Incorporating Natural Movements: Part 1
My environment is my gym. Like most people in my industry, I spend the day in front of my laptop, over the phone and in meetings. A desire for healthier living led me to research and try natural movements. Fast-forward many years. Many of these natural movements have become part of my daily life. Now, they are habits!
Here's the why:
And here's the how:
The stubbornness to avoid machines is helping me discover more natural movements. Failed experiments get dropped. And successful experiments become a habit. Curious to know your story!
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Here's the why:
- Timing: My gym was a 12-minute drive one-way. A round trip coupled with the time to park, check-in, and locker setup was 30 minutes. That's quite a bit of time every day even before starting the workout. It takes me two minutes to get ready to walk my dog or do anything around my home or the yard. And zero driving!
- Flexibility: Gym classes happen at a set time. But work almost always creeps beyond schedule. Doing natural movements around home gave me flexibility. Dog still loves me if the walk is an hour late. And the grass doesn't die if I rake it the next day.
- Availability: My natural environment is always available. Be it my home, yard, or the outdoors.
- Variety: Gyms do have a good variety of equipment and classes. But our natural environment beats it by orders of magnitude.
- Quality: Fresh air can't be beat. And every part of my body moves in the most natural way.
And here's the how:
- House-Work:
- Dishwashing: I'm worried about my dishwasher. The poor appliance is sitting idle for ages. I like to hand wash. Everything. Everyday.
- House Projects: Started with basic projects. Fixing the kitchen garbage disposal. Caulking bathroom tiles. And restoring items of emotional value. The washing machine wasn't doing justice to the blankets. So I switched to washing them in the bathtub. It's like grape-stomping while making wine.
- Yard-Work: It started small and simple. Watering the plants and the grass. Made me realize that keeping something alive is no easy task.
- Edible Gardening: Like most dogs, one could say I'm food-motivated. If I can consume something, growing and caring for it interests me. I can qualify among the worst gardeners. So I thought I can only get better from here.
- Yard Projects: First few projects were simple. Replacing the front-yard grass with drought-resistant plants. Planting fruit trees. Painting the wooden deck. Then they got bigger. Paving one side-yard with bricks. Fixing two broken sections of the fence.
- Outdoors:
- Tree-Climbing: It took a visual reminder to rekindle the past. I used to climb fruit trees as a kid. And that's where it stopped. Till I saw a kid climbing a tree in my neighborhood. Nowadays, I climb the easy trees. Try it. The body gets a good stretch. The view is lovely. And it's peaceful up there.
- Jogging: Having an active dog helps. Clark has serious endurance and a playful nature. We underwent the same training and completed our first half-marathon.
- Walking: Frequent short walks with Clark became my thinking time. And I've done many work and personal meetings over walks. On many days, I've walked over 10 miles with my heavy backpack in San Francisco.
- Foraging: This started with an interest in the nutritional benefits of the wild. And increasing the variety of teas and beverages. It is rudimentary as of now. Leaves from the pine, redwoods, lime and rosemary have worked out well.
- Woodworking: Chopping wood is one of my favorite activities. There is something therapeutic about this. Can't figure out why. I've also dabbled in making basic walking sticks, fishing rods, and ground stakes.
The stubbornness to avoid machines is helping me discover more natural movements. Failed experiments get dropped. And successful experiments become a habit. Curious to know your story!
Next Note:
- Incorporating Natural Movements: Part 2
Related Notes:
Let's Talk: If you have a true experience that resonates, please send me an email.
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