The Movement Mindset

Reframe your thinking about daily practices

Every once in a while, I acquiesce to our 16-year-old son’s hankering to order dinner when I’ve petered out for the day. This time it was a restaurant—OK, it was a fast food place—within a mile of our home and he was going to Door Dash it. I said ooooh nooooo, absolutely not, we will go pick the food up… you will not be Jack! Who is “Jack” you ask? He is a 21-year-old able-bodied houseguest who doesn’t work, isn’t infirm, and has plenty of time to forage for himself—but who nevertheless regularly has food and groceries delivered to the house.

But he’s clearly not alone. Over the last handful of years there has been an explosion of home delivery services for food, groceries, and every other household item imaginable. These delivery services once grew out of necessity, but they are now hanging on for quite another reason. I still see grocery and meal deliveries to several of my neighbors whom I know are not ill or housebound. And a few grocery stores still have the pick-up department and parking stalls for online orders.

Before you think I’m overly critical or insensitive to people’s needs, hear me out. We are in a health crisis in this country. For the first time in over a hundred years, life expectancy is declining. By all the metrics, we are unhealthier now than we’ve ever been, despite of having mind-boggling information resources at our fingertips, proven preemptive measures, advances in medicine and preventative care, and so on and so on. This defies logic.

Swim upstream
As I’ve written in the past, when faced with an issue of concern, I look upstream for the root cause rather than for a quick fix. Akin to plugging a leaking dam, unless we discover the cause of the leak, the next time the leak will be greater and the vicious cycle will continue. Writing about health, wellness, and longevity has compelled me to explore the fundamental nature of our bodies and beyond any doubt, our bodies were designed to move. Movement fuels our core cells, which profoundly drive every system in our bodies. Every system that now seems to be going haywire.

For thousands of years, our ancestors ran, swan, jumped, squatted, lifted, swung, fought, hunted, and gathered their way through life. Daily living necessitated every combination of twisting, turning, bending, hoisting, raising, and ambling imaginable. It is estimated, on average, that our ancestors logged 15,000-20,000 steps a day in various ways, sometimes traveling up to 20 miles in a day, not on smoothly paved roads but through brush, streams, over boulders, and up hills. Now, we pick up a 10-ounce device, tap on the screen—or not even that, speak to a robot—and something we need arrives at our door.

Consider how many substantial actions were eliminated in those fleeting seconds. Effort and energy that our bodies have adapted to and tasks they have been accustomed to accomplishing for many millennia. And it's not just our physical bodies that would have been moving and doing. Our brains are spatially activated by the surrounding environment and conditions; they would have been processing and comprehending all the varying spaces and situations we would have encountered in order to procure and prepare whatever just landed on our doorstep.

Modern conveniences and lifestyles have pushed us so far away from how our bodies were intended to move. Even sitting for long periods of time increases your risk of chronic health issues such as heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, high cholesterol and some cancers. So what should we be doing? I believe that we need to reframe our thinking and prioritize weaving natural movement into every hour of every day. I was reflecting back on the days when our son was maybe 4 or 5 years old. He never went from point A to point B in a straight line. He took every opportunity to step up, squat, jump, twirl, hang, and swing en route to his final destination, even from the porch to the car. At the time, his perpetual motion sometimes made me crazy, but looking back with fresh eyes, he was an expression of his DNA—he was moving.

Start at the beginning
My suggestion? Approach your day with the mindset of moving. Purposefully. Even for mundane tasks, add an extra maneuver. For instance, I incorporate squatting into my day as much as possible. Retrieving a pot from the bottom drawer, reaching to the back of the lower cabinet, or just taking a break to stretch my lower back. Humans have been squatting for a million years and this simple action has a multiplier effect. It benefits bones and joints, increases muscle activity, stretches ligaments and tendons, boosts circulation and intestinal function, and challenges your balance. (Petra Fisher Movement, whose motto is “getting older doesn’t have to hurt” has great information and inspiration on this and many essential movements.)

Make a point to get down and up off the floor several times a day. (You may have run into the numerous internet videos on this “life expectancy test.”) Much like squatting, the human body has been sitting on the ground an eternity longer than sitting in chairs and the mechanics to achieve that seemingly simple task requires strength, flexibility, balance, and concentration. I often sit on the floor to put on my shoes or to brush our Golden Retriever…which is a never-ending job. 

Fold in the duties of our ancestors: sweep for a few minutes a day, hand-wash a load of delicates instead of throwing them in the machine, tend to plants outside even if you have a gardener, make one baked good from scratch a week (I make pizza dough), shake out a throw rug, carve out time to walk to the store if it’s close…make the extra effort to lift, twist, bend, and carry when you have the opportunity.

Exercise fits inside the movement bubble
While an $87 billion dollar global fitness industry exists to counteract our sedentary lifestyle, exercise only fits inside the movement circle, it doesn’t replace it. View it as one tool in your arsenal of many. My exercise philosophy is to create a varied and well-balanced menu of exercise modalities to challenge the body and mind. Each week my husband and I walk several times during the day; we hike when time permits; and I strength train three times a week, which skews to movement and stretching depending on the day.

Speaking of which, there are terrific people and programs specializing in total-body mobility and natural movement that can motivate even the most exercise adverse. People like Julie Angel, an inspiring movement and parkour coach (capable of very amazing feats), who specializes in empowering midlife women to achieve sustainable strength and balance. Biochemist and movement teacher Katy Bowman who, through her website Nutritious Movement and her book Rethink Your Movement, provides simple and engaging instructions to adjust what you are already doing to reshape your life. And innovative husband-and-wife team Kelly and Juliet Starrett of The Ready State provide easy to implement practices in Built to Move that anyone can do (even if you hate the gym) to boost the overall quality and enjoyment of life.

Strive to thrive
This may surprise you, but I do enjoy lazy moments in the day. I have to mindfully choose movement over convenience. As tempting as the easy button is, strive to make life better, not more effortless. Ultimately, my goal is to cultivate a long, thriving healthspan – not just a long lifespan. A movement mindset provides the foundation to fully enjoy life as we get older, ensuring that we live well, age great.

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