SELF CARE SATURDAY: GET MOVING 👞

SELF CARE SATURDAY

🌿 natural movement exercise 🌿

According to the Blue Zone's study, a study on how certain communities prolong life through lifestyle habits, moving naturally throughout the day has a positive effect on our overall wellness. The idea here is that you don't necessarily need to go to the gym or dedicate time to working out if you incorporate regular and consistent movement (every 20 minutes or so) into your routine.

In this photo, Nenada, one of the owners at OBTC and the gal who oversees all store operations, is taking her son on a walk in the pines - one of their favorite activities to do together!

We want to share some ideas on how you can incorporate more movement into your workday, even if you work from behind a computer screen!

⬇︎⬇︎⬇︎

TIP #1: BALANCE TRAINING

Balance training not only strengthens your core, making your body more centered and grounded, but it can also influence better memory and spatial cognition. Just walking forward then backward on a 2 x 4 for a few minutes every day can benefit your brain and physical fitness. The goal of natural movement is to practice movement we use in everyday life. Here's some ideas:

• Stand on one leg while stationary. Whether you are brushing your teeth, standing in line or working at a desk. If you can, invest in a standing desk-it is a game changer for being able to move and practice your balance while working!
• While walking on a sidewalk or in your own home imagine you are on a tight rope and are trying not to fall off. You can even use natural lines, such as seems between wood floors or tiles.
• If you do go to the gym or intentionally workout, practice balancing while you cool down or try some warm up stretches that challenge your balance.

Check out these green and herbaceous essential oils to incorporate into your routine-or just to use when you need to focus and zone in. 🧠 These oils are great for helping you find your flow and your balance.

Eucalyptus Globulus Essential Oil

Peppermint Essential Oil

Tea Tree Essential Oil

TIP #2: HANG AROUND

Hanging is a movement that your body was designed for! Simple hanging movements help to stretch you out and can also help soothe shoulder ailments - just remember to be gentle on yourself. Hanging movements open the door to climbing movements, which provide even more health benefits. Here's what you can do to hang around in your everyday life:

• Find places to hang on - even if it's just for fun. Sturdy doors and tree branches make great contenders. 
• If you have children or grandchildren bring them to a park with a jungle gym and go hang on the monkey bars - your inner kid will be smiling!
• If you love the sensation, install a doorway pull-up bar in your home and hang around whenever you need a break from work. Getting in a few pull-ups is a big win too!

TIP #3: WALK MORE

Walking is our most natural instinct and is very beneficial to our health and well being. Many studies show that walking improves overall body composition, tones muscles, and can even reduce stress and depression. You can truly experience that human-nature connection with this movement, because nature is the ideal environment to walk in (rather than a flat sidewalk). When your body and brain work together to adapt to the different surfaces and levels of ground in nature it provides a stimulating challenge for you in many ways. Here's how you can walk more throughout the day.

⬇

• While working at home or in the office, take calls outside and walk as you talk. You can also schedule your meetings as walking meetings - you'll find the mood and energy of these meetings is more upbeat and positive.
• Walk around the outside of your home or workplace to eat lunch. It will make you enjoy your lunch so much more!
• Go for a walk outside anytime you feel bored, need to re-focus, or need a creative spark.
• Park at the end of the parking lot instead of a spot closest to an entrance, and enjoy the opportunity to stretch your legs.
• Take walks after dinner to stimulate digestion and soothe the mind. After dinner walks are a great way to bond with your loved ones and wind down and the end of the day.

Peppermint & Guayusa

Everyone needs a walking partner-even if it's a big jug of ice cold, energy boosting tea. Peppermint and Guayusa (a close relative to Yerba Maté) are clean and earthy tasting-perfect for connecting our bodies with nature. This blend boosts energy, stimulates digestion and metabolism, and supports immunity. Plus, it is completely refreshing served with chunky ice cubes and sweetened with honey.

Natural movement exercise is a health and fitness ideology that is based on how humans naturally and instinctually move. The goal of practicing this type of exercise is to get in touch with your innate biological and evolutionary way of moving and using your body. Practicing natural movement exercises improves your physical ability required for real-life situations that demand physical responses. Natural movement can also be a meditative practice (without even trying to make it that way) as it emphasizes mind and body awareness as well as your connection to nature. 

Natural movement contributes to the wonderful feeling of self-actualization - the complete realization of one's potential, and the full development of one's abilities and appreciation for life that allow you to enjoy a greater quality of life.

Start moving naturally, start feeling better!