Move Your DNA Book Review

In this Move Your DNA book review, I will summarize Katy Bowman’s profound book. My hope is that this Move Your DNA book review serves as a cogent introduction to the unorthodox, highly valuable work of Katy Bowman.

Move Your DNA was recommended to me by Danielle after she listened to a podcast featuring Katy Bowman. The general thesis of Move Your DNA is that we as humans will be healthier and more vibrant if we move more frequently and if our physical movements become more natural. Katy believes that our everyday physical movements should become more diversified and resemble the way that our ancestors moved.

As you’ll read throughout this Move Your DNA book review, I found this to be a brilliant book. Bowman provides simple but integral wisdom on movements we can perform in order to obtain and maintain optimal health. Bowman suggests that through movement, we have the power to change our DNA. Moreover, Bowman asserts lifestyle habits that we’ve adopted (mainly because of globalization and technology) can be looked at as primary drivers of Type 2 Diabetes, Obesity, Heart Disease, Depression and many other ailments that Westerners suffer with. Avoiding these ailments and achieving optimal health are the primary reasons why we should change (or move) our DNA.

The genetic expression of our bodies is highly correlated with our frequency of physical movement and the type of movements we engage in each day. Put another way, the shape of our bodies (external bodies and internal bodies) is defined by the way we move.

Bowman contends that overreliance on the structures and constraints that we introduced with good intentions (i.e. chairs in corporate offices, couches, soft mattresses, even the shoes we wear on our feet) are doing us harm by causing our bodies to function less effectively. In turn, this can lead to disease, malaise, early death, and a general lack of vibrancy.

Intuitively this makes sense but until Katy’s work, I had never thought of or read research pointing to these conclusions. Prior to writing this Move Your DNA book review, I remember meeting a woman in Bali two years ago. She was was well over 100 years old. When I asked what the key was, her response was: “The key is to continue moving.” Then she got up from her squat in her garden and put a huge basket of fresh vegetables (that she had picked) on her head as she began the long walk home.

Although what we eat/drink is imperative to living a vibrant life, this book is strictly about our physical movements. Bowman does not minimize the importance of eating healthy foods. However, Katy contends that a healthy diet is not enough. The positives of a healthy diet can be negatively offset by the harmful impact of living sedentarily or semi sedentarily.

In this Move Your DNA book review I will cover what the 10 key takeaways:

1. Be Barefoot as Often as Possible

Walk on varying natural terrains especially cobblestone, sand, and grass. This will expose your feet to more natural environments. Walking barefoot on natural terrains allow your feet to use muscles that they have not used in a long time. No two environments on Earth are identical. 25% of your body’s muscles are located from the ankle down. Avoid putting your feet in stiff, inflexible shoes. This is like putting your feet in a cast!

There are many studies that show the mental and physical benefits of being barefoot.

I know I always feel so good and more connected to Earth after a barefoot day at the beach or in the grass.

2. The Term “It’s Genetic” Doesn’t Mean “It’s Unchangeable”

Growing up, I always equated “Genetic” with “Predetermined,” wrongly thinking that there was nothing I could do about the specific genes that I inherited from my familial lineage. Bowman’s thesis is centered around the premise that this is patently false.

When writing this Move Your DNA Book Review, this quote came to mind:
“The pattern of disease of injury that affects any group of people is never a matter of chance. It is invariably the expressions of stresses and strains to which they were exposed, a response to everything in their environment and behavior.” ~Calvin Wells in Bones, Bodies and Disease

3. Your Daily Workout Routine Probably isn’t Cutting it

Exercise is only one form of movement. Bowman makes the point that many Westerners assume that as long as they get their 30 to 90 minutes of exercise in a few days a week, they are taking care of their body’s requirement to move. However, even if you are active for 30 to 90 minutes per day, sitting (or standing) in the same basic position all day, you’re probably doing harm to your body. Repetitive exercise is not necessarily helpful even if it is strenuous.

Intuitively, this makes sense. After all, with 24 hours in a day, 1 hour of movement is certainly not a lot.

Throughout the day make sure to frequently get up, squat, walk without shoes, expose your feet to varying terrains. To “move” you do not need to exercise.

Even if you exercise vigorously for an hour each day or if you practise yoga asanas for an hour each day, if you are sitting or standing for the rest of the day, you are still living a sedentary lifestyle.

4. Stand with Your Feet/Toes Straight

This is just one of many tips Katy includes in Move Your DNA. From a very young age, constraints (such as diapers) that kids are exposed to can drastically impact how they stand/walk. For instance, if you look at how people stand in a resting position, you will notice that many people stand with their toes facing outward instead of straight ahead. This is often a result of the impact of diapers interfering with the natural gait of the baby/child. These habits are formed unconsciously and continue throughout adolescence and adulthood. This misalignment can result in joint problems such as hip dysplaysia.

Other small alignment tips include exercising your eyes by looking at distant items while outdoors. How much time do we spend indoors looking at screens? Surely, there is an impact on on eyes and brains because of this. By looking at objects in the far distance, we strengthen our eyes and use them the way our ancestors did.

5. Reconsider Common Beliefs

Bowman suggests that simple actions we take for granted may have a severe impact on our health and the health of those in our lives. Is your baby’s diaper impacting the way he’s learning to walk? Is having children sit in the traditional Western upright position for eight hours per day harming their joints and posture? Is the most comfortable mattress also the most harmful mattress? Is staring at a computer and TV screen for half of your life healthy?

Also, it is important to not compare yourself with others. You might say, “Well, I’m in better shape than 95% of Americans/Westerners so that is good enough.” As the great sage Krishnamurti once said, “It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.” Ask yourself, can your body be functioning on a higher level?

6. Maybe Your Shoes and Mattress aren’t Helping, they’re Hurting

Katy suggests that it would be beneficial to sleep on a more stiff bed/mattress. The softest, most comfortable mattress is probably doing harm by changing the composition of your body. Also, if you find that you are in pain after sleeping on a different bed or a couch, this could be an indication that you have coddled yourself too much and done damage by sleeping on a soft mattress.

Shoes with high arches and platforms are literally changing the composition of your feet…. and not in a good way. Wearing “casts” like this also changes the natural alignment of the rest of your body because your hips, back, and other body parts try to compensate to make up for the way your feet are being altered.

If you are wearing shoes, make sure they’re flexible.

7. Running on the Treadmill or Elliptical is Far Different than Running Outside

Westerners have become obsessed with counting calories for the foods we eat and the steps we take in our exercise. We’ve made this robotic and it’s been compounded by restaurants and diet programs. Many believe that they can eat a certain amount of calories regardless of the type of food as long as they “burn off” the same amount of calories at the gym.

As a species, we used to exercise to find and gather food. Now we exercise in order to eat. It’s backwards.

Sidenote: Why the calorie obsession? Is 200 calories of raw sprouted almonds the same as 200 calories of a doughnut? Of course not but this is a Move Your DNA book review, not a calorie post 😉

8. Squat Daily

In our ancestors’ daily life, squatting occurred every single day over and over again. Whether it was going to the “bathroom,” collecting food, or starting a fire, squatting was a frequent occurrence each day. Today we have “conveniences” like Western toilets, counter tops, grocery stores, chairs that prevent us from squatting. There are so many studies that show how beneficial squatting is for humans.

Side Note: I’ve even read theories that suggest part of the reason Alzeimer’s is less frequent in Asia (even in modern times) is because Asian cultures squat more often.

9. Avoid Manmade Sound and Lighting as Much as Possible

We have become accustomed to, “….a constant barrage of technology, meetings, meals on the go, pollution, and traffic, with the accompanying cacophony of mental and literal noise that goes with it.” ~Jason Lewis, in the Foreword to Move Your DNA

There is so much manmade noise and light in our world today. None of it existed in the past. We’ve become very accustomed to this noise and light and sometimes we don’t even know what silence is until we “hear” it.

My Uncle Cappy once took me up to the top of a mountain in Vermont for the last run. Instead of skiing down the hill, we stayed at the top and waited for the chairlift to turn off. When everyone else was down the mountain and the chairlift was off, all that was left was pure, glorious, beautiful, silence. This is Earth’s natural state.

Some have become so accustomed to sound and light that they need TV in order to perform a “menial” task or to fall asleep.
More on this in our post on how to get better sleep without medication.

10. Is Your Body Functioning Well? How Do You Feel?

Westerners today tend to base their overall health on tests (cholesterol levels, body weight, lipid tests) or how we look. “You have a healthy tan,” or you look great because “You lost weight.”

But shouldn’t the ultimate test of one’s health be based on how they feel?

How do you feel when you wake up in the morning?

Are your bowels properly eliminating waste every day?

How do you feel when you do a full squat?

How is the quality of your sleep?

Move Your DNA Book Review Summary

Bottom line, our bodies and minds will function better if we change the frequency and the composition of our physical everyday movements. Many physical ailments could be easily improved or cured if we were moving more.

Make sure that your body and mind are functioning properly by moving! You can start today:

• +Sit down less
• +Improve your alignment, incorporate better posture and stand with your feet straight
• +To strengthen eyes and vision, look at objects that are far away from you. Cut down on exposure to computer, phone and TV screens
• +Walk barefoot
• +Get outdoors more
• +”Move naturally” rather than simply “exercising”
• +Instead of bending at the waist to tie your shoes, squat down
• +Hang and swing your arms from tree limbs or monkey bars (think bottom of the a pull-up position)
• +Do 360 degree ankle rolls each day to recover and maintain the range of motion that your feet may have lost from inactivity and stiff shoes

Cheers, Katy, for being bold, creative, openminded. I have purchased several of your books for Christmas presents including the foot guide for my mother 🙂

In the comments section, let me know what you think of this Move Your DNA book review 🙂

What are some other tips we can implement?

3 Ayurvedic Cleansing Techniques to Implement Today

Ayurveda is the ancient Indian science of life that has been used for over 4000 years. Here are three simple Ayurvedic cleansing techniques that you can begin today. These techniques may seem odd or complex, but once learned, they are easy to understand and execute. These three Ayurvedic cleansing techniques are the basic tenants of daily Ayurvedic hygiene.

1. Ayurvedic Tongue Scraping

If you thought brushing your teeth in the morning & evening was sufficient for oral health, think again. Tongue scraping is the perfect supplement to flossing and teeth brushing. Tongue scraping is one of the most efficient Ayurvedic cleansing techniques. Tongue scraping is basic and easy, yet so important.

The tongue plays crucial roles in healthy body functioning. As you sleep each night, toxins accumulate on your tongue. Every morning, as soon as you wake up (before brushing your teeth), use your tongue scraper to remove the layer of toxins.

Depending on the individual, Ayurveda recommends recommends a copper, gold, or silver tongue scraper.

For beginners, you can simply start with a stainless steel tongue scraper or even a plastic tongue scraper from your local pharmacy or grocery market.

As an added benefit, removing the phlegm from your tongue each day will improve your breath. 😉

2. Ayurvedic Oil Pulling

Ayurvedic oil pulling is a terrific way to cleanse your mouth. Through consistent oil pulling, your teeth, tongue, and gums will be cleansed. Oil pulling is one of the more simple, inexpensive, ancient Ayurvedic cleansing techniques. Oil pulling will cleanse your mouth in ways that brushing your teeth does not.

To oil pull, bring a spoonful of vegetable or coconut oil to your mouth and use it as you would mouthwash. Gargle the oil for fifteen to twenty minutes. Spit the oil out (not in sink because it can cause clogs in drains) and brush your teeth immediately after to rid your mouth of toxins.

Warning: Do not swallow the oil! The oil is full of toxins after swishing around in your mouth for twenty minutes.

Check out our post here on the Benefits of Oil Pulling.

3. Ayurvedic Neti Pot Cleansing

Some of the benefits of Ayurvedic Neti Pot Cleaning include:

• Flushing of harmful matter (i.e. dirt, dust, bacteria, etc.)
• Increase in the flow of prana (energy)
• Improved breathing
• Improved sense of hearing
• Natural alternative to sinus medication

How to start using a Neti Pot:

Purchase a neti pot from an Ayurvedic store or even your local pharmacy. Fill the neti pot to the correct level with warm water (after it has boiled and cooled) and pharmaceutical grade salt.

Put the spout of the neti pot in your nostril and lean your head slightly forward. Tilt your head to a 45 degree angle. This will ensure that gravity will assist and your nasal passage will be cleansed with ease. The water enters in one nostril and out the other. As soon as the water is gone, refill the neti pot with water and salt and repeat on the opposite nostril.

Woman using Ayurvedic Neti Pot, image courtesy: zogayoga

Neti pot cleansing should be practiced with care and meticulous attention. It can be dangerous otherwise.

Advice for using neti pot effectively:

• Use 100% sea salt or pharmaceutical grade salt that has been manufactured specifically for Ayurvedic Neti Pot Cleansing.
• Use filtered water. Warning: Do not use tap water for Neti Pot cleansing. Tap water may contain trace contaminants that can cause significant harm. Use Distilled water and boil it.
• Clean your neti pot with hot, filtered water after each usage. Dry your neti pot with a paper towel and store in a dry, cool, dark place.
• Do not cover one nostril and blow nose
• The water should be warm but comfortable, you don’t want to burn your nasal passage.
• The ratio between water and salt is also important. Do not use use too much or too little salt.

Note: I have recently implemented Neti Pot cleansing as a tool to improve athletic performance. Before every basketball game, I cleanse my nasal passage with my Neti Pot. The results have been great as I can breathe so much easier. My stamina has increased tenfold.

Here is our preferred Neti Pot.

We hope you implement these Ayurvedic Cleansing Techniques to feel more alive, well, healthy, and lucid.

What is your experience in using these (or other) Ayurvedic Cleansing Techniques?

Find Your Flow:
Suggestions for a new morning routine

People talk a lot about “flow.”

Psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi proposed the concept decades ago—a state of mind achieved when you’re fully immersed in a project or task—but the basic tenants of flow date back to the teachings of Taoism and Buddhism.  As the Buddha tells us, “Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.”

This is one—albeit daunting—step to achieving flow, and there are others: Choose work you love, stay positively challenged, find quiet time, and enjoy yourself. But how to get there?

Researchers at the University of Nottingham and the National Institute of Education in Singapore reviewed 83 studies on self-control and came to the same simple conclusion: Our willpower is strongest in the morning.

Flow is obtainable by any one of us, any day, but it is the very first hours of the day that serve us best. To tap into unchartered levels of focus, joy, and creativity, try waking up to one or more of these new morning routines.

1. Rise with the birds

According to New Scientist, only 10 percent of the population qualifies as “morning people,” so this may not make sense to all: Try rising with the birds. Birds are up long before daybreak. They began chirping just as the sun is rising in the far, far distance: When the sky is no longer pitch black but still a solid navy.

It’s always best to follow your own circadian rhythm and not the blaring of an alarm, but the earlier you can get to sleep and the earlier you can encourage yourself to rise, the better. Pad your morning with time for a quiet meal, meditation, or gentle exercise.

2.  Pour a large glass of lemon water

While you sleep, you slowly dehydrate. And your kidneys, which normally do a great job of cleansing your body of toxins, can’t function properly unless your intake of fluids is adequate. One of best and most important things to do when you rise is get fluids into your body as soon as possible. This not only helps to hydrate your system, it also helps to flush out toxins that have built up overnight, and kick-start your metabolism for the day.

Start with an 8- or 16-ounce glass of room temperature filtered water with lemon. Add ginger, if preferable.  This will get your system up and running before food is added to the mix.

3. Stretch and/or practice yoga

Whether you face a computer all day or not, doing gentle stretches in the morning will stave off aches throughout the day. Stretching at night, before bed, is similarly helpful. This is also a great time to practice yoga or another exercise routine.

There’s no set amount of time to follow; just be sure to make some time. And ensure the stretching you do is aligned with the needs and ability of your body. Don’t take on exercise, or positions, you can’t currently handle.

Actor/model/yoga practicioner Quinn Tu posing at Sunrise, Photograph by Danielle Lussier of Lucid Practice

4. Make time for mindfulness

Zazen is a Zen Buddhist practice performed to calm the body, mind, and spirit in order to gain insight into the nature and experience of one’s life. It sounds complicated, but all it requires is stillness: Sit, slightly elevated, with folded legs and hands (cupped with thumbs touching) and erect spine. Lower your eyes and breathe from your belly. Then count to 10: One for your first in breath; one for your first out breath; two for your first in breath; and so on. Should extraneous thoughts come to mind, pass no judgment. Don’t attach yourself to them. Continue breathing.

This is one form of zazen, and a simplified version. Some will rise with the moon in the morning in order to have time to meditate, but following their lead isn’t necessary. What’s important is simply setting aside time for clear mindedness: whether it’s meditation or sitting down at the kitchen table, even a few minutes to breathe, clear your mind, and feel gratitude for your life will serve you well.

5. Choose your fuel wisely

Each person must choose how to properly nourish his or her body in the morning, and no one way is necessarily right or wrong. What matters is that you don’t go without.

Properly nourishing your body is one of the greatest signs of self-respect you can show. Since your digestion is weakest in the morning, consider a lighter, healthier, yet still protein-packed meal—or a smoothie. Forgo cheap, on-the-go options for food that will truly fuel you throughout the day.

6. Uplift with iTunes

Many of us are newshounds and want to flip open the paper first thing in the morning or turn on NPR as soon as we slide into the car. We want to know what’s happening in the world.

If this sounds familiar, try forgoing news in the morning—as a test. Instead, consider throwing on music that is soothing, uplifting, or inspiring, or even an audiobook along the same lines. Cultivate peace in the morning. Save hard news for later in the day. What’s noteworthy and important will undoubtedly make its way to you by mid-morning, whether you heard it on the news yourself or not.

Finding flow is about more than having an inspiring project to get lost in all day; it’s a way of living and viewing ourselves and others that promotes kindness, courage, and understanding. As the Buddha says, “She who knows life flows, feels no wear or tear, needs no mending or repair.”

How do you find your flow each morning?

Sources:

“Ego Depletion and the Strength Model of Self-Control: A Meta-Analysis”

New Scientist, “First physical evidence of why you’re an owl or a lark”:

Yoga Blogger Interview: The Travel Yogi

Today is the 3rd week our 8 week interview series where we’re presenting interviews of 8 influential yoga bloggers. We ask 8 engaging questions and release an interview every Saturday at 8am US EST.

For this interview, we’re happy to learn more about Jen and Liz of The Travel Yogi. We connected with Jen and Liz recently through Twitter. Enjoy the interview and leave a comment or question for Jen and Liz in the comments section.

1. When did you start practicing yoga?

I became interested in yoga at a very yoga age. Around 10 years old, I begged my parents for ‘yoga lessons’ and our family ended up renting a yoga video and trying it out in the family room. I became more involved in yoga when I moved to California and have found the more I practice the more I can stay grounded in other parts of my life.

(more…)

Black Bean Salad by foodnetwork.com

With at least 18 grams per serving, these meals prove vegetarians can have their protein and eat it too.

Click to check out these vegetarian meals packed with protein.

Living in an urban area with green spaces has a long-lasting positive impact on people’s mental well-being, a study has suggested.

UK researchers found moving to a green space had a sustained positive effect, unlike pay rises or promotions, which only provided a short-term boost.

The authors said the results indicated that access to good quality urban parks was beneficial to public health.

The findings appear in the journal Environmental Science and Technology.

Read more at the BBC 

General Mills Agrees to Remove GMOs from Original Cheerios 

Amid pressure from consumers, General Miss has agreed to discontinue the use of Genetically Modified Organisms within their flagship cereal, Original Cheerios.

General Mills had already made this change in Europe and other parts of the world but resisted in the US, spending over $1mm USD lobbying against a bill in California that would require food companies to explicitly state their use of GMOs.

Cheers to consumers for demanding the right to know what we’re feeding our children.

Read more about this story on GMO Inside’s blog.

What are your thoughts on this story?

Picture courtesy of gmoinside.org.

Here’s a great depiction of how wild salmon stacks up against farm raised salmon in terms of our health and the environment.