Our bodies are the very vessels that house us and carry us through this life.

We are physical beings and in order to function at our best, we must take care of our physical bodies.

Many of us think of ourselves as primarily mental beings and regard the body as secondary. While our brains do play a large part in our daily lives, without the body we’d be toast.

Our bodies are the very vessels that house us and carry us through this life. Our bodies are sacred and we must learn to take care of them as such if we want to live at our best.

In order to function at our best, we must incorporate essential physical movement into our daily routine. I’m intentionally using the word ‘movement’ here instead of exercise because most folks associate exercise with intense, vigorous activity. Often this means driving to and from the gym, building in time and logistics around such a routine which can be cumbersome.

Movement however is simple. Everything from a brisk walk listening to a podcast or talking to a friend or taking a work call to light cardio, sports and strength training are sufficient to maintain long term health.

Essential movement is one that raises your heart rate enough that you break out a light sweat. Alternating between different types of movement - walking, cardio, sports which build stamina to strength training and strengthening exercises such as yoga, pilates etc ensure that you maintain optimal physical well being. Dopamine and Endorphins are released to help with the body’s chemical balance and the trillions of cells in our body and brain start firing to help us prepare for the day ahead.

What our bodies need most essentially is movement. Movement comes in many shapes and forms and contrary to popular belief you don’t need an aggressive exercise routine to stay healthy.

Here’s some of my favorites ways to move: 

• Walk - Go for a daily walk around your neighborhood. Ideally this should be a brisk walk to raise heart rate, aid with digestion and crank up the heat for more energy. BONUS - enjoy the sunlight and get some vitamin D, enjoy the changing seasons and maybe even meet the neighbors. 
• Cardio - Pick your favorite form of cardio (jogging, running, biking etc) to keep your heart strong and get the feel good hormones flowing for a great day ahead.
• Yoga / Sun Salutations - a short morning yoga posture routine that's gentle on the body, promotes flexibility and wakes up the solar plexus in our body for a day of focused work 
• HIIT - High intensity interval training is an excellent exercise routine that combines the heart rate of a cardio workout while using body weight to increase strength. No special equipment is needed and you can easily start by following one of many HIIT routines on YouTube. Make sure to start slowly to warm up and continue at an appropriate pace. 
• Sports - Play your favorite sports together with family or friends to encourage movement and socialization - football, soccer, basketball etc 
• Strength training - weights or resistance bands are great options to help ensure your body maintains muscular strength. It can be great to do some light cardio for 10-15 minutes followed by 10-15 minutes of strength training when the body is warmed up.

Many folks are worried about injury as they incorporate movement into their lives. The trick is to warm up and cool down before and after movement. For example, light stretches before going for a brisk walk or starting with light to medium resistance before moving to higher resistance in strength training. Start off slow during HIIT workouts. Working with high intensity requires care - we need to warm up for the intensity as well as cool down to prevent injury. After your workout, continue to walk or move at a slower pace to allow the muscles to settle. 

Happy Moving! Imagine the energetic possibilities that will open up for you as you incorporate more movement into your daily life!

~ Nitin