Movement

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As humans we are physical beings – yet due to the automation of many physical jobs, and the rise of the knowledge economy, our workdays can be all too sedentary. By making life easier in so many ways, we’ve introduced new problems.

This has been a struggle for me as I love working with my hands, whether it’s building furniture or gardening, yet my skillset is very digital. So I spend most of my day looking at a screen; coding, designing, or chatting with customers.

Given this inactivity, we need to be purposeful about making time for activities that reintroduce physical movement back into our day, ideally that don’t require significant time commitments.

There are tons of resources available that talk about how (and why) to introduce movement into your day, but I wanted to share my personal experience and things I have found to work.

• Getting up for lunch. One of the bad habits I developed was staying at my desk and working (or half-working and browsing the web). Lunch is a great time to get out for a walk, either with a colleague or silent time to pray and clear the head.
• Walking meetings. In my last office we were near a residential area and I would often do walking meetings that proved to be very productive.
• Stretching. I am one of the most inflexible human beings I know, and sitting for 8 hours does not help. Doing regular stretches in the morning and evening, even for just a few minutes, can help counteract the hunchback pose.
• Physical sabbath. I’ve written about the importance of taking sabbath rest before, but some good advice I once read was to take a physical sabbath if you have a mentally taxing job. For me this might be as simple as weeding the garden, it feels good to do work where you see immediate results.

I can’t say I have it all figured out, often when I’m busy and need movement the most I am the least likely to make the time. However, I know that it needs to be addressed if we want our bodies to be able to do good work for as long as possible.

~ Sean