In our culture, stillness has become the norm and it is killing us. Think about it, when we go out to dinner with friends we generally sit, remaining relatively still for the entire meal. When we relax at home with the family, we sit on the couch, almost motionless. We go to work where we sit at a desk, moving very little for almost eight hours. Human beings were not meant to live a sedentary life. Yet, this is now our reality, that being sedentary is just normal. This needs to change.
Experts like Katy Bowman and James Levine are now bringing light to this, the fact that increased movement throughout the day is far more powerful than your hour long gym session. Just by moving more throughout the day we can live a healthier life.
However, because stillness has become the norm, how do we change it?
It’s easy, just move more. Well, it sounds easy enough, but it may take some time to get into a new routine of living a movement rich life.
Here are some simple tips to leading a movement rich life:
- Meal Preparation – Skip the pre made boxed dinners and opt to make your meals from scratch. Yes, this is by far more work, and that is a good thing! You are allowing yourself to move more while cooking and you are also making healthier choices by preparing your meals from scratch.
- Go the Distance – Whether you are going to work, running errands, or heading to the park with the family – walk whenever possible. If your destination is too far to walk, drive there but park far away.
- Change Your Social Norm – Suggest an active date with friends. Instead of sitting around drinking cocktails suggest bowling, roller-skating, or taking a bike ride.
- Simple Chores Made Manual – Instead of running the dishwasher, wash your dishes by hand. Instead of busting out the riding lawnmower, use a push mower instead. Simply put, aim to do more chores the “hard way” – manually.
- Be Mindful – When you do sit down to relax on the couch be mindful of how long you have been remaining still. Get up frequently and move. Take movement breaks from relaxing to perform some chores, stretch, do some body weight exercises – anything to get you moving!
- Pace – While you are on your next phone call or conference call, pace while you chat.
- Active Workspace – If you do have a traditional office job invest in an active space. If possible, invest in an adjustable height standing desk or a treadmill desk. If these options are not realistic, aim instead to take active breaks every hour where you can stretch or walk.
- Track Stillness – For one week track the number of hours in a day you remain still. This includes your commute, relaxation time, working, etc. Chances are you will be quite alarmed by how many hours in a week you remain sedentary.
Simple switches can help you lead a more movement rich life, so we challenge you…take the very first step by trying one or more of our tips listed above today!
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https://edgeofwellness.com/sitting-not-killing-us-stillness/