When I wrote Blisschick starting, god, what? 18 years ago?!?!, I challenged myself to post 7 days a week for a full year (which I did and then I transitioned to five days a week and kept that up for quite a long time). To help with this challenge, I created categories for each day so that I had a built-in prompt for myself.
I’ve decided to do that here, so Mondays are JoyMoves day. You’ll see as we go what comes next. ((coy))
Mondays are for biomechanics, body stuff, relevant research that I come across, my own teaching materials, etc. You get it.
TODAY I want to talk about something that Dr. Susan Burwash (OT) wrote a bit about in a comment in the Sanctuary: efficiency and how she has come to realize that spending so many decades aiming toward efficiency of movement has led to… LESS MOVEMENT.
Of course, right? But we don’t see it until we see it.
Katy Bowman has written a ton about this, of course, and how modern conveniences, or any kind of convenience regardless of when it was developed, and our ideas of comfort are just things that have stolen a ton of fundamental human movement from our lives and inserted a lot of pain. (Her newest book is a great reminder for those of us who have been following her for a long time or a great intro if you’re new to her.)
Most of us end up working jobs to pay for those conveniences and comforts from a place of… convenience and comfort. You know… desk jockeys.
I’ve talked about this for years but there are simple ways we can start moving this particular needle and I would love to hear ideas from all of you, so I’ll start a tiny list:
Park farther away from the store you’ve driven to;
If you can, walk or ride a bike for errands;
Don’t try to carry every single grocery bag in from the car in one trip — do multiple trips;
Same for getting things from different parts of the house — don’t try to do it all at once;
If you can, hang clothes out in the summer months (all that reaching overhead!);
Spend time washing some dishes by hand (there’s nothing quite like the meditation of it if you can slow down and just enjoy the process);
Do things SLOWER (this is a big theme for me that last few years as I’m sure you’ve noticed): walk slower, move from task to task slower, eat slower, etc.;
Squat for a bit (you can do this assisted by a yoga block under your bum; it still “counts”) when you’re watching TV;
Stretch when you’re watching TV;
DO SOMETHING with your body if you’re watching TV (I lift weights and do pilates and some fundamental joint work);
Find ways to fidget when you do have to be seated at a desk (bounce your legs, for example);
Have an adjustable desk and make sure to spend time in different positions (even just changing your seat counts);
Take stairs when they’re available instead of elevators and escalators.
Okay… your turn. You can respond to this or write me a note on Facebook… but I would love more ideas!