Paula Youmell, RN Holistic RN, Natural Health Educator, Author
Get outside & get moving with the ones you love… even if it’s just you!
Movement Magic Your body is poetry in motion. Your body was designed to move and be moved. All those gorgeous muscles and bones connected together with joints, tendons, and ligaments for the specific purpose of movement. I started using the term Movement Magic* with clients for one specific reason: Exercise holds too many negative and highly charged emotions with many people. The guilt of not exercising enough (whatever enough is) creates a negative cycle of “why bother” and various other mind games we play with ourselves. When we bring the magic back to our lives… well, magical things happen. See your movement as creating magical health inside your body. Movement then becomes a magical gift to you! Sitting causes stagnation of all bodily processes. Stagnation causes constipation. By constipation I do mean colon constipation but I also mean whole body constipation. Every bodily fluid and process gets “stuck,” constipated. Our life force energy gets constipated. Our cellular health gets constipated.
Think for a minute what happens to water when it is stagnant; when there is no flow of new water into the mix or movement of existing water out. This stagnant water breeds microorganisms, fungus, etc. This same stagnation over the human body overwhelms our detoxification systems with the back-up products from being stale and stagnant. Overgrowth of micro-organisms, infections, (and many, many more health problems) can happen in the human body from chronic stagnation (lack of movement magic!). Movement creates pure, biological magic right down to your each and every body cell! Movement is a beautiful thing. I encourage you to move frequently!
*Movement Magic is the phrase I use to explain our natural need to move our bodies, a need we inherently know we have. Your body is an amazing gift that your soul has the honor of living in. Find something you love, many things you love, that move your body and simply get moving. No need for expensive gym memberships and personal trainers. No need for expensive equipment. Throw on shoes and go for a walk in the woods, do some push-ups, dance in your living room for a half hour or so, fall in love with yoga or tae kwon do... Bring some magic into your life by moving your beautiful body, today and every day. Movement will make your mind, body, and soul HAPPY!
Easy Ways to Add Movement to Your Every Day If you have an upstairs bathroom, use it instead of the downstairs one. Going up and down the stairs adds a little movement to your day. Before and after using the bathroom, do a few push-ups and crunches. Or some strong yoga poses that you hold for 6 long, slow, deep breaths! Walk wherever you can. Avoid elevators and parking close to places. Put that beautiful body of yours into motion and give it the opportunity to move and groove. Skip automatic doors and use those beautiful arm, chest, and upper back muscles to “muscle” your way into the space. Hold your abdominals tight and engage the core muscles to help pull heavy doors open. Get up from your desk every 30 minutes. Dance, do yoga poses, push-ups, crunches, walk around your work place… just move!
Reverse push-ups for another fun way to get stronger! http://bcove.me/fv9ekbyd Get a bike and ride it. Run your errands on a bike: the post office, bank, light groceries, etc. Find a comfortable pair of sneakers, minimalist sneakers (I like inexpensive, stretchy water shoes in the warm weather, of course!) and walk. Just walk. Stand when you work and use a stepper. I love the concept of the standing desks but movement makes it even better. Standing is a stagnant act as well. Ask nurses and beauticians who stand all day… varicose veins are an effect of stagnant standing. Move your beautiful body!
Think of ways you can add movement to your day in a manner that works for you.
Ok gang, the season is upon us to get outside and move our beautiful bodies, build muscle, increase lean body mass, and just plain feel better and stronger inside ourselves. I am so glad I did not grow up in this era of video games being more important than outdoor play. Playing outside is the zest of life and builds bones and muscles, not to mention all over cellular health. Use it or lose it! "Why?" you ask, "Why Paula would I want to do that?" 1. Muscle tissue is healthier than fat tissue. A muscle cell, each individual muscle cell, is more active than individual fat cells. This means each muscle cell has a higher metabolic activity level. Your whole body, with more muscle, will have a higher metabolic rate. This means you burn more calories just by being alive. 2. Muscle is active tissue. Muscle tissue actively moves fluids around your body, massaging blood vessels and body tissues as you move your muscles, helping blood flow and other fluids to flow smoothly and easily. 3. Conversely, fat tissue squeezes blood vessels, having more of a collapsing effect on blood vessels (think of how much harder you have to suck to get fluid through a straw that has been squeezed almost shut). If the blood vessels running through your excess adipose tissue are being squeezed, this makes it more work for your heart to pump blood through these vessels. Up goes the blood pressure...
4. A moving body, with healthy amounts of muscle tissue, keeps your body young. And seriously, who does not want this? Let’s defy aging and get moving! (Check out the article on the 96 year old man. If this does not give you motivation to get moving…what will?) Looking for more reasons why exercise is good for you? See below for my "Benefits of Exercise" information. Easy ways to build muscle: (with no or minimal equipment required)
walk
push-ups
reverse push-ups (back bend push-ups, you bet I do them!)
power push-ups
pull ups
chin ups
dips
yoga squat poses
yoga arm poses
Some Yoga poses to build strength: Now before you freak out and say “I can’t do that Paula” try each pose and modify them so you can do the pose. Work up to being able to do the full pose, which will come when you build up your strength.
How’s that for some fun muscle building poses to try out. One just needs their body and some comfortable clothes that will move with you. Have fun building muscle and zesty health.
I love Yoga because it builds strength, balance, and flexibility in body. The added bonus is that Yoga also builds these characteristics in your heart, mind, and spirit making it easier for you to walk the Red Road of Life.
PS The Benefits of Exercise: 23 Great Reasons to Exercise* Exercise, coupled with whole food eating and whole health lifestyles, may be the closest thing to the fountain of youth. Not only does regular activity strengthen your muscles and improve heart and lung function but it can also reduce your risk of major diseases, stimulate the growth of new brain cells, and even add years to your life. Studies show just 30 minutes of physical activity on most days is all that is required to reap big benefits. A simple walk, which we start and finish with a round or two of push-ups, creates movement magic, healthy fitness, and whole health living choices. The range of health bonuses now attributed to exercise has surprised even doctors. I am completely amazed this is not common sense. We need research to prove moving our body, the way nature intended, is good for us? What has happened to human beings' collective common sense? Ok.... let's look at the benefits of daily exercise: Movement keeps you younger than your actual chronological age. Exercise boosts the amount of oxygen you consume during and after exercising. This benefit of increasing oxygen consumption is how we increase our aerobic capacity and live longer. More oxygen to the cells means healthier cells and longer cell life spans. The longer your cells live, the longer you could live. Every minute of good exercise and it does not need to be hard, pounding exercise, adds two to three minutes to your life. Can you get payoffs like that with any other investment? Aerobic exercise has also been shown to perhaps stimulate the growth of new brain cells in older adults. Makes sense to me that movement stimulates the growth of new brain cells in anyone who exercises, not just older people.
Movement creates healthier, glowing skin. When we exercise we increase our oxygen intake capabilities (see above) and increase our circulatory function. This means blood, lymph, and intracellular fluids all move about your body more efficiently. The micro capillary beds of your face (really, your whole body’s skin) work at top-notch keeping you young and vibrant looking. More oxygen and food nutrients will arrive at your cells and cellular waste products will be more efficiently removed from your cells. This means better waste removal both through efficient respiratory expiration and your fluid circulation. End result: healthier cells, including skin cells. Your skin and whole body will glow with health. Better circulation which brings better
nourishment to each body cell and carries the cellular toxins away more efficiently (this means no cellular constipation! ď Š Remember my words on stagnation and constipation?).
Move more‌fewer asthma problems. Yoga breathing exercises have .long been used to increase respiratory capacity and ease the symptoms of asthma. When people with mild asthma exercise regularly and increase their aerobic capacity and their lung strength, they can reduce the need to use their inhalers. (There are amazing herbs, as well, to use to help improve and heal lung function.)
Movement boosts the immune system and reduces infections. Your immune cells work faster and more efficiently when you exercise regularly. Those white cells rev up their aggressiveness against antigens entering your body. A better functioning immune system cuts down on the viral and bacterial ills we pick up along the road of life: colds, flu, etc. Movement Magic for better blood sugar control. When you exercise (and eat a whole food diet) your body will shed the extra pounds. This creates a stable blood sugar regulation mechanism; lower insulin levels, lower and stable levels of blood sugar. What a great way to prevent diabetes. If you are an adult onset diabetic, what a great way to heal your body from this lifestyle induced disease.
More Movement Magic lessens your risk for cancer. Exercise prevents constipation. A properly functioning colon is less likely to develop cancer. People with balanced blood sugars, see above, have less chance of developing colon cancer. When our bodies are functioning well from whole foods, exercise and lifestyle choices, our hormones balance out creating a lesser chance of developing hormone related cancers: breast and prostate. Better circulation means healthier body cells. Healthier body cells mean less chance of any form of cancer.
Movement creates lower heart attack risk Exercise raises your HDL cholesterol. This is the cholesterol that is considered “good,” the cholesterol reading we want to be high. Exercise is great for reducing inflammation in the body; less inflammation, fewer heart attacks, strokes and the resultant vascular health problems. Movement Magic lowers stress levels. Regular exercise reduces stress levels in the body, mind, and soul creating calmer and more centered human beings. We were meant to move. Moving helps to burn up those “fight or flight” hormones in a healthy manner. Exercise is a great remedy for relieving mild anxiety, frustration and depression. Think of it as movement meditation, movement “medication!” More movement = better sleep. A body that moves daily will sleep better for all reasons: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. Make your movement outdoor exercise. The fresh air and natural light exposure increases this benefit many times over.
Moving prevents and restores bone loss. Moving your body keeps the bones healthy and young. The bone cells lay down more new bone, preventing and reversing osteoporosis. Increase in bone density; thicker and stronger bones are just plain sexy!
Movement creates stronger muscles, better flexibility, and balance. Exercise keeps your muscles strong. Moving through full range of motion everyday keeps your muscles, tendons, ligaments, and joints flexible and strong. Exercise creates balance in body, mind, and spirit. Yoga is one great way to increase your muscle strength while creating better flexibility and balance for ease of movement (in body, mind, and spirit).
Better organ function and health. Anything that makes your body stronger is going to make all organs, right down to your each and every cell, function better. Better circulation means better oxygen and nutrition being transported to the cells and better waste removal from the cells. This makes for healthier cells, organs, and ultimately a healthier You!
Movement protects female and male reproductive health. Full body exercise keeps your sex hormones balanced: this means goodbye PMS and menopausal symptoms, hello healthy life! Exercise to reduce and possibly remove the symptoms of: PMS and menopause. Men benefit with lower incidence of erectile problems and increased overall “male� healthiness. Pelvic exercises, called kegel exercises, help prevent reproductive and urinary organ prolapse, clitoral erectile dysfunction, and urinary leaking in females; impotence/erectile dysfunction and possibly enlarged prostate (which is a common cause of urinary symptoms) in males. Women benefit as they have the same erectile tissues in their external genitalia. Men, despite not having a monthly menstrual flow, do have a monthly hormonal cycle. Regular exercise keeps this sex hormone cycle at topnotch function. Because all body hormones and chemicals work in synergy; healthy sex hormones keep the rest of your body chemistry humming along in great health. Got those walking shoes on your feet? Heading out the door? Movement promotes weight loss and loss of belly fat. We are back to the common sense thing again, moving your body, as opposed to sitting on the couch, will keep you naturally thinner. The body was meant for movement, so it stands to reason it will be thinner with less belly fat than an inert body mass. Forty-five minutes of moderate-to-vigorous exercise in the morning may actually reduce your food cravings so you eat less all day. That is a healthy body movement bonus. Movement reduces Inflammation. Inflammation in the body is the precursor to chronic lifestyle diseases. Reduce your bodily inflammation and you reduce disease. See heart attack and cancer information above.
Movement regulates your appetite, reduces cravings, promote healthy digestion. When you feel good from moving, you are more apt to want to accentuate these good feelings with good food, avoiding the junk. When you eat good food and feel great, you are more apt to feel like moving. What a wonderful catch 22!
Movement lowers LDL cholesterol and triglycerides, raises HDL cholesterol. Trust me, you want this to happen. Again, see heart attack information above.
Movement improves mood, concentration, nervous system function, and memory. Healthier bodies with healthier circulation means healthier brains for both intellectual and mood functioning! See section, above, on lowering stress levels. Increase in your body’s level of feel good hormones, those “drugs” we produce internally that make us smile, not feel pain, and love life.
Movement expresses your body’s positive, healthy genes (epigenetic) when you exercise and eat 100% whole foods. Whole Health lifestyles turn off the negative genes that cause disease and turns on the positive genes that create vibrant health. Start flicking those healthy genes switches on today; Get Moving! Movement creates attraction. Exercising makes us more attractive to others in mind, body, and soul. We will attract to us people who have similar healthy lifestyles.
Movement prolongs life. I think we are back to number one: exercise keeps you young. Studies lasting many years have consistently shown that being active cuts the risk of premature death by about 50 percent for men and women. You have mitochondria in your body cells; these are the powerhouses of the cells. When you exercise, you produce more and healthier mitochondria. This means your body functions better energetically, your metabolism is higher, and you live longer because of your powerful powerhouses. Movement Magic creates FUN! Exercise increases the fun factor in your life. Do things that make you happy. If running is not your thing, do not do it just because it is supposedly “healthy.” Do whatever makes your heart sing. Find several options that make you happy to move and mix them up. Every day do something that makes you feel good inside and out. This is your dose of daily fun that keeps you happy all day and night. (Remember the sleep and lower stress benefits of exercise?)
Exercise with a friend or a group of friends and create community. Healthy friendships up the fun factor of exercise and give you a positive support group from which to draw strength. If you prefer solo Movement Magic… do what makes You Happy! Bottom Line: Movement Magic and your body just functions better as nature intended! Can you see how all of these benefits interrelate with each other? Every benefit of exercise is part of the “web” of creating better health of mind, body, and soul. *Adapted, revised and added to from Consumer Reports, September, 2007 and the Institute for Integrative Nutrition Top 10 Reasons to Exercise
Need I say more? Are you convinced? Please, keep in mind that over doing exercise, seriously pounding the body from high intensity training is not the same as regular daily exercise. Intense training, the type of training that serious athletes do to compete in marathons, triathlon, etc., may actually age the body faster. Get outside and move. You get the added benefit of fresh air and natural light. Your body will thank you in ways you can only imagine. So… let your imagination, and body, run wild (or walk wild!).
Just a word from Garfield: “I think that tossing and turning all night should be counted as exercise!”
Movement Magic is a Tool in Your Weight Loss Tool Box Truly, movement is a tool in your whole health and healing tool box. Movement on its own does not create weight loss. Movement is an instrument in a beautiful symphony of healthy lifestyle choices. Put all of your whole health and healing tools to work for you!
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