Exercise snacks -my favorite life hack as a mama
Pay attention to your body when I say the next two words…
Exercise snack.
Whatever came up can tell you how you might feel about your exercise routine at the moment—and how open you are to shifting and growing within it. Wherever you are at, I’m about to share a favorite life hack of mine that can take your current routine—wherever it’s at—to supporting your longevity.
"Exercise snacks" came to me as a concept because I often guide women out of a chronic, inflamed state, and I also work at a computer which made my health decline rapidly.
There are a few ways to utilize this concept, so let’s go!
Beat the stagnant lifestyle and overwork culture.
How? Within a workday, you stop periodically and exercise for 5 minutes. Ideally—every 45 minutes. So psycho—I know! This totals 40 minutes in an 8-hour day.
TIPS
YouTube 5-minute songs and dance your heart out.
Start small: try this 1–3x per week, or more frequently with fewer breaks.
Do squats. You'll improve metabolic health, support muscle atrophy prevention and flexibility, boost brain health and circulation—and let’s not forget: buns!
Good ol’ jumping jacks. We barely ever get our arms over our heads these days, and we want to maintain full range of motion in the shoulders. Add in light cardio and impact for bone health, and you’re in good shape.
Snack times are great exercise times.
What do I mean? Walking after meals can drastically improve digestion, mood, sleep, and metabolic health.
TIPS
You don’t need to find extra time to do this—soon after a meal is better than waiting for blood sugar regulation.
10 minutes is beneficial.
Use the time to exercise your eyes, brain, and neck. Stay off your phone. Look as far as you can, and then as close as you can during your walk.
This is an opportunity to habit-stack meditation.
Using a sensory awareness meditation, you can change your brainwaves and your capacity for navigating the world around you (aka joys and stressors) by taking in sights, sounds, touch, air—by noticing balance and gravity. You may hear things you don’t love—enter capacity expansion—to allow this to both be here and for you to have your own experience. You may stop and stare in awe at a flower and allow time to stop entirely, while you live in focus and curiosity.
This is just a cute overview of how this practice can change your life—but I touched on some things that help prevent the top 5 killers in our country, reshape your fascial network (the connector of everything in your body), support your mental health, and shift your perception and reaction to this beautiful life.
With love,
Karena