Fountain of Youth: How To Stay Younger through Movement

‘Nothing happens until something moves.’ Albert Einstein

In the relentless pursuit of timeless vitality, the quest to unlock the secrets of eternal youth often leads us down winding paths filled with fad diets, miracle creams, and elusive elixirs. Yet, hidden in plain sight lies a powerful and accessible key to slowing down the aging process – movement. Yes, staying and feeling younger for longer might just be a tad simpler than you think.

When we work out consistently, our cardiorespiratory capacity improves and dramatically increases both our energy and stamina. 

When we don’t move, our body systems literally stagnate, and a term called ‘deconditioning' occurs which makes you feel frequently tired and experience breathlessness. When we are sedentary for long periods of time, our bodies stiffen, we feel pain and aches where we hadn’t before, and as our immune system suffers, we get weaker.  And the dreadful list goes on.

The good news is that you can easily slow this decline, improve your aerobic capacity, metabolic health, increase your energy and literally experience a more positive and happier outlook on life! 

My advice is to start slowly and simply to change habits.. Have patience and compassion with yourself. If you’ve been living your life without movement and exercise for awhile, the last thing you want to do is throw yourself into a marathon of high intensity workouts. The body appreciates gentleness and care, not aggressive workouts that feel abusive!

If you have resistance to starting an exercise program for example, try adding a morning walk through a nearby park It may end up being a pleasurable experience. The term ‘forest bathing’ in fact refers to the health benefits you gain by just  inhaling the beautiful smell of trees, as you soak in the beauty around you. Even dancing to your favorite music in the privacy of your home counts as exercise, and a great way to get the blood moving. When doing this, try to keep moving for 15-20 minutes minimum and importantly–ENJOY yourself and have FUN– noone’s watching!  Or stepping it up, try a leisurely bike ride or a casual swim – the key is to commit to keeping your body in motion and savor the process.

Consistent physical activity has been shown to improve our cardiovascular health, boost immune function, and enhance our mental well-being. These are key components in the battle against aging. Beyond the physical benefits, movement releases a reservoir of endorphins, the feel-good hormones that elevate your mood and contribute to an overall sense of empowerment. Clearly the benefits of moving outweigh the joys of being a couch potato. And though we all have our couch potato moments, it’s the balance of adding more movement in our lives, that can make all the difference to your health, well being and your aging.

Movement in fact does much more and here’s just a few benefits that you might not be aware of. Clearly no medicine can do all this without serious side effects!

MOVEMENT..

*Helps our joints move smoothly. When we move, we increase the function of synovial fluid,

a nourishing liquid surrounding our bones which helps reduce friction and protects our bones and joi

*Creates a healthy circulatory system The heart pumps blood to nourish our muscles.

When the  muscles contract more rapidly as when we exercise, the heart responds by pumping blood more actively

through the arteries and veins making our systems more efficient and healthy

*Lowers your blood pressure & cholesterol

*Lowers elevated levels of glucose in the blood

*Helps reduce depression, anxiety and stress, and improve memory

*Releases endorphin hormones into your body, energizing your system and creating ‘good feelings’ in the body

I hope I’ve inspired you to try out some new ways of moving.

What’s key, is that you find movement that you ENJOY and the rewards will be great..maybe even life changing!