Renew Your Body Through Movement

 

How do you renew your body through movement? A great first action when you wake up in the morning is to move every joint in your body.

Try this:  Stand up straight with your feet together and breathe in—as deep as you can. Hold it in for five seconds. Feel the air enter spaces in your lungs you don’t normally utilize. As the air enters, raise your arms above your head. After five seconds, blow the air out hard while you lower your arms—again to the count of five.

Repeat this exercise five times with your eyes closed and then begin to move every part of your body—one at a time, beginning with the top of your head. Roll your eyes in a clockwise direction and then reverse. Do the same with your neck, slowly rolling it in a full range of motion and then reversing it. Do each direction three to five times. Scrunch up all your facial muscles by making a lot of funny faces and then release them.

Continue stretching your way throughout your body. Include your shoulders, elbows, wrists, fingers, chest, waist, upper and lower spine, hips, knees, feet, and toes. Go through these motions two to three times a day and they will keep your body awake and regenerated. It only takes five minutes and the awakening will help you feel alive.

This may seem silly, but most of us aren’t utilizing our bodies to anywhere near their capabilities. This creates a state of imbalance and disharmony inside us. We are made to move through much greater ranges of motion than our twenty-first-century lives call for. When you start the day stretching this way, you will wake up your entire body and feel energized instantly. If you like the feeling you get from this type of full-body movement, yoga would be a fantastic exercise for you.

Every cell of your body will begin to wake up, and you’ll like it. The cracks that you hear will remind you that you are not a kid. Keep in mind that your healthful movements are slowing down the aging process as you work out all the kinks. You might inform your chiropractor, massage therapist, or personal trainer about the places you feel the most kinked up so they can help you work through it and help you rebuild your body in the healthiest and best way.

If you ask anyone who feels old what makes them feel that way, they will often tell you that they can no longer do the things that they want to do. Their capabilities are less than they would like. You can get much of this youthful physical feeling back with full-body movement.

You also renew your body and mind through rest. Getting enough sleep, and getting quality sleep, is important. Have the right bed and pillow to support your spine and nervous system is vital to your wellbeing. If you share your bed with a life partner and you have different shapes, both of you should be able to customize your side of the mattress. You both deserve the right support for you. Also, if you sit for long periods of time at work, get an ergonomic chair to support your back.

Take the self-care and health care strategies that work best for you and put them into your daily routine, and you will customize your ideal 100 Year Lifestyle towards a more proactive you. Find a 100 Year Lifestyle provider to help you along the way!