3 Keys to Health: Movement
When I say the solution to most health issues is simple, I mean it.
For me, it's 3 things:
1. movement
2. breath
3. feeling of safety
In this post, I’ll focus on MOVEMENT.
I taught and treated as a massage therapist many people over 60. In most cases, those who didn't move much had more health complaints and looked and felt older.
BALANCE
I almost hear you saying that one could have been moving a lot throughout life and still be in pain. How's that?
If you moved too much in one particular way, you could strain a part of the body to the point of damage. Decades of 100+ kilometers rides by bike could end with knee pain. A couple of marathons and your spine might be in pretty poor shape.
BALANCE is everything. So, keep moving, but don't overdo it.
DIVERSITY
More importantly, it's about a diverse ''diet'' of movements.
Imagine a 60-year-old woman who does occasional bike rides or walks but keeps herself busy in her garden daily. She could be in better shape than someone who goes for daily 10-km walks.
How come?
Because walking is just walking. You're moving in one plane, using the same group of muscles.
Gardening requires you to reach up to prune the trees, kneel or squat to weed, and use some arm strength to do the digging or raking. It's simply more diverse.
OK. So could a low-impact activity that engages more body parts and combines strength and flexibility training be that golden solution?
I used to believe that Yoga was that one answer. Until it almost incapacitated me.
In most yoga styles, you're still doing the same thing over and over again. Just a broader spectrum of the same thing than in running or golf.
Yoga seems ‘‘complete’’ but is notoriously missing the dragging/ pulling movement in the arms. There's plenty of pushing away (planks, downward dogs, etc.) but nothing to balance it out.
Yoga also obsesses with extreme flexibility (especially back extensions), which is very different from a healthy range of movement.
So maybe Tai chi or Chi Kung? They're great, but why are all movements done in the same relation to gravity (standing)? When do you get the chance to put a healthy weight load on your arms?
Doing out-of-the-box movements different from what you do most of the day is crucial for staying supple and mobile. Anything intuitive and non-prescriptive, like contemporary dance or fascia unwinding does wonders in this respect. You hydrate your fascia - and it keeps your body young from the inside out.
LOSS and RECOVERY
If you don't use it, you lose it. There is no way around it.
But, thankfully, the loss is not forever. You can regain your mobility at any age.
My favourite example is the feet. I risk saying that feet are the most neglected part of our bodies. We torture them from a very young age by caging them in the shoes. The muscles atrophy and the feet deform. The impact travels up the spine, causing back pain and neck pain. By 50, living in a climate that doesn't allow freeing up the feet in sandals, the toes glue together, and bunions become rampant.
But with a persistent practice, your feet can look and feel different in just a few months. You can un-glue your toes and make them move independently of one another. You can move your feet in many more planes, utilising all its 33 (!) joints. You can lift the arches of your feet. Your foot can become much wider, with visible gaps between the toes. You change your gait and how you hold yourself.
ARE YOU IN PAIN? START WITH MICROMOVEMENTS
If you’re already in chronic pain, you have to start really small when you return to moving.
I recommend mindful Micromovements. This YouTube video gives you a small sample of micromovements.