During these uneasy times we have more reason than ever to be anxious, depressed, angry, and a plethora of other emotions. However, now is the perfect time to realize the power of movement on your physical, mental, and emotional well being.
The Power of Movement
You have no doubt heard that exercise is important, but the word “exercise” tends to elicit a very negative response in our minds, so lets instead use the word movement.
Our bodies are meant to move, this is our natural state. This is when our bodies are the most optimal. What is not natural is sitting for hours day in and day out. Sitting/being sedentary is now being linked to an extraordinary number of illnesses and disorders, such as; Type II Diabetes, heart disease, stroke, breast cancer, colon cancer, and the list goes on and on.
Lack of movement can cause; weight gain, lethargy, decreased mobility, moodiness, lack of motivation, and mindless eating – to just name a few. Spending the majority of your day on the go, moving, can be extremely powerful in helping boost energy levels, increase motivation, combat mood disorders, and much more! Helping you to stay overall healthier, happier, and prevent chronic disease.
What is Movement?
Movement can be defined as any type of activity that causes you to move your body. Seriously anything! This could be everything from running a marathon to grating cheese by hand for dinner.
How to Start Moving More
Start small. Start simple. Aim to make small daily changes to get you moving more. Here are some examples of how to incorporate more movement throughout your everyday life:
- Take the stairs
- Park farther away
- Aim to get up at least once per hour and move – this is something as simple as pacing for 60 seconds and sitting back down
- Limit TV time – I challenge you to time how much time you spend sitting and watching Netflix, YouTube, Hulu, etc. Once you time yourself, aim to decrease that number each day
- Gardening – not only does gardening get you moving, but there are a number of health benefits associated with this activity such as reducing stress and improving hand strength
- Count your steps – make it your goal to get at least 5,000 steps per day and aim to increase this number gradually
- Cook more – not only will this help you eat more nutritious foods, but cooking is a great way to get moving every day and huge bonus you can make this a fun activity for the entire family
- Hobby – find a hobby that you enjoy and gets you moving – when something is fun you are more likely to make the time for it
- Stop taking the easy way out – this might mean mowing your lawn with a push mower instead of a rider, buying block cheese and grating it by hand, washing the dishes by hand instead of using the dishwasher, etc.
- Drink more water – more water means more bathroom breaks, meaning you are getting up more often – oh and water is just plain good for you
- Walk – whenever possible walk to your destination or just simply incorporate more walks into you daily life
Resources
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4241367/
https://www.nhs.uk/news/lifestyle-and-exercise/lack-of-exercise-as-deadly-as-smoking/
https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/fitness/getting-active/how-to-move-more-anytime-anywhere
https://www.prevention.com/fitness/fitness-tips/g22726663/ways-to-move-more/
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