We are made to move

How many hours did you sit today? How many hours did you move today? Do you ever think about this? And do you know the danger of not moving? Do you know that sitting in a chair can actually cause you to die earlier? Well, to understand this, let’s go back into history for a moment.

We are newcomers

If you compare the creation of the world (more than 13 thousand 800 million years ago), our solar system, the life of dinosaurs all millions and millions of years ago… the human being is just a very newcomer. It is only about 2 million years ago that our first ancestor, the Australopithecus, decided to jump out of the tree, starting to walk on two legs. However, only in these few years that the human being exists our behavior has been changing a lot!

We were on the menu

It is only less than 10,000 years ago, that we were living in caves, had to hunt to survive. We had to run, escape from our predators. We were the first plate on the menu of the saber-toothed tiger. So we were always on the run, moving a lot. Since this time, the inside and outside of the human body haven’t experienced big changes.

And in terms of evolution, 10,000 years is just a very short time. However, our society has been changing immensely. For example, we don’t need to hunt for food anymore. We don’t have a predator anymore that put our daily life to risk, for which we need to run daily. So we move less. And moving is super important because we are made to move!

Why do we need to move?

Why is this? Well, moving is very important to be healthy. The only way to move lymph that fights against bacteria and which is super important for the immune system is when we move. Ancient medicine, like Chinese medicine, calls life movement. Movement is called life. When you die you don’t move anymore. So lack of movement is death. Ancient Taoists looked to rivers: they say: when the water moves, there is life. When the water doesn’t move anymore and stops, there is no life.

These Ancient Taoists used to base their medicine into observation. They used to think that what happened outside happened also inside. So looking at the rivers, they believed the same about the lymphatic system, it needs to move to live. And even nowadays scientists show us that for good health we need to move. Actually, we know now that exercise improves our immunity system. Exercise is movement.

Sitting can kill you!

Scientists nowadays show that if you don’t move, like sitting more than 6 hours a day you live less. So this means lack of movement makes you live less. It will attack your immunity system. Lymph for example only moves when we move.

Technology can make us sick

If you read all the above, do you realize that we nowadays almost don’t move anymore? No, we don’t have predators and we don’t need to hunt for food… However, the reason nowadays that we hardly move is… technology! The last 30 years we almost stopped to move! Remember the time in the eighties when we didn’t have internet? Do you realize how much it has changed us?

The fault of the internet

During the time without internet when you wanted to buy shoes, you walked the whole day in the shopping streets looking for shoes. Now you just sit in your chair, browse along the internet and buy them with a click. Remember the days when we cycled to the supermarket or walked to buy our groceries… nowadays we shop on the internet. And what about meeting friends… I used to meet my friends in the town center. I did not even call them beforehand, I just went there and if no-one was there, I cycled home. Nowadays… we have a WhatsApp group.

Take the stairs

If you compare a teenager nowadays to a teenager let’s say 50 years ago, you clearly see the difference. Nowadays there are elevators everywhere, who take the stairs when you have to go up more than 3 floors? I still do, because I know how important it is. However, others look at me as if I am an athlete, which I surely not am, I just try to stay fit. It is a shame that everything is just 1 click away from us and that we don’t need to move.

Yes, of course, I am also happy at times that in 1 click I can book my holiday for example. But I still remember when I booked my first holiday when I was 18, along with friends without my parents for the first time, that we walked around the city for half the day to go to more than 6 agencies to check them all out.

What to do?

It is no wonder that since we don’t move so much anymore, we have so many more ailments and complaints and also at a much younger age than our parents and grandparents. I hope you give this story some thought and use technology in your benefit but please don’t forget to move!

And if you really don’t have time to move, you can always book a traditional Thai massage or deep tissue massage, so at least your lymph will be moved and your health will increase. And otherwise, I would say… come out of your chair and move like the old days! Stay well!

Create a healthy day!

Nicole & Manel

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