Day 204-You could be swinging from a tree!

What a beautiful day! Had I nothing else to do all day, I would've just kept walking. 

Good times, good times. 


Um, I've sort of recovered from the shock of my body cannibalizing my dead tooth,  and so have moved on to other things in my thinking space. (I'm super good at moving on!) Here's what's rolling around in my brain case today.

We tend to move in the same patterns in our daily lives--patterns that may not necessarily be the most beneficial to our health. We sit. A lot. We have our arms out in front of us, driving cars, using computers and smart phones and tablets. A lot. We don't reach, bend, pull nor support our own body weight enough. When you remove natural, varied movement from your life, you create immobility, whether you are immediately aware of it or not. Basically, use it or lose it.

You can begin to add natural movement into your life, and while it may at first be uncomfortable, you WILL become reaccustomed to the way you were built to move. 

For instance, how often do you reach overhead and pull something down, or pull yourself up? Walk over to the nearest playground in your 'hood, pretend no one is watching (They really don't care, trust me. They might even be jealous you've got the chutzpah to do this), and hang from the monkey bars. 

Can you? I bet you don't like it too much. But, you were designed to do things just like that. Pulling yourself up into a tree branch, reaching for overhead nuts and fruit and plucking them down. 

And, pulling down the weight on the lat machine at the gym doesn't count, Boo-Boo. 

Your assignment? It's in two parts: First, begin paying attention to your daily movement patterns, and jot them down. I sit at work, I use the keyboard, I hold a baby on my right hip, etc. Then, beside each action/pattern, note what movement it is. Arms in front. Hip jutting out to right, arm bent. Head jutting forward, elbows bent, wrists bent, shoulders rounded.

Great. Now the second part is for you to find the counter movement for each of your daily motions, and try and incorporate that into your day, somehow, some way. If you sit all day, then goshdarnit, get out and walk, and stand 30 minutes for every 30 you sit. Arms in front of you at the computer? Stop by the playground on the way home, and hang for a few minutes, maybe even SWING by your arms a little. Remember, you may not enjoy this at first. However, the alternative is not being able to do it at all, ever. Perhaps that will put a tiny fire under your keister and prompt you to do these good, essential things for your overall health and happiness. 

Whattaya say?
Dani