The Director of the Mayo Clinic, Dr. James Levine, said that “sitting is the new smoking.”  Dr. Levin has extensively studied the negative effects of the modern, sedentary lifestyle, concluding: “”Sitting is more dangerous than smoking, kills more people than HIV and is more treacherous than parachuting. We are sitting ourselves to death.”

Although exercising is necessary for you to optimize health and longevity, it is not sufficient by itself.  You must also move throughout the day.  We need both.  Dr. Joan Vernikos is the former NASA Director of Life Sciences.  Dr. Vernikos was responsible for making sure that the astronauts remained healthy during their flights in space.  She is also the author of “Sitting Kills, Moving Heals: How Everyday Movement Will Prevent Pain, Illness, and early Death.” She says that say that we must move regularly throughout the day or suffer the physical consequences. Simply exercising daily will not cure the problem for being sedentary the rest of the day.  We must get up from sitting on a regular basis – stand, move, walk.

            I set my timer for every 30 minutes and take a few minutes to stand up, stretch, walk, move my body a little bit. Standing, walking, and changing your posture are the magic ingredients.  Dr. Michelle Seager calls these “Opportunities to Move” or “OTMs.”  Look for these OTMs throughout the day. Maybe you take the stairs instead of the elevator, walk to lunch instead of drive, or every time you send a text, you stand.  Whenever my family goes to the airport, we make it a game to always take the stairs instead of the never-ending escalators.  Standing up and moving every 30 minutes was a game changer for me and my overall health.

            For a bonus, when you get up to move, double check your posture. Posture is one of the best ways to move and connect to your optimal self.  Pull the thread thru your spine; standing tall, shoulders back, and head up like its attached to some helium balloons.  This type of power posture gives you the added benefit of increasing your presence.