Moving Your Environment so it Moves You
"It is no measure of health to be well-adjusted to a profoundly sick society" --Jiddu Krishnamurti |
We often impose on our selves unrealistic expectations, or values that are not our own, that we accept from outside of ourselves and try to live in our life. Aside from the reasonable amount of compromise and the dance of human relationships that is necessary to co-exist together, outside of this, living solely what other people value does not serve us very well.
A lot of this stems from, as you would well suspect, advertising and indoctrination from the medical/pharmaceutical and fitness industries which envelopes the industrialised world. Most would consciously deny any effect or manipulation to the fact that many of their thoughts may not actually be their own, whilst their subconscious mind drives them to depend on suckling the sickly teat of the consumerist, immediate-gratification society. This is demonstrated by actions, purchases, thoughts and what they hold as most valuable.
A little internet investigation into this, for example, Edward Bernays (the nephew of Sigmund Freud) and the manipulation of public opinion using the subconscious, is sure to account for an enlightening afternoon.
How often do we hear ourselves use the words:
- “Shouldn’t”
- “Couldn’t”
- “Mustn’t”
- “Wouldn’t”
I should go to the gym, I mustn’t have another slice of pie, I couldn’t do that.
Look carefully when you catch yourself using this language, as you may well be injecting someone/something else’s value system into your own, and it’s not working for you! The things that are most important to you, and most importantly serve you the most, are ultimately simple.
I hope your thinking “well how does that work if there is something that you know does serve you, but you don’t want to do it, as it appears inconvenient, complicated or expensive?”
I hope you feel as though this is opening up a can of worms, because it is. There are a number of understandings being raised that require further exploration. However, in order to “be bright, be brief, and be gone”, I’ll leave that for your pondering in the sun.
For now, here is the truest and most effective experiential and scientific answer I can offer (although it is multi-faceted):
Environment is to physical health,
what relationships is to mental health –
central.
Change your environment.
Specifically:
- Use “out of sight out of mind’ (and keeping something that you know serves you, insight and thus in mind. This is most often either alarms/reminders in your phone or computer, or little notes stuck strategically inside cupboards, etc. If you see it, you’ll do it, if you don’t, you won’t.
- When you think of something that you know serves you, do it immediately or set a reminder to do it at a strategic time. Then over time, as you have repeating reminders set, the reminders do the thinking for you, all you need to do is respond to your now healthy environment. When you are reminded of something that you know serves you, apply these words in your mind “do it anyway”. “Do it” implies action, “anyway” implies action regardless of whatever sophisticated excuse or clever way out that you know you could use.
The moral of this story:
We are conditioned to believe that becoming and doing what physically strong and healthy people do (what our body is built to be) is an arduous task (eg. only for ‘fitness fanatics’ or ‘health freaks’, or the old “no pain, no gain”).
Movement is meant to be a pleasure. For children, it is a joy to bend and twist and role and tuck and jump and run and climb and wrestle. When was the last time you did these? Don’t disable yourself and get too intellectual about it - choose one, and do it when you get off this computer.
What I am alluding to is that movement is intended to be enjoyable. Make it so.
How? To keep it simple for now, we are wise to make movement a part of our day, not apart from it. How to do this and make it convenient and free will be explored in a later article, however such functional integration can be:
- taking the stairs,
- hanging the washing as quickly as you possibly can,
- gardening for food or beauty,
- taking every opportunity to lift weighty things,
- lift shopping bags evenly in both hands,
- when shopping strengthen your core muscles by turning the shopping trolley around you, not moving you around the shopping trolley to turn the aisle corners.
Lastly, remember these top three (from my joint observation of human behaviour and health over the years):
- Do it outside (amidst the electrified air particles, the goodness from the sun, and in concert with the natural elements around us. Separation of humans from the environment has demonstrated itself to be dangerous for all)
- Make it fun (enjoyable. Remember what you used to do that you enjoyed.)
- Do it with someone (this creates accountability, making it easier to commit to. Also, social means sustainable. We are social creatures.)
Having said this, there is actually something that is needed along with embracing enjoyable movement, and that is to build health. Simply, other principles need to come first. You need fuel in your car to be able to drive your car, yes?
Our aim, through our articles, is to make what we think is inconvenient; convenient, what we see as complicated; simple, and what we’ve been led to believe is expensive; free.
Think then do - don’t stew (marinating is for meat – don’t be that miSTEAK!).
Do it anyway! :-)