physical health, your flexibility, your joints, or any aspect of your physical wellbeing, please speak with a qualified doctor, physiotherapist, or other licensed health professional. My notes are a personal record, nothing more.

Important

None at all. I want to be direct about this: I have absolutely no qualifications in any field related to health, fitness, exercise science, physiotherapy, nutrition, or dietetics. I am not a personal trainer, not a certified gymnastics coach, not a physiotherapist, not a sports scientist, and not a nutritionist. I have a desk job and three years of personal notes. The fact that I have observed my own practice carefully and consistently does not make me an authority — it makes me someone who pays attention to his own experience and writes it down. Please do not treat anything here as guidance from a qualified professional.

The Motion Notes Collection is the full digital archive of my personal journal — three years of morning floor work entries, evening stretching observations, food tracking logs, and periodic written reflections. It is organised thematically and chronologically. The archive contains detailed written descriptions of the positions and movements I personally use, my observations alongside them, and the eating pattern notes I have kept in parallel. It is a genuine journal archive, not a training course or structured programme.

I am genuinely not able to answer that question, and I think it would be dishonest of me to try. My descriptions of what I do are personal notes about my own practice — they are not instructions written for others to follow, and they certainly are not guidance tailored to anyone's individual physical situation. If you have any existing joint issue, health condition, or physical concern, the only appropriate step is to consult with a qualified physiotherapist or doctor before trying anything new. Please do not use my personal journal as a basis for any health-related decision.

A One-to-One Practice Exchange is a personal online conversation — typically sixty to seventy-five minutes — in which I describe my practice in detail, walk through relevant entries from the journal archive, and discuss the observations I have made over three years. You share what your own routine looks like, and we exchange perspectives as two people interested in movement. I want to be completely clear that this is not coaching, assessment, or advice of any kind. Nothing I say in the session constitutes professional guidance.

Mainly because I find honest first-person accounts of personal practice genuinely interesting to read, and I suspect some other people do too. There is a difference between reading a polished guide written by someone presenting themselves as an authority, and reading three years of actual notes from someone who is simply paying attention and writing things down. I am not claiming my observations are useful for anyone else — I am just making them available. The disclaimer at the top of this page says everything that needs to be said about what this is and is not.

Access

Three Ways to Engage With the Journal

Three options for accessing my personal practice documentation more closely. These are not professional health services — they are access to one person's private notes.

The Motion Notes Collection

Full access to the complete three-year journal archive: floor work notes, stretching observations, food tracking, and personal reflections — organised for reading.

€46
One-time · digital download
60+ personal observation entries
Three years of floor work notes
Food tracking log included
Thematic and chronological index
Enquire Now
Most Requested

One-to-One Practice Exchange

A dedicated online session in which I walk in detail through my personal practice, reference specific journal entries, and exchange observations with you about your own routine. Not coaching — a personal conversation.

€86
Single session · 60–75 min · online
Detailed walk-through of my practice
Archive entries for context
Personal exchange of observations
Written session notes afterwards
Book a Session

The Ongoing Journal Pass

Monthly access to my active journal as I write it — new entries delivered each week, plus full access to the historical archive. Follow my current observations in real time.

€196
Per month · cancel any time
New entries weekly (4–5 monthly)
Full archive access included
Current food observation notes
Monthly written reflection
Enquire Now
Reader Responses

What People Say

Words from people who have read the archive or joined a session. These are their own views.

★★★★★

"I came expecting a how-to guide and got something much more interesting — an actual journal from someone who clearly writes every day and does not embellish. The bear-crawl entry alone kept me reading for an hour. It made me want to keep my own notes."

LD
Liesbeth D.
Apeldoorn, NL
★★★★★

"The Practice Exchange session surprised me. Yussef is completely upfront that he gives no advice — and then proceeds to describe his practice in such concrete detail that it prompted more reflection than most coaching sessions I have paid three times as much for. The written notes he sent afterwards were thorough."

MT
Marco T.
Deventer, NL
★★★★☆

"The Ongoing Journal Pass is unlike anything I have subscribed to. Getting new entries each week from someone's active practice — not curated content, but genuine current notes — changed how I pay attention to my own mornings. I stayed for two months and found myself taking notes of my own."

PS
Petra S.
Arnhem, NL
Location

Based in Apeldoorn

Spoorstraat 44
7311 PE Apeldoorn
Netherlands

Via the contact form below

I reply within 2–3 working days

Get in Touch

Write to Me

Whether you are interested in the archive, want to book a session, or simply want to share your own observations — I read every message and reply personally.

I typically respond within two to three working days. I prefer to write a considered reply rather than a fast one.

Please note: I am not in a position to respond to questions about physical health or medical matters. For those, please consult a qualified professional.

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