Why you should move your body for 30 minutes a day

You're sitting in your windowless office, wondering what time it even is, when you start to recognize that sluggish, exhausted feeling consume you. It's 2pm. Yep, right on schedule. You always seem to feel this way around this time of the day. But girl, you've got a solid 3 hours of this work day left so how do you push through?

When our team went to RISE a few weekends ago, we were reminded that energy attracts energy. When you're feeling tired, your workflow starts to slow. You start to get distracted easily and time seems to drag because you've been sitting entirely too long. At the conference, every time Rachel would see someone yawn, she'd have all of us get up and jump around. That practice, as annoying as it might have seemed in the beginning, really works.

When I think back on my childhood, I remember feeling like an energizer bunny. I just never stopped moving. From dance to school to cheer to show choir, I was always moving my body. It's no wonder that I had so much energy and felt like I could go on for hours because I moved my body for 4 hours most days. Fast forward to college and that came to an abrupt halt when studying, classes, and work became dominated my time. 

I think when we move into adulthood and don't have parents or friends signing us up for all the activities, we forget how important that movement was in keeping us going. Careers and other adult responsibilities take control and we just forget to nourish ourselves.

Our bodies are temples (thanks, Jimmy Buffet) and it's important to treat them with respect and love. Our muscles need to be stretched, our hearts need to be challenged, and we've get to get that blood flowing as my dad would say. In order to keep our energy levels up and stay healthy, our bodies require movement.

If you're wondering how to shake yourself out of that awful sluggish mood, here's what I do on a daily basis:

• Take small 5-10 minute breaks every couple of hours and walk around the office.
• Run/jog/mostly walk for 30 minutes at the beginning of my day or right after work before dinner.
• Go to the gym or free workout classes offered. There are actually so many opportunities to enjoy cool workouts here in Phoenix and they are a fun way to try something new.

Let me leave you with this: when you move your body, you change your mind. When we change our minds, we usually make a shift from a negative headspace that's holding us back and move into a space of possibility. From there, the opportunities seem to flood our inbox and life somehow just seems all-around better. 

Make a commitment to yourself and your CCB family to move your body for 30 minutes for the next 30 days. If you can do that, it becomes a habit in your life. Promise, you'll thank yourself later.