Move Your Body, Your Mind Will Follow

Move: How the New Science of Body Movement Can Set Your Mind Free by Caroline Williams
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Subtitle kind of deceptive, it's really about how your body moves your mind into health all over and mental and physical health are dependent; can't have one without the other. Helpful reminders at end of chapters make it good to have on hand for reminders.
So much hope is packed into this little book: a mere 200 pages and 20 pages of notes, with a reminder of key points at the end of each chapter. The information here can improve the quality of your life at any age, even the “senior” years.
The knowledge is old; the scientific evidence is new. What’s good for your body is good for your mind, and vice versa.
As we age, the percentage of us that suffer from chronic conditions grows. We’re slower, our tissues start drying up, it’s harder to get out of bed to face the pain of the day. And this process affects our brain, as well.
Current research in brain science shows an amazing, accessible, affordable approach that can prevent and/or mitigate and slow down the progression of dementia and other diseases.
Though simple, it’s hard for some to implement, because it mostly relies on personal motivation. Physical activity—more than we usually get in modern lifestyles—is the key to health of body, mind, and spirit, at any age.
Here’s the good news: you don’t have to get to a gym, or invest in equipment. The equipment you need, we all have—our bodies. The only other thing we need is to use them, however we can.
For physical and mental health, it turns out, aerobic exercise isn’t as necessary as simply moving more. Moving while focusing on your body provides many of the same benefits as “working out” and can be done by anyone—young, old, able-bodied, injured, or chronically impeded.
Why is the psoas muscle so important? What does the vagus nerve have to do with health? You’ll find out in this sometimes dry, but mostly engaging book, full of anecdotes and interviews with scientists who have both done the research and the lifestyle changes to see if their research holds true.
There’s movement for everyone here, with looks at the benefits of walking, Pilates, Tai Chi, dance, and yoga—even Laughter Yoga—all of which can be modified to practice in chairs.
But the main message of the book is, you don’t need a class, you can build more movement into your everyday life, if you choose. And you can enjoy the process!
I bought the book.

View all my reviews