Movement- Chapter One
from The Magic Pill by Dr. Jen Clemons ND, LAc
“Health is Active, not Passive.” Dr. Raymond Nichols DC
“Exercise is critical in the treatment of neuroinflammation.” Perry Nickelston
“Move it or lose it”. (Any healing practitioner worth their salt)
I’ve put this first because I believe that Movement is the most significant pillar of health. Without daily movement and exercise you could have the best diet, or the cleanest air and water, and still your body will struggle with elimination, processing and repair.
Our blood, breath, lymph and minds are always moving. Stagnation means congestion, which leads to toxicity and pain and eventually stagnation and inefficient bodily systems hastens the timing of death.
We humans are biologic animals in a single use body. We are not simply our brains or our egos. We are “fancy mammals” as Dr. Tyna Moore says. We need the challenge of exercise, the “use it or lose it” of strengthening, or our muscles and tissues, mitochondria and repair systems, including the brain, all will atrophy and wither without intentional training. Unfortunately as we age, the catabolism or breakdown process speeds up in comparison to the anabolic growth phase of childhood and adolescence. This eventually makes it easier to gain pounds, faster to lose gains in strength training, and harder to keep up. The antidote? Is to keep going! Try new things regularly, challenge your body, challenge your mind and continue to develop your physical skills. Cultivate and maintain your “spaceship”, reminder, you only get one per trip.
“Question yourself every time life feels too comfortable, you might be stagnating.” the Orange Book
Have you seen the side by side pictures of the 70 year old women, one of whom is stooped over and frail, and one of whom started strength training in her mid 50’’s? Look up Ernestine Shepherd, I find her story both remarkable and inspiring. With a good coach and safe implementation, consistent effort and a plan appropriate and adaptive for your body, I believe most anyone can improve their health and fitness through lifting and training, movement and increasing Qi flow.
Strength training and HiiT fires up the mitochondria, (reference) and can help promote good cardiovascular health, greater flexibility and confidence and better glucose metabolism, all of which are incredibly effective anti-aging strategies. Working out and getting strong can not only help protect us from injuries, it can impact our mental health in a positive way in how we hold ourselves and help us move in the world with more confidence and assurance.
All that said, I strongly recommend you don’t go lifting heavy things without guidance and a trainer. I worked hard to learn how to stabilize my joints and prepare my body for nearly a year before I began to learn safe deadlifting technique. I wanted to be as sure as possible that I wasn’t going to injure myself, as much as I could plan and prepare for it. Once I learned how to safely lift with good form and different supportive warm-ups, stretches and stability exercises, I can now enter back into the gym more safely and carefully. Always learn safety first, seek out qualified help, start where you are and honor your body. More is not always better, but continuing to challenge, and try new things, is absolutely better and you will be rewarded in more ways than you can imagine. Exercise increases hormone production and metabolism, it helps with libido, improves sleep and helps combust and clear wastes from the body. There is no pill or substitute for strength training, it is an essential tool for maintaining health. Never before have we been so sedentary, or so sick as a population. We have to change this and teach our children better but our own examples. Remember, adaptability is the name of the game. Try different things, explore new dance moves and a variety of movements, challenge your body and you are challenging your mind, this is the way to optimal health.
I want to be alert to able-ism, so let’s define that right away and bring your awareness to it as well, (Oxford Dictionary) noun
discrimination in favor of able-bodied people.
So in this context, when I say “move your body” I want to acknowledge that some bodies may need more support or modifications to allow for movement. I also want to be clear that not all movements are for all people, that said, it is important to find what you CAN do and do it regularly & get creative. I’ve been taught Qi Gong forms that can be done sitting, or even through engaging only the mind if someone is bed bound, and it has been shown to still light up the parts of the brain associated with movement, even if the person themselves is not moving their physical body. Creativity is a key aspect to cultivating health and resilience.
Movement and exercise helps us manufacture and utilize neurotransmitters and hormones that are produced to enable our participation in the world (? insert reference). Without engaging in this, as we “fancy mammals” are designed to do, it is common for people to feel restless, depressed and irritable. We decondition more quickly as we age, it may start to feel impossible or “out of reach” to feel good again, and so I’ll remind you every small step towards health counts. Never underestimate the benefits of taking a walk. (research supporting)
Incorporating a variety of modalities can also strengthen and support the whole organism. For instance I found that as a result of the strength training, my joints are more stable and I can engage in my yoga practice more comfortably and confidently without overextending my joints. I rarely run, but one day we were almost late for our departing flight and I was racing though the SFO airport- running faster than I have in my life! My partner was literally blown away, I felt like a football quarterback dodging and weaving the crowd, and when we reached the gate I gleefully measured my pulse and noticed how quickly it settled back to a resting heart rate. My high school PE teacher would not have recognized me, and this was me in my 40’s, arguably in better shape than I have ever been in my life. Health and strength are best supported by a multi pronged approach. This also asks you to be receptive to what works for you & your body. Life is an adaptation game, we must train consistently to be ready for unexpected changes and challenges. Focusing on physical fitness and flexibility is for strength and stability, and also so much more, including keeping the brain engaged through curiosity and challenge. This can get tricky as sometimes in trying new things or feeling awkward the message from the brain is “no, no, no” but the end result WILL be a “yes” once you’ve done it, and the more you practice trying and embracing new things the more comfortable you will get pushing past the initial discomfort.
The commitment to caring for the physical body absolutely translates to caring for the brain (mental body) and the emotional body. I feel stronger, more sure and more confident the more I push, learn and grow. Learning new things challenges the brain, causes new pathways to fire, and opens the way for more new learnings. This could be Tai Ji, or knitting, stand up improv or learning a new language. We are looking for ways to increase that communication across the various parts throughout the brain. Physical movement and engaging in learning through movement is a great way to fire up the cognitive capacity. Self-cultivation practices like QiGong offer us a chance to “discover the new” even when deepening into a familiar form, this is a well established anti-aging tool, and can be practiced by any age with great benefit.
Also, please note, by my definition, “Movement” also includes bodywork and hands on work. All these things help move Qi and TLC is one of our very best medicines. We are community minded beings and energy from “outside the system” is often necessary for healthy maintenance of the system. This includes touch, smiles, hugs, holding hands and even simple eye contact -all of which have potential to help us heal.
Conclusions from Movement Chapter
“Even a machine needs regular tune-ups, and we are so much more than a machine.” Dr. Jen Clemons
Benefits of movement go beyond being stronger, better, faster. Cultivating strength helps with vitality, hormonal balance and mitochondrial health. This is all helps slow aging.
There is no one-sized-fits all workout approach. Many bodies benefit from having a variety of challenges, our brains develop through exposure to new movements, thoughts, challenges. Be creative!
Building muscles, builds skills, and builds bones. This is all absolutely a “use it or lose it” process.