Last year my husband got a Fitbit, one of those electronic gadgets that tracks the number of steps you take in a day, monitors your sleep patterns, the calories you’ve burned, and all kinds of other self-indulgent information. My first impression of these devices was that they were a little too obsessive and over the top, and I made up my mind that I would never have one. Well, never is a long time…
I noticed that over the past several months, my husband has been bumping up his daily mileage; walking a little further, running a day or two a week, and trying to meet the electronic goals set by his Fitbit. It was actually motivating him to move a little more each day.
This is a good thing. From the standpoint of Chinese medicine, movement helps your Qi flow. Qi, or energy, is a vital force in your body that fuels every function from immunity to digestion. You need to have enough of this energy to be healthy, and it needs to flow. One of the greatest sources of poor health and discomfort is from the lack of flow of this energy–essentially, it stagnates causing all kinds of symptoms from depression to indigestion to pain.
There are a number of antidotes for this lack of flow, including acupuncture and herbal remedies. However, one of the simplest fixes is moving your body. Many of my patients have told me that their aches and pains, digestion, and even mood are greatly improved by getting a little exercise. Flow creates flow.
One of the greatest problems with getting out there and moving is being motivated to do it. You know it’s good for you, you know you'll feel better, but…ugh! It’s just so hard to do.
