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“The mind’s first step to self-awareness must be through the body”
– George A. Sheehan

Studies across multiple domains, from neuroscience, to biology to the psychology of happiness, all reach the same conclusion: Regular exercise leads to higher and more consistent levels of energy—the primary currency of our own vitality. 

Exercise alone, however, is not enough to optimize our energy and well-being. It’s also about more movement in general. As Brian Johnson, founder of Optimize, says, “movement transcends and includes exercise.”

Katy Bowman, author of Move your DNA: Restore your Health Through Natural Movement, states that we should “exercise less, and move more.” Katy tells us that “the problem is that most people fail to consider that their workouts are bookended by hours upon hours of sedentary behavior.” 

 

Micro-movements—small and perpetual movement throughout the day—are key to optimal health and brain function. 

Joan Verniko, NASA scientist and author of Sitting Kills, Moving Heals also emphasizes that the key to improved health is small but frequent movements throughout the day. 

Many people exercise when they can, but less than 5% of adults get in the recommended 30 minutes of physical activity each day. And while workouts are certainly necessary to build strength and endurance, they still spend endless hours sitting at the computer, or talking on and looking at their phone. Do we need to be sedentary for all that time?

Several years ago, my colleague Eric introduced me to the “walking call” and the “walking meeting.” Unless there was a group or the need to take notes and make visual presentations, he would schedule our calls when he was able to take a walk, and request that our in-person meetings be somewhere outside, somewhere where it was quiet enough to walk and talk. 

While this doesn’t work for all scenarios, it often made for a more creative meeting and good shift in energy. I often like to walk about the office or my home when on a call, where I can still make a note if I need.

One of the latest not-so-crazy crazes has become standing desks. With the world stuck at home in front of computers during the COVID-19 pandemic, people who do use standing desks have moved from being the odd-one-out to the smart-ones-in, often admired for their ingenuity and commitment to their own wellbeing.

Katy Bowman reminds us, “Many people are shocked when they realize just how easy it is to move more (note: I said move, and not exercise) and how radically better they feel by making tiny skeletal adjustments throughout the day.” 

New habits, even simple ones, however, take awareness and repetition to learn. Even with the best of intentions, we can simply forget. Consider setting a reminder on your phone or use a timer to encourage you to get up and move every 45 minutes, even if to simply adjust your posture, practice some deep breathing, or change your position from sitting to standing. 

Take whatever opportunity you can to move more: 

• Commit to taking an action break every 45-90 minutes.
• Do walking calls, skip the elevator and take the stairs.
• Take a 5-minute walk.
• Add a skip to your walk.
• Get a standing desk.
• Park further from your destination.
• Leave the car at home, and take your bike to the local store.
• Play a favorite song and dance around your office. 
• Pause to do jumping jacks, burpees or sun salutations.
• Stretch more frequently and breathe deeper. 

There are countless opportunities to add some more motion to your sedentary day. Use your imagination. 

The cumulative effect of these micro-movements throughout the day can add up to some tangible benefits. Your body will thank you and, because your mood will be better, your co-workers will likely appreciate you more as well. If you can get 3 or 4 of these micro-movement breaks in before lunch, you will experience more energy and clarity during those typical slump periods in the afternoon.

Don’t be afraid to add a dash of positive emotion to your movement breaks. If you move like you have more energy and enthusiasm, you will, in fact, have more energy and enthusiasm. Aside from that, you will be more productive, re-kindle your creative fire, and feel more centered.

 

Energy Flows Best through Good Posture 

We can also add to our energy, our attention, and a more positive outlook by paying closer attention to our posture. Holding ourselves upright by lengthening our spine, engaging our core, rolling our shoulders back and down, re-positioning our head back on top of our body, and placing our feet firmly on the floor, opens up energy pathways and informs our internal system that we are confident and alert. 

There are many ways we can train to improve our body awareness and posture, and tap into a greater sense of vitality. In addition to improving your energy, good posture will help you feel more confidence, and help others to see you as more centered and confident. 

The development of better body awareness can pay dividends and heighten our performance and wellbeing whether we are working at our desk, sitting for meditation, taking a walk, or mastering the art of movement itself. As the ancient Chinese philosopher and writer Lao Tzu so eloquently put it: 

“A good athlete can enter a state of body-awareness in which the right stroke or right movement happens by itself, effortlessly, without any interference of the conscious will. This is a paradigm for non-action: the purest and most effect form of action. The game plays the game; the poem writes the poem; we can’t tell the dancer from the dance. It happens when we trust the intelligence of the universe in the same way that an athlete or a dancer trust the superior intelligence of the body.”

 

Putting it All Together

Three simple ways to increase our energy, improve our well-being and optimize our performance are: move more, stand tall and, when you have to sit, sit like a hero. 

If we want to achieve self-mastery, we must master the integration of the intelligence between our body and our mind. The good news is that through awareness, repetition and discipline, these actions of regular movement, micro-practices and mindful posture reprogram our subconscious operating system and, ultimately, become our baseline state—allowing optimal energy to flow naturally through us, without wasted thought or effort. 

In other words: The more often we move, the healthier we will be. The more we prepare our mind and our body so energy can move freely through it, the more energetic we will feel. The more we work this awareness and these micro-habits in the natural flow of our day, the more our creativity, performance and overall sense of wellbeing will flow in our work and our lives. 

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About the Author 

Frank Fitzpatrick is a Creative Executive, Engagement Expert and High-Performance Coach on the Faculty of Singularity University’s Exponential Medicine.

Be sure to check out Frank’s full Bio.

To connect, go to FrankFitzpatrick.com

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