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Blue Zone Principle #1 - Move Naturally
Apr 15, 2019
How much movement do you get on a daily basis? If you are like me, you spend a significant portion of your waking hours either hunched over a computer or sprawled out on the couch, with the only movement occurring in my fingers. This is, of course, not the way our ancient ancestors lived, nor is it a formula for physical well-being. One of the common aspects across each of the five blue zones is the incorporation of natural movement into daily life.
Of course, most of the BZ inhabitants have a significant physical component to their primary ‘work', whether it be hunting, farming, gardening, or foraging. In Ikaria, the act of physical movement is enhanced by the fact there doesn’t seem to be 10 square feet of flat terrain anywhere on the island. It’s incredibly hilly and walking those hills is a natural part of any Ikarian’s day, regardless of age. From the bottom of the hill where Thea’s Inn stands, I could see the small house that belongs to Thea’s aunt and uncle. (See photo) According to Thea they are both in their late 80s. All day long, I watched the couple walk up and down the steep stairs and walking path that traversed between the levels of their tired garden. At one point I watched Thea’s aunt climbing the stairs with two large pieces of lumber tucked under each arm as if she was carrying in groceries from the car. That very same hill brought most of our to wheezing and whimpering the one time we had to climb it. For Thea’s aunt and uncle, it was a normal part of their day.
Most of us go out of our way to eliminate unnecessary movement from our lives. We’ll sit for 5 minutes, with the car running, as we wait for someone to load their packages into the trunk of their vehicle so that we can get their parking spot. Never mind there are dozens of spots available, but that one is the BEST because it is the closest to the mall. For Ikarian’s, the idea of walking 3 or 4 miles to visit a neighbor or to find fresh greens for dinner that night doesn’t cause a moment of hesitation. There is no doubt this is a massive contributor to their longevity and physical resiliency.
One of the subtle benefits to the incorporation of natural movement into one’s life is the increased sense of balance. As the Blue Zone book points out, this is incredibly important in later years when the risk of sustaining serious injury from a fall is high. For a centenarian, a fall is likely to be life threatening.
Since we can’t all be goat herders, the Blue Zone book recommends a few strategies for incorporating natural movement into our daily lives:
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Inconvenience Yourself. Notice all of the ways that you try to make your life easier and eliminate a few of them. (Car, TV remote, Snow Blower, Riding Lawn Mower, Garage Door Opener, etc.). Eliminate a few of these, at least some of the time. The other day I had to buy six bags of sand, each weighed 50 pounds. I could have parked right near the door or I could have rolled my flatbed cart all the way to my car. Instead, I decided to make carrying those bags across the parking lot my workout for the day.
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Have Fun. Start by making a list of activities that you enjoy. Instead of exercising for the sake of exercising, favor activities that already have movement in them and do those on a regular basis. If the activities you enjoy do not inherently have a lot of movement, are there things you can do to incorporate more into them? Maybe you can walk to your friend’s house for poker night. Maybe you can knock out 10 Hindu squats every time someone dies on Game of Thrones.
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Walk. The Blue Zone lifestyles emphasize low intensity, regular movement. The best way to do this is simply by walking. Walking is something you can do every day with practically no preparation and very little impact on your body. Instead of having a coffee break at work consider a walking break. Can you conduct that one-to-one meeting, or take that conference call, over a gentle walk rather than doing it at your desk?
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Make a Date. Identify the people you enjoy spending time with and arrange to spend time with them while moving. Walking and socializing is a wonderful combination and you’ll benefit from the share accountability and encouragement.
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Plant a Garden. Working in a garden requires regular, low intensity, full-range of motion activity. It also has the benefit of relieving stress and maybe even producing some pretty flowers or the perfect jalapeño. Check your local and laws and regulations before growing any “medicinal" plants.
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Enroll in Yoga Class. I’m a believer in the benefits of Yoga. I don’t particularly like this recommendation because it requires you to make yoga practice an event. If you are willing to commit to such a practice, by all means, go for it. However, there are tons of excellent yoga instructional videos on youtube and yoga is something that you can take a beginner’s class and then practice on your own anytime. A simple tai-chi or yoga form can be a great way to start your day. You don’t necessarily need to enroll in a class.
It is clear that consistent activity is a common point across all of the Blue Zones and appears to be a significant contributor to longevity and overall quality of life. We always start with Physical Health when assessing the current state of someone’s Life Design because if the body isn’t healthy, nothing else is going to work well; at least not for very long. If you’re interested in taking the Life Design Assessment, you can grab it for free as part of the Life Design Jumpstart Kit.
Do you want to incorporate more natural movement into your life? If so, check out the video portion of this post where I explore more ways to practically apply the blue zone concepts into our daily lives.
Prosperous Journey!
-zog
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Photocredit: https://pixabay.com/users/picnic_fotografie-126905/
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