We’ve all heard it: use it or lose it! While cliche, it is true. The unspoken message in that slogan is that a body has to move or perish.
Think about what the lack of movement represents in the following things:
a river, clogged by trash and debris or sediment…a motorless sail boat, on a calm and windless sea…a vascular system, its veins and vessels filled with plaque…a colon, with faulty peristalsis…sexual organs, without sexual activity…a sports team, with no offense.
Without movement, there can be no life.
As Paul Chek writes, in “How to Eat, Move, and Be Healthy”, movement is the path to optimal health. Of course, we think about movement as a part of an exercise or fitness program, but health and wellness cannot be achieved in a stagnate body. If the body systems are not operating effectively and as they were designed, the heart can’t pump the blood, the lungs and diaphragm cannot bring fresh air to the tissues, the liver and kidneys cannot detox, the stomach cannot digest food, the colon cannot remove the waste. Neither can the mind adopt new ideas or adapt to new situations if mired in stagnate memes and thought patterns. Emotional wounds won’t heal in a body that hangs on, rather than learning how to move on.
At The Legacy Center, we have a Simple as 1-2-3 Wellness Program. Step 1: start to move.
Movement can be as simple as a short walk through your neighborhood or on a city maintained walking trail. Studies show that walking is an effective means of weight loss, helps in creating and maintaining bone density (of some importance as men and women age), and actually keeps our brains young by creating new neural pathways in the hippocampus.
Exercise places stress on the body (for example, weight bearing exercises that create bone strength). In a healthy individual, this is a good thing. However, exercise should never introduce stress to your life. By that we mean, that the very thing you are trying to bring into your life to create well-being should not create mental or emotional stress and should not be a type of exercise that your body is not ready to handle without deleterious effects.
All exercise is not created equal and neither are all trainers!
In Legacy’s Simple as 1-2-3 Wellness Program, our main goal is to help you implement a program to improve your health, vitality, and fitness level. An assessment allows us to create a program just for you which takes into account the time you have to devote to exercise, your level of overall fitness, any injuries you may be dealing with, and your personal objectives. You can be well (no aches or pains, no illness or disease, no Rx meds) and be so weak you can’t life your sack of groceries out of the trunk. You can be strong-like-bull and have a compromised immune system or a gut lining that cannot extract nutrition from the food you lovingly shop for and prepare each day. We take all this into account as we craft your program.
There is movement to build energy, movement for cardio work, endurance, to firm and tone, for sports specific training, stretching and relaxation. To begin, pick a form of movement that gets you outside and is fun! While it may sound great to begin a boot camp type program, you will stick with something longer if it is something you really enjoy doing and if that something matches your needs and current abilities.
Flexibility exercises are designed to bring your body into balance. Energizing exercises build vitality, can be done anywhere, and include slow walking and walking meditation. Core conditioning supports internal organs, protects the spinal cord, helps with circulation and visceral health and is the foundation for movement.
Create some Simple as 1-2-3 Movement in your day and you will create vibrancy and health in your life!
CZ
