“Movement is a medicine for creating change in a person’s physical, emotional, and mental states.”
— Carol Welch —
The Miracle We Take For Granted
Take a moment and look at your hand. Slowly bend and straighten your fingers, observing the intricate dance of muscles and tendons working in perfect harmony. Notice how your mind thinks about moving, and your body responds accordingly.
This everyday miracle—movement—is something most of us barely acknowledge. Yet what if this ability suddenly vanished? Imagine losing movement in a limb or the limb itself. No arms to embrace someone you love, no hands to experience touch or hold another's hand.
Movement isn't just exercise—it's medicine for your entire being, creating profound change in your physical, emotional, and mental states.
Would you like to discover how to reclaim the natural movement your body craves, even if you feel too tired or stressed to begin? The answers might surprise you. I explore this deeply in my book "Lifestyle Medicine For the People", but let me share some essential insights here.
The 3 Major Challenges We're Here to Solve Together
- The Energy Paradox: We're chronically tired yet avoid the very movement that would energize us, often choosing caffeine instead of a morning walk, believing it will provide the clarity we need.
- The Technology Trap: Our modern environments and technology have dramatically reduced our need to move, leaving our bodies deprived of nourishing movements—explaining why our spines, hips, and knees feel stiff and restricted.
- The Exercise Mindset: We've turned movement into a chore rather than embracing it as a natural part of being human, making it feel like work instead of play.
Curious how others have navigated these challenges? Our SelfCare Community is filled with people sharing their journey from feeling tired and disconnected to vibrant and energized through simple movement practices.
The SelfCare Framework: Learn-Do-Embody-Teach
1. LEARN: Movement as Your Birthright
Our bodies love to move. Movement promotes healing, maintenance, and regeneration of all our integrated human systems. We were born to move, yet our modern lifestyles have systematically removed natural movement from our daily experience.
Would you be open to considering that movement isn't just about fitness, but about reclaiming your birthright to feel fully alive?
2. DO: Motion Is Lotion
Movement in its essence is complex, but nature has already figured it all out for you. All you need to know is that motion is literally a lotion for every cell in your body—from your blood to your brain, to your muscles, and even down to your genetic blueprint.
The truth is, you don't need expensive workout programs or complicated regimens. Your body inherently knows how to move.
3. EMBODY: From Limitation to Liberation
What if I told you that the most profound stories of embodied movement come from those with the greatest physical limitations?
Meet Bethany Hamilton. At just 13 years old, this rising surf star lost her left arm to a tiger shark attack. Many thought her career was over. Yet one month after the attack, Bethany returned to surfing. Within years, she won her first national surfing title. At 17, her dream of surfing professionally came true, and she continues to compete actively today.
Or consider Nick Vujicic, born without arms or legs due to a rare condition called tetra-amelia syndrome. Despite early fear and hopelessness, Nick made a pivotal decision to embrace his situation. With persistence, he learned to perform tasks most people use limbs for—playing sports, brushing hair, typing, swimming, and more. Today, he's a successful motivational speaker, author, CEO, and advocate, demonstrating that the only real physical disabilities are those in our mind.
Their stories remind us: what limitations have you accepted that exist only in your mind?
4. TEACH: Movement as Connection
When you rediscover the joy of movement, you naturally inspire others. Your energy becomes contagious. Your vitality creates ripples that affect everyone around you.
While reading this, I hope you feel inspired to stop reading for a moment—to get up and simply move. Move in a way that feels good, remembering the variety of movements you enjoyed as a child swinging from monkey bars, dancing, and playing in nature.
Reclaiming Natural Movement: A Different Approach
Every movement creates a healing stimulus for all twelve integrated systems that make up our amazing human body. Just as a bird doesn't need a flight manual, we don't need rulebooks, expensive methods, workout gurus, or strict regulations to move naturally.
What if movement could be joyful again? What if it could be the medicine that transforms your energy, mood, and outlook?
As you reflect on this, you might notice the sedentary patterns you've accepted—driving instead of walking, excessive couch time, avoiding a morning walk in favor of coffee, believing caffeine will provide the energy and clarity you need for your day.
In my book, I explore how simple movement practices can transform not just your physical health but your entire experience of life. Readers frequently tell me that the movement chapter alone has changed their relationship with their bodies.
Your Next Step: From Tired to Energized
Start with something small. Write down a simple movement goal to begin with. Perhaps gardening more, walking to the end of your street daily, walking your dog, or stretching before bed. Whatever it is, just start somewhere.
Commit to just 21-30 minutes daily. Build by 1% and don't miss two consecutive days.
Remember: In the 21st century, we simply need to put our technology down, look around at the natural environment, and remind ourselves to embrace movement as a way of life, not as a chore. Movement is meant to be fun so it should integrate naturally into your daily lifestyle. Dance, bushwalk, swim, surf, jump, stretch, trapeze!
Want to explore this further with others on the same journey? Join our SelfCare Community where we're sharing practical ways to make movement medicine part of everyday life. Or dive deeper with the full framework in my book "Lifestyle Medicine For the People".
Key Research References:
- Pedersen, B. K., & Saltin, B. (2015). Exercise as medicine - evidence for prescribing exercise as therapy in 26 different chronic diseases. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 25(S3), 1-72.
- Booth, F. W., Roberts, C. K., & Laye, M. J. (2012). Lack of exercise is a major cause of chronic diseases. Comprehensive Physiology, 2(2), 1143-1211.
- Ratey, J. J., & Hagerman, E. (2013). Spark: The revolutionary new science of exercise and the brain. Little, Brown Spark.
REFERENCES
This is directly referenced from the Amazon best-selling SelfCare Book "Lifestyle Medicine For the People" by Rory Callaghan. If you would like to read more content like this, grab the free online chapters of the book or a hard copy.
We have done our best to reference everyone's expert opinions, peer-reviewed science, and original thoughts, all references available here and referenced in the text.
We also understand that most thoughts are not our own and there is a collective unconsciousness, unconsciousness, and universal mind stream of energy that is always at work. How our references are sorted and filtered is here.
This article is for informational purposes only and should not replace professional medical advice. Always consult with your healthcare provider before beginning any new health regimen.
