The human body was meant to move and it really does love to move. After sitting at my desk working intently I really need to move not just for my body but also for my brain.
Movement keeps you healthy by creating flexibility and strengthening not just in your body but also in your brain. Movement builds new muscle fibers, creates new pathways, flushes toxins, and wakes you up. And the most wonderful thing about movement is that it’s easy! Movement comes in many forms from aerobic movement like dancing to strength training like lifting your 25lb toddler. The ability to listen, really hear, and then act on what your body needs is some of the best medicine out there. We move in so many different ways it’s hard to itemize them. From dancing around your house to wiggling in your chair as you work, to running and walking your dog, to gardening and cooking, cleaning and caring for little ones, and of course doing yoga. The amazing ability our bodies have to lengthen, twist, balance and be strong should wow you! Even with injury we should be wowed -- notice how your body wants to move, how we figure out how to move in different ways (compensation sounds so negative but it is so important for us to keep moving).
Movement is one of the keys, not the secret, to slowing age related diseases -- many of which we think are inevitable. Many of which are not inevitable. I want to be clear that I am speaking from the point of view of a healthy, mobile adult. I’m not an expert, and realistically barely educated on most diseases that limit or prevent movement. So with that in mind I am saddened when people say to me, “Wait until your XX age. You won’t be able to do what you do now.”. I know this is not true. I know there is chance my movements will slow or weaken but I am fighting as hard as I can against that. Science says you should fight. Science says your body can always build muscle, become stronger, become more flexible, become more balanced. Science says your brain isn’t static, that new pathways are created every time you try something new, every time you struggle to figure something out, every time you try a new yoga pose or yoga sequence. Movement isn’t just important for children it’s important throughout your whole life. In fact, I’d say your life depends on it.
I teach yoga classes to people of all ages, and my hope is that each person discovers a movement that is new to them and they get to grow and learn. My classes are not easy but they aren’t Cirque du Soleil. My classes challenge you to be present, to think about your movements, to balance and tip over, to strengthen areas of weakness, to discover openness in mind and body. If you think youth is the ability to stand straight and tall, to walk a few miles, to easily rise from a seated position without pain then you should kindle (or rekindle) your love of movement. These actions are not the realm of the youth but the realm of health and I wish that for all of you. Now, get up and move like you're life depends on it because it does.
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