Natural Movement at it’s finest!
If you’re into movement, feeling better, and kickass podcasts, I highly recommend checking out the Liberated Body, brainchild of my friend and fellow YTU Teacher, Brooke Thomas. This week, the guest was Erwan LeCorre, founder of MovNat, a method of training that emphasizes a return to natural movement (listen to the episode here). I’ve never taken a MovNat class or training, but after listening to the creator, with his very captivating French accent, discuss how much natural movement is the missing element for our daily life, I’m definitely interested.
I know I’ve shared things on Facebook about how “sitting is the new smoking” and we all need to move more, but I’ve discovered in my own body that standing isn’t much better. In all honesty, anything we do for more than 20 minutes or so in the same position is not ideal. And the best part is that you don’t need to set a timer, your body will usually tell you when it’s time to move.
I try to sit in as many different chairs possible over the course of the week. In our house, the floor is always an option, or there is a beanbag, a regular chair, and the softest couch known to mankind. My favorite thing about sitting on the floor is that 20 minutes in any position will begin to be uncomfortable and I will adjust. Varying my sitting position on the floor means that my tissues and joints are put into different resting lengths and stretches, getting their required daily dose of variation.
Just as with anything, it’s not an all or nothing, so if you’ve never ventured to the floor to enjoy America’s Got Talent, then start with increments. Maybe it’s just one commercial break to start or maybe it’s the show portion between commercial breaks. Gradually, you will find more comfortable ways to sit on the floor. Besides, it’s a great place to be to roll on your Yoga Tune Up® Balls!
My work situation now involves 6-hour spans at the computer. I tried sitting the first day and was incredibly uncomfortable, so I have no shifted to standing for the duration. But here’s the catch – while sitting is the new smoking, standing for 6 hours is not much better. Movement is not something you just play with because you read it on the Internet somewhere. Your body is designed to move, A LOT. But our modern lifestyles require us to sit in cars and at desks, which require no movement at all. When you sit (or stand!) all day, moving is not necessarily a comfortable or enjoyable activity, which doesn’t mean you should discount it completely, it just means you should start with baby steps.
It’s not all or nothing.
Moving doesn’t mean that you go to the gym and get your ass handed to you in a group fitness class. Yes, that is “movement”, but it also the equivalent to eating gummy worms all day, having one piece of broccoli at dinner, and calling it a night. The broccoli cannot cancel out the pounds of gummy worms you consumed just as your boot camp class does not cancel out your 10 hours of sitting.
My solution for this is to not just stand at my desk for 6 hours straight, but to roll my feet with my YTU Balls, change positions often, and interrupt internal shoulder rotation for some Hitchhiking Pizzas whenever I think about it.
How can you incorporate more movement throughout your day? I am always a champion for taking more water/bathroom breaks, probably because I’m not your boss ;), but you can walk start walking at lunch (in shoes that don’t smoosh your toes or have a heel). What will you do to move more daily?
I know I’ve shared things on Facebook about how “sitting is the new smoking” and we all need to move more, but I’ve discovered in my own body that standing isn’t much better. In all honesty, anything we do for more than 20 minutes or so in the same position is not ideal. And the best part is that you don’t need to set a timer, your body will usually tell you when it’s time to move.
I try to sit in as many different chairs possible over the course of the week. In our house, the floor is always an option, or there is a beanbag, a regular chair, and the softest couch known to mankind. My favorite thing about sitting on the floor is that 20 minutes in any position will begin to be uncomfortable and I will adjust. Varying my sitting position on the floor means that my tissues and joints are put into different resting lengths and stretches, getting their required daily dose of variation.
Just as with anything, it’s not an all or nothing, so if you’ve never ventured to the floor to enjoy America’s Got Talent, then start with increments. Maybe it’s just one commercial break to start or maybe it’s the show portion between commercial breaks. Gradually, you will find more comfortable ways to sit on the floor. Besides, it’s a great place to be to roll on your Yoga Tune Up® Balls!
My work situation now involves 6-hour spans at the computer. I tried sitting the first day and was incredibly uncomfortable, so I have no shifted to standing for the duration. But here’s the catch – while sitting is the new smoking, standing for 6 hours is not much better. Movement is not something you just play with because you read it on the Internet somewhere. Your body is designed to move, A LOT. But our modern lifestyles require us to sit in cars and at desks, which require no movement at all. When you sit (or stand!) all day, moving is not necessarily a comfortable or enjoyable activity, which doesn’t mean you should discount it completely, it just means you should start with baby steps.
It’s not all or nothing.
Moving doesn’t mean that you go to the gym and get your ass handed to you in a group fitness class. Yes, that is “movement”, but it also the equivalent to eating gummy worms all day, having one piece of broccoli at dinner, and calling it a night. The broccoli cannot cancel out the pounds of gummy worms you consumed just as your boot camp class does not cancel out your 10 hours of sitting.
My solution for this is to not just stand at my desk for 6 hours straight, but to roll my feet with my YTU Balls, change positions often, and interrupt internal shoulder rotation for some Hitchhiking Pizzas whenever I think about it.
How can you incorporate more movement throughout your day? I am always a champion for taking more water/bathroom breaks, probably because I’m not your boss ;), but you can walk start walking at lunch (in shoes that don’t smoosh your toes or have a heel). What will you do to move more daily?
