Mindful Movement Part I: Practices for Healthful Aging

It is well-known that exercise has tremendous benefits for all aspects of health. Exercise is extremely protective for cardiopulmonary and metabolic fitness, mobility, balance, muscle and bone strength, cognitive and psychological health, and much more. 

What if we are having trouble exercising because of the very things we are trying to protect? Our shortness of breath is preventing us from walking greater distances. Pain in our joints is preventing us from lifting weights or getting up and down from the floor in a yoga class. Our imbalance and fear of falling is contributing to sedentary behavior. 

These kinds of limitations in physical activity will ultimately contribute to the functional decline that so often occurs with aging, which will further discourage people from participating in traditional exercise routines. 

When it comes to society’s messages about exercise, we are taught that more is good. 

Put in more effort for greater benefits. We often hear “no pain no gain”. On the contrary, for people who are actually experiencing chronic pain and mobility issues, these messages are not inclusive and can further dissuade people from exercising. It changes the way that we think about movement- rather than relating to movement as a privilege that is empowering, movement is seen as “work”, a task to complete, an activity that is associated with pain.

If we want to improve our relationship with movement, it has to work well for our bodies, and we must enjoy it. When you observe children in a playground, you can feel how they love to run, climb, and try what is challenging  – pause, imagine those kids for a moment, can you feel the joy in your own body? 

Improving your relationship with movement will be a gift that keeps on giving!

• You will begin to understand your limits more clearly, knowing when to put in more effort and when to scale it back.

• You will become more aware of how your body moves, so you can move in a way that feels good to you.

This will make movement more intrinsically rewarding, as it is with children. The enjoyment of movement will support healthy levels of physical activity and fitness.

What is mindful movement?

In order to find more enjoyment in our movement practice, we must maintain mindful presence while we move. Our bodies are always present, but where is our mind? Mindfulness is simply bringing one’s attention to the present moment without judgment. We can not truly enjoy anything unless we are there for it. 

Many of us are used to sitting and meditating, drawing our attention to our breath, sounds, and thoughts. By applying this same mindful presence to physical movements, we can become more aware of how we move. This foundational awareness gives us a greater sense of connection to our bodies, and the ability  to change habitual movement patterns that may be placing unwanted stress on the joints and tissues.

Decreasing strain, improving comfort

For example, think about the movement required to follow the upward flight of a bird. If we are only moving from our neck, this may be a pattern that puts additional strain on our neck. If we find that your chest can participate in this movement, we can bring more ease to our tissues during bird watching.

Bring your hand to the back of your neck. Now, look up towards the sky. Does the back of your neck stay long, or does it compress? Now, practice looking up again, but this time put your hand on your chest bone. Does your chest bone rise, or does it stay where it is? Does allowing your chest bone to rise, thereby keeping length in the back of your neck improve the ease and comfort of looking up?

If we are able to change our patterns in ways that improve the efficiency of our movement, we can take strain off our tissues and feel a greater sense of comfort, ease, and enjoyment in our movement practices- as well as the rest of our lives!

The ability to move mindfully will support flow, a positive mental state in which we are fully immersed in what we are doing.

Moving in a state of flow brings intrinsic enjoyment because we are present, engaged, challenged but not too challenged. Consider this the next time you are engaging in movement or exercise- how can you find a state of flow, an embodied presence in what you are doing?

Written by Jacob Tyson, DPT - Physical Therapist, Yoga Instructor and The Wellness Station Team

Images: 

1. https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thirtythousanddays.org%2F2017%2F06%2Fseven-factors-that-predict-healthy-aging%2F&psig=AOvVaw1_n376b_mdhLa_vO8Hr0m4&ust=1679328220136000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CA8QjRxqFwoTCLDnuqKv6P0CFQAAAAAdAAAAABAE 

2. https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pexels.com%2Fphoto%2Fbird-looking-up-6026823%2F&psig=AOvVaw1ABOzYFDAOdYp--V8kw3Hg&ust=1679840752025000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CA8QjRxqFwoTCICTzMyk9_0CFQAAAAAdAAAAABAE 

How Your Spine Moves: Connecting the Planes of Motion (Part 2)

On the last blog How Your Spine Moves, we discussed the three directions of spinal movement, and the importance of regular movement. It is great to be aware of these three movements, and know how to incorporate them into your life and daily practices.

Recall that the planes of movement are flexion & extension, side bending (right and left), and rotation (right and left). 

Although it is helpful to understand these movements individually, note that these movements do not happen in isolation, but rather our movement is typically moving in some combination of flexion/extension, side bending, and rotation. Our bodies move in patterns, rather than in a series of isolated movements. This speaks to the importance of practicing moving in a variety of directions, feeling the different shapes your spine can make. 

Connecting the Planes into 3D Movement

From the hands and knees position, making circles with the spine is a great way to dynamically move through all three planes. This movement is more advanced than single plane movements, and it may take some time and practice to find ease with this pattern. With a keen awareness of an imaginary light from your tailbone, draw circles with that light on the wall behind you. Be sure to switch directions every so often! Just remember it doesn’t have to be perfect. Now that you can make circles, what other shapes can you make?

Another option for three dimensional movement would be making circles with your thigh, as demonstrated in this video. Engaging in these movements is an opportunity for you to feel and sense yourself without judgment, rather than trying to “achieve” something.

The bias towards one-dimensional movement

Just as our life can be biased towards movement involving forward flexion, our movement and exercise routines can also be biased in this way. If all of our movement practice involves moving primarily in one plane (e.g. the sagittal plane), we can sell ourselves short. While strength training machines at the gym can be very helpful for developing strength and muscle mass, they are typically constricted into one  of the above described planes and thereby restrict our spine’s ability to move three dimensionally. 

To be clear, we believe that strength training machines are brilliant at isolating muscles and enhancing overall conditioning. But the downside is that our nervous system, the little woman or the little guy in the control room of our brain gets more and more biased to think in terms of isolated movements rather than whole body patterns.   

Think of throwing a ball and only moving your arm, rather than your whole body. Contrast that with turning first, flinging the arm back in the direction we are turning and then reversing the whole movement so that the arm is like a whip sending the ball so much further without strain on any one particular joint. Knowing how to integrate the movements of your body into three-dimensional patterns will improve the efficiency of your movement and thereby decrease the likelihood of strain and injury. 

At the Wellness Station, we will teach you how your spine moves, and help you to expand your movement repertoire. We will encourage you to get involved in a regular movement practice that will include three-dimensional movements of your spine, such as Feldenkrais or yoga classes. Supporting the health and movement capacity of your spine will help you find a greater sense of ease and comfort in your body, while preparing you for successful participation in the unpredictable demands of life. 

Written by Jacob Tyson, DPT - Physical Therapist, Yoga Instructor and The Wellness Station Team

Images:

1. https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.spinesurgeon.com.au%2Fneurological-conditions%2Fspinal-surgery&psig=AOvVaw1cR2yPGJlY__e7DqKibuS6&ust=1677780778812000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CA8QjRxqFwoTCJiq2syqu_0CFQAAAAAdAAAAABAI 

2. https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tummee.com%2Fyoga-poses%2Fcat-and-cow%2Fvariations&psig=AOvVaw01QOZd89SUev_BoU5osGIX&ust=1676918615949000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CA8QjRxqGAoTCOjLquWeov0CFQAAAAAdAAAAABDaAQ 

3. https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.goldsgym.com%2Fblog%2Fresistance-machines-progression-start-fundamental-movements%2F&psig=AOvVaw3Zln6XMfT2t91HnqXo4M-r&ust=1677780938684000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CA8QjRxqFwoTCICin5mru_0CFQAAAAAdAAAAABAF 

4. https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.researchgate.net%2Ffigure%2FThe-different-phases-of-throwing-in-handball-a-Run-up-b-wind-up-c-Early-cocking_fig1_325067365&psig=AOvVaw23UlDAicMKv-R42nc4WtVG&ust=1677779784570000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CA8QjRxqFwoTCLjo1fKmu_0CFQAAAAAdAAAAABAJ 

How Your Spine Moves And The Importance of Moving It (Part 1)

We live in a three-dimensional world, and our body is meant to move in all three dimensions (See our past blog post, Moving in Three Dimensions). Our spine, which contains 24 moveable vertebrae, has the capability of moving in these three planes. 

The facet joints of your spine are the joints at which point each vertebrae meets the one above and below on the side. These are synovial joints, they require regular movement in order to stay lubricated and nourished with nutrient-rich fluids. 

By understanding how the spine moves, and regularly moving it in a variety of ways, we can keep our spines healthy, the tissues nourished and supple.

Life can be unpredictable, and we might find ourselves in random shapes in order to meet the needs of our environment. Reaching for that pan located awkwardly in the back of the cabinet? Your spine needs to change its shape. Turning towards your backseat to pick up the glove you dropped last week? Again, your spine needs to change its shape. Having trouble reaching overhead to get the glass from the highest shelf? Again, shape change is required.

If we can train our spine to change shapes with ease and comfort, daily tasks are easier and less likely to contribute to strain. The mobility of our spine is so interconnected with our quality of life, as the loss of mobility can make these daily tasks that much more difficult. 

The process of engaging in mindful spinal movements can help ease tension, improve tissue health, enhance body awareness, and feel really good! 

As we go through life, we might gradually incorporate less variety or spontaneity in what we do. This goes along with our spinal joints moving with less variability, and thereby becoming less supple and possibly stiff in certain directions and ranges of motion (use it or lose it phenomenon). Most of our lives are biased towards activities that bring us down and forward, so over time it can become more difficult to extend, rotate, and bend from side to side. Imagine how you feel after sitting, hunched over a computer for several hours. Or perhaps after a long car drive. Can you feel the relief that moving your spine the opposite direction (extension) can bring- such as by reaching to the sky and following your hands with your face and eyes?

Our tissues do not like to be stuck in the same position for extended times or do the same repetitive task without variations. Without incorporating variety into how we are moving, our spines will not move as comfortably as they once did. Take a look at our Movement Snacks blog for some ideas on how to move your spine in different directions, the perfect antidote to prolonged sitting.   

Directions of Motion

The 24 moveable joints of the spine permit movement in three planes, as described below. The joints that move are located through the neck (cervical spine), upper and mid back (thoracic spine), and lower back (lumbar spine), and below are the sacrum and coccyx (tailbone) which contain fused (non-moving) joints. The moveable regions of the spine have different capabilities in how much they can move in each direction, but are all capable of flexion, extension, side bending, and rotation, as described below.

Flexion and extension

Flexion and extension are movements that happen in the sagittal plane, which includes forward and backward movements. Flexion (AKA rounding)  involves a forward bending of the spine, which often happens when we look down, bend down, and reach down to tie our shoes.

 Extension (AKA arching) is involved in looking up and reaching up. Typically, we can flex much further than we can extend, and our cervical and lumbar spine tend to have more sagittal plane range of motion than our thoracic spine. The mid back, the rib cage/thoracic area, is designed more to flex, thus the tendency for many of us as we age to present a more rounded/slumped posture.

The cat cow, also known as the hill and valley, are a great way to feel your spine moving through a range of flexion and extension. Try to notice how you are initiating flexion and extension, and where in your body you can feel the movement happening (e.g. regions of the spine). Imagine there is a light shining from the end of your tailbone (coccyx). When doing a slow, easy cat cow, can you notice that light would be moving up and down throughout the movement? 

Side Bending (Right and Left)

Side bending movements happen in the frontal plane. These movements involve one side of our body (e.g. right vs left) getting longer as the other gets shorter. Side bending may be involved in reaching, stairs, and lifting an object from one side of our body. Our cervical spine tends to have the most capability of side bending, followed by our lumbar, then our thoracic.

Lateral cat cow, also known as tail wagging, is a great way to feel your spine’s ability to bend side to side. Considering the light from your tailbone, can you perceive that the light would be moving from side to side, like wagging your imaginary tail right and left?

Rotation (Right and Left)

Movement in the transverse plane involves rotational movements, rotating to the right and left. These movements can be involved in turning around, looking from side to side, reaching behind or to the side, repositioning in bed, and more. Our cervical spine tends to have the most capability of rotation, followed by our thoracic, then our lumbar.

A thread-the-needle type of movement on hands and knees is a great way to feel rotation of your spine, and to sense how rotation is connected to the reaching of our arms. Notice an imaginary light shining from your chest bone. Where does this light move?

Now that you know the three directions of spinal movement, try to pay attention to your movements throughout the day or during your exercise routine. What plane do you move in most often? What plane do you move the least in? What parts of your spine feel more freedom of movement within each plane? The process of self-study will support mindfulness and self-awareness, and begin to harness your ability to listen to your body and respond accordingly.  This ability will guide you towards making substantial improvements in function, patterns of pain, and will help you stay comfortable in your body as you move through life.

Written by Jacob Tyson, DPT - Physical Therapist, Yoga Instructor and The Wellness Station Team

Images:

1. https://images.ctfassets.net/oc83wx5cwffk/spu_wysiwyg_fid42015_asset/250f20273fc911be0885904077758ed8/facet_joints_related_spine_structures_shutterstock_157672247.jpg?fm=webp&fit=thumb&q=65&w=884&h=810 

2. https://images.ctfassets.net/oc83wx5cwffk/spu_article_asset_880f379fa40828bc54b8e67529d6373728ea32ae/97b0d3651930cfbf754b8aa47d4600ef/spu_article_asset_880f379fa40828bc54b8e67529d6373728ea32ae?fm=webp&fit=thumb&q=65&w=884&h=1125

3. https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tummee.com%2Fyoga-poses%2Fcat-and-cow%2Fvariations&psig=AOvVaw01QOZd89SUev_BoU5osGIX&ust=1676918615949000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CA8QjRxqGAoTCOjLquWeov0CFQAAAAAdAAAAABDaAQ 

Does How You Think About Your Pain Affect Your Pain?

Low back pain (LBP) is extremely common, and is globally ranked as the leading cause of disability in adults (1). LBP is often a source of confusion for healthcare practitioners and patients alike. Where is the pain coming from? Is there a serious issue that needs to be addressed? Fortunately, bouts of pain often resolve on their own with time and appropriate behavioral responses, and the majority of time do not represent a serious underlying pathology. However, too often back pain becomes a chronic problem that begins to impart major impacts on one’s comfort, quality of life, and mobility.

Chronic LBP should be investigated through a biopsychosocial lens, as it is a multifactorial issue that cannot be reduced to one cause. (See our previous blog, A Holistic Approach to Pain Science) There are many factors that can influence the cycle of chronic pain, and among them are cognitive factors- how we think about the pain. How we think about our pain affects how we react and respond to the pain, both on a physiological and a behavioral level. The meaning we assign to our pain can either act as fuel to the fire of chronic pain, or water to dampen its rage.

A danger alarm gone awry

Oftentimes, when it comes to chronic LBP, the bark is worse than the bite. Pain can be considered as a “danger” signal from our nervous system that is indicative of a threat to our safety. However, when pain becomes chronic, part of the problem is in the sensitivity of the danger alarm itself, rather than only issues in the tissues. In chronic pain, learning has time to occur, and this learning is not always helpful. The nervous system begins to amplify pain signals associated with certain activities, and we begin to avoid certain activities, thereby weakening or changing the physical structures that must be used during these activities, creating a negative feedback loop that is consistent with disabling chronic LBP (2).

Consider a home smoke detector.  Can you recall the last time you were cooking, and perhaps had the heat just a little too high for a little too long? Tendrils of smoke begin to float up from the pan, and the next thing you know, the smoke alarm is blaring at full blast, causing you to drop everything, turn off the stove, turn on the fan, open the windows, and apologize to your neighbors. While house fires exist and are a huge threat, there was no fire in this case, and the smoke alarm might have caused more of an inconvenience than the smoke itself. Now, imagine that each time this happened, the “sensitivity” dial of the smoke detector turned up just a little bit, the volume of the alarm got a little louder, or perhaps the detector itself somehow started getting closer and closer to the stove. These changes would be maladaptive, and would lead to more situations in which your eardrums get pierced, stress hormones flood your system, and your neighbors start to question your sanity. You might even begin to avoid cooking. Or perhaps you take a more active approach and call a mechanic to help fix some of the issues you are having with the detector. 

Cycles of chronic pain can behave in a similar way. Your brain’s pain “alarm” can change overtime, becoming hypersensitive to lower levels of pain input (known as hyperalgesia), or respond by generating pain in situations where normally there would not be pain (known as allodynia). This nervous system plasticity that occurs with chronic pain is known as central sensitization, which is a well-researched phenomenon within pain neuroscience (3). We know that the brain is plastic, and we can learn fear, amplified pain responses, and unhelpful appraisals of our pain. We can also unlearn these maladaptive changes, and begin to relearn safety, comfort, and control. 

Changing Your Response to Pain

Amplifications of this danger alarm can occur if we believe that our pain is indicative of severe threats. These beliefs can stem from previous encounters with health care providers, uninformed health messages from society (e.g. our spine is a weak, vulnerable structure), and can even root back to childhood and one’s parent’s responses to pain. If we believe that our pain is not within our control to change, it is more likely to persist.

Try to be with your pain, feeling into it at that exact moment. What is the little person in the control center (your nervous system) trying to communicate? Show your nervous system there is no danger by finding a comfortable, safe environment, slow down your breathing, and engage in some gentle movement of the tissues that are contributing to the distress. Comfort, joy, safety, and pleasure are the opposites of pain, fear, and danger. The sooner you can get yourself into this place, the more likely the smoke alarm will turn off and you will reestablish a state of tranquility. 

Asking For Help

In order to make significant, lasting changes to chronic pain, therapeutic interventions are required that we provide at the Wellness Station. A multifactorial, individualized approach is warranted in which bio, psycho, and social issues are addressed. We strive to provide informed care where we can see the intersection between mind and body, the psychological and the structural. Dysfunctional movement patterns are what we look for, and are reflective of protective tension, fear-avoidant behavior, and muscular weaknesses. These patterns may be detected in the way you walk, breathe, bend, reach, turn over in bed, and more. They can also be detected through passive movement, in which we as the therapist move you while you intend to stay relaxed and not help. Addressing these movement patterns are key to bridging the gap between issues in the mind and in the tissues, and will help you make lasting changes in your ability to change and respond to your cycles of pain. While pain is part of being human and it is not realistic to be “pain free”, we can move towards our pain being the occasional pebble thrown into a pond with quickly fading ripples, rather than constant boulders creating tidal waves.

Written by Jacob Tyson, DPT - Physical Therapist, Yoga Instructor and The Wellness Station Team

References:

1. Vos T, Flaxman AD, Naghavi M et al.. Years lived with disability (YLDs) for 1160 sequelae of 289 diseases and injuries 1990–2010: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010. The Lancet. 2012;380:2163–2196. 

2. O'Sullivan PB, Caneiro JP, O'Keeffe M, Smith A, Dankaerts W, Fersum K, O'Sullivan K. Cognitive Functional Therapy: An Integrated Behavioral Approach for the Targeted Management of Disabling Low Back Pain. Phys Ther. 2018 May 1;98(5):408-423. doi: 10.1093/ptj/pzy022. Erratum in: Phys Ther. 2018 Oct 1;98(10):903. PMID: 29669082; PMCID: PMC6037069. 

3. Latremoliere A, Woolf CJ. Central sensitization: a generator of pain hypersensitivity by central neural plasticity. J Pain. 2009 Sep;10(9):895-926. doi: 10.1016/j.jpain.2009.06.012. PMID: 19712899; PMCID: PMC2750819.

Images:

1. https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fonlinelibrary.wiley.com%2Fdoi%2F10.1111%2Fjabr.12125&psig=AOvVaw1JHcqoPV34D_evHNqFIGOP&ust=1676907126933000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CA8QjRxqFwoTCNCv9P7zof0CFQAAAAAdAAAAABA8 

2. https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C9BKJA_enUS933US933&hl=en-US&sxsrf=AJOqlzWV_WK2FOcZC4qGZmRvZWSM8YYdWw:1676301748365&q=danger+alarm&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwivlf3R5pL9AhUcGFkFHQDBDmIQ0pQJegQIHhAB&biw=1366&bih=905&dpr=2#imgrc=AwpaQLmgKUDIqM 

3. https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQBzpLWrips6ax-khNB59gPoCtJ8A7E4qshPw&usqp=CAU 

4. https://www.google.com/search?q=a+pebble+in+the+pond+with+ripples&rlz=1C9BKJA_enUS933US933&oq=a+pebble+in+the+pond+with+ripples&aqs=chrome..69i57j0i512l3j46i512l2j0i512j46i512j0i512j46i512.3906j0j4&hl=en-US&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#imgrc=1JB3ecM7OTxY7M 

Movement, Physical Activity, & Exercise: Comparing and Contrasting

The terms movement, physical activity, and exercise are all related but have key differences that can be helpful to understand.

There are no clear boundaries between these terms, and a lot of the differences are semantic or contextual. Generally speaking, movement is the broadest umbrella category, physical activity is a form of movement, and exercise is a structured form of physical activity (see fig 1).

Every single one of us living organisms perform movement, although plants are not mobile, in that they do not move from one place to the other. They grow and move in response to the environment, typically through sensors that detect light and temperature. Those with a central nervous system, such as humans, likely developed our brains in order to become mobile. Movement allows us to seek novel environments, escape predators, seek food and shelter, procreate, and more.

As humans, our highly developed brains have bestowed on us a keen sense of self-awareness, which allows us not only to move but also to be aware of our movements, and consciously change our movement based on the situation and environment, as well as our goals and intentions. With this comes the ability to be aware of the quantity and quality of the physical activities in our lives, and to intentionally participate in exercise.

Figure 1

Exercise is a form of physical activity, but all physical activity is not necessarily exercise, unless you want it to be!

This difference is blurry, and involves self-awareness and mindset. Physical activity is defined as any movement of the body that requires energy expenditure, typically beyond the energy expenditure that would happen at rest. Even when we are lying down, sitting and relaxing, there is movement happening based on our position changes, baseline neuromuscular activity, and breathing. Once the energy expenditure increases beyond baseline, it can be considered physical activity. This could be as simple as standing up and  walking around, and could also include household chores, using the stairs, or hobbies such as gardening, painting, and playing an instrument. Exercise on the other hand is generally considered to be a physical activity that is planned, structured, and is carried out for a specific purpose, such as for the physical and/or mental health benefits (improved aerobic capacity, muscle strength, balance, bone density, mood boost, weight loss, and more). 

In our current state of affairs, intentional exercise has become extremely necessary to counteract the conveniences of modern life in which we are living less variable and more sedentary lifestyles. We are spending more time inside interacting in a two-dimensional world (screens), driving everywhere instead of walking, working sedentary desk jobs, and eating hyper-palatable processed foods that are delivered to us on a silver platter. Compare this to the lives of our ancestors who lived within the context of a natural environment, hunted and gathered their own foods, walked to all destinations, and performed physically demanding daily tasks that were not buffered by the technological advancements of our times. We have to intentionally exercise to maintain and improve our health and fitness. Because of this, for many, exercise has become a chore, a checklist item that we should be doing. 

Achieving Optimal Health and a more Joyful Life

How can we change our mindset to seamlessly bring about greater health benefits from what we are already doing?

One way is to recognize the physical activity that you are already getting in your life, and get excited about the health benefits that it can bring about! Taking the stairs? What a great opportunity to tune into your body mechanics and develop strong legs to support your joints. Gardening? Think of all the strength and mobility you can develop from all of that squatting, bending and lifting. Doing chores? An excellent way to sneak in some low intensity aerobic activity. Better yet, play some fun music while you do the chores to help feel some rhythm in your body. 

But why would changing mindset make any difference?

Considering these daily tasks to be exercise might help to promote a greater attentiveness to your body during these activities, and can also promote confidence in your ability to be an active person. Benefits can also occur via the placebo effect, meaning that simply by believing that what we are doing is helpful, it will become more helpful!

Consider Langer’s (2007) study, in which a group of 84 hotel maids were assessed on physiological variables that can be affected by exercise. Most of the maids did not intentionally exercise outside of their jobs, and believed that they did not get nearly enough exercise based on the recommendations for health benefits. The researchers split the maids into two groups, an experimental and a control. The experimental group was educated on how their jobs were extremely physically active, and they were actually getting more than the daily recommended amount of exercise for an active lifestyle, whereas the control group was not given this information. After four weeks, the physiological measures were reassessed, and while the actual behavior did not change, the experimental group experienced statistically significant improvements in blood pressure, weight, body fat, waist-hip ratio and more. Simply by believing that what they were doing was helping their health, their physiology actually changed.

In addition to recognizing that what we are already doing can be beneficial, consider questioning your relationship with exercise further. If exercise is a chore that you have to make yourself do, it is crucial to flip the switch. You might even forget the word exercise if it brings about a negative reaction within you. Find a physical activity that you truly enjoy, regardless of whether you feel like you should or should not be doing it. Remember that movement is what makes us alive, and choosing to move is what makes us human. Move just for the sake of moving, which is the best gift you can give to your entire self.

At the Wellness Station, you might have noticed that your practitioner probably does not tell you to exercise more, as that language could perpetuate the you should be doing this narrative. Rather, we encourage clientele to develop a positive relationship with movement through intentional practices as well as a lifestyle that is biased towards being more physically active. 

Written by Jacob Tyson, DPT - Physical Therapist, Yoga Instructor and The Wellness Station Team

References:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17425538/