A Dozen Daily Movements
12 Seems to be the magic number at the moment. You may know of The Dirty Dozen? This is a list compiled by The Environmental Working Group of the 12 foods that are best (for Americans) to eat organic if they can because they are heavily sprayed and have tested positive for at least 47 different chemicals, some for as many as 67. They are celery, peaches, strawberries, apples, blueberries, nectarines, peppers, spinach, cherries, potatoes, grapes, lettuce.
On the flip side there is Dr Greger’s Daily Dozen checklist. This list is filled with incredibly nutritious superfoods that boost immunity and ward off inflammation and disease. I finished his book; How Not to Die, with a new found respect for broccoli - it really is an amazing vegetable. His list has beans, berries, other fruits, cruciferous vegetables, greens, other vegetables, flax seeds, nuts, spices, whole grains and drinks (good teas, apple cider vinegar, miso etc).
As It is STILL the school holidays (because my children need a whole month off for Easter); for this blog, I have recruited their help. Following on the theme of living longer through doing 12 things
they have helped me create a Dozen Daily Movements chart. We have:
Looking long distance for eye training, because our optometrist has given it to us for homework to counteract our reading, school work, ipad watching and crafts.
We have chewing on hard things (or gum even if Daddy thinks we look like ruminating cows) to help our jaws grow strong and so the kids teeth will grow in to their jaws without overcrowding - this is movement homework from our dentist.
We have the spinal movements of twisting side bending and yawning to counteract our hunching.
We have hanging to lengthen our spines and align our shoulders,
We’ve put in inversions to give our lower limbs and heart a break and to send blood the other way around our bodies.
We have wrist and finger stretching to do after writing or typing,
We have deep squatting to keep our hips knees and ankles mobile.
We have calf stretching to release our tight back lines.
We have balancing on narrow surfaces and walking on uneven surfaces to train our feet,
We also have foot rolling to massage the fascia under our feet - all because feet are really important. People love the core - I love feet, they are the foundation of all of our movement. They are a blog post in themselves.
Right, I am being called - I have to re-manoeuvre my troops in Risk. Enjoy your Tuesday
P