Movement Diversity is the Key to Optimal Health and Wellbeing

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Chances are that you (like me until a few years ago, and probably also like almost everyone else you know) have spent the bulk of your life wearing "good" shoes. Stiff shoes. Supportive shoes. Shoes with elevated heels and limited space to stretch your toes. Shoes that, over the decades, have sort of "casted" the muscles in your feet. This, combines with our excessive sitting and lack of walking on natural terrain (and many other habits we have), can lead to foot ailments such as bunions, hammertoes, bone spurs, plantar fasciitis, osteoarthritis, and neuropathy. If you don't move all of the joints and muscles in your feet, then your circulation decreases, which has big implications for your ability to heal from injuries, especially important to those dealing with diabetes. Our immobilized feet can also lead to ailments that don't seem immediately foot related - knee, hip, lower-back, and even neck pain can all be connected to your foot health.
~ Katy Bowman, "Dynamic Aging"

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Movement is Life

What I love about Katy Bowman's body of work over the decades is that the consistent message is that we need to move more. More? What does that mean? Well, it's a complex answer due to the fact that we all aren't the same age, have the same routines, nor live in the same bioregions.

The questions that should be asked: How much movement (not exercise) do I have in my life? Are these the same movements like sitting in chairs for hours a day, every day? Is my walking from one seated position to another seated position for most of the day (meaning that there is no distance involved nor extended time walking say, to and from work).

Do you ever sit on the floor, changing your altitude? If you are in your 20s or 30s this may seem silly. Sure you can sit on the floor but my question to you is how often. If you talk to your parents and grandparents, their eyes might widen when you ask them if they can sit on the floor. And as the old saying goes, if you don't use it you lose it. You may not know this but your body economizes on energy by adapting the muscle strength and range (how far you can stretch a muscle) to what you do each and every day.

If you do the same things (i.e. same movements on the same planes or heights) then your body cannot adapt as easily to sudden changes in the program. Thus it isn't your age necessarily that is inhibiting new movements but the fact that you haven't attempted to sit on the floor for decades that is causing this new-to-your-muscles movement to be so difficult.

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Photo by Jordan on Unsplash

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Incorporating More Healthy Movements into Your Day

As a yoga teacher for 20 years, I decided to give Katy Bowman's work a try since my students had a hard time with the yoga postures I was teaching them. Looking at their stiff bodies that didn't want to get up and down off the floor with ease gave me the incentive to try another approach.

After discussing my dilemma with another yoga teacher at a workshop we were attending, she suggested that I look into Katy Bowman's work. After 5 years, I will say that Katy definitely is my foundational work that I teach to my students now. I have issues with hypermobility which is another obstacle that can be addressed with Katy's program.

Here are some suggestions:

• walk more
• sit on the floor
• stand more
• wear your shoes less
• spend more time outside
• try a new activity that gets you moving in a new way

I know that the list seems vague and yet it needs to fit into your lifestyle. Sometimes when we want to add something to our lives, we need to subtract something else. What are you doing that might be causing harm? I think we can all easily decrease our screen time to then add more walking into our lives.

And you may say the weather may be an inhibitor because of snow and ice. Be creative. Is there a mall close by? Go walk some laps indoors. Adding more walking into your day could be as easy as parking further away from the door or using the stairs instead of the elevator. Be creative.

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Photo by Will Swann on Unsplash

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It's Not About New Year's Resolutions, Just Incremental Lifestyle Changes

I think we have these grand ideas about what we should do and look like in the coming new year. Goals are a wonderful motivator and yet are they realistic? Walking more is about slowing adding more time over months and years so that the body can function optimally because you are moving in a naturally beneficial way.

We should intuitively know that we cannot sit on a couch for years and then expect to run a marathon the next day. Pretty obvious - right? And yet, I tell you that you need to add more walking into your daily routine and you decided to walk several miles all at once, only to hurt all over the next day. What went wrong with the plan?

First, we all make that mistake. We get excited about our new routine or activity and do "too much." Your body has adapted to certain movements over the decades. It can adapt to a new routine AND we need to work smarter by not pushing our bodies harder.

Short intervals several times a day help the body adapt to the new changes over time.

So if you sit for most of your waking hours, get up and move around every hour or so. Once that becomes routine and easier, than increase your standing time. Add a 15 minute walk in the morning and afternoon. Increase the walking time when 15 minutes seems "too easy." Gradually find hills to climb to increase difficulty causing your body to adapt more readily to the changes you give it.

The take-away is that movement matters. Frequency. Duration. Altitude. These are the key ingredients towards a healthier and happier lifestyle.

Take care and be well!!