Motion is lotion. Motion and movement is what keeps us alive, allowing our body to perform necessary functions such as our heart beating and pumping blood around the body to bring oxygen and nutrition to every cell. Our heart beating is only one of the many primitive ways in which we are designed to move. Primitively for survival we are designed to hunt for food and run away from danger. We were not designed to predominantly walk from the car, to the fridge, couch, desk and back.
According to Nobel Prize recipient Dr. Roger Sperry’s research, 90% of the stimulation and nutrition to the brain is generated by the movement of the spine. Dr Sperry believes when the spine is moving, it is like a windmill creating electricity1.
Benefits of Exercise and Movement
Exercise and movement includes playing soccer or tennis, lifting weights and running on a treadmill. However, it does not need to be so complicated. For children, free play alone is very beneficial. It develops social, emotional and academic foundations for later in life. It also improves emotional intelligence, the ability to self-heal, learn about themselves, what they’re good at or not so good at, what they like or don’t like to do.2 Many health experts believe free play has been interrupted by the increasing amount of artificial intelligence and robots when it should really be kept simple. There are so many skills and traits only we can develop through free play and not technology such as compassion, creativity, complexity and dexterity.
Through movement and exercise we also build postural strength which takes consistent firing of the postural muscles which leads to brain stimulation. And as the muscles continue to build strength, the neural pathways in the brain also thrive. This feedback system is what makes our posture strong and consistent and is how we can have good posture without having to think about it.
Research has found many benefits of good posture and exercise, even in children with ADHD and autism. Some of the main findings are decreased stress, anxiety and depression as well as improved mood, behaviour, motor performance, social skills and even academic performance.3,4
What do the Australian guidelines recommend?
- For babies, parents should provide plenty of tummy time and limit restrained time in capsules, car sets and strollers
- Children under 5 should enjoy at least 3 hours of physical activity per day
- Children over 5 and adults should do at least 1 hour of moderate to vigorous exercise per day5
If you have any questions or would like to have yourself or your child’s spine and posture checked by Dr Cindy Lam, please contact Provolution Health on 6299 2660.