This article is one of a series covering exercise & fitness — causes, symptoms, and the treatments we use at Back and Body Medical in Midtown Manhattan. For the complete overview, see the full guide:
→ Exercise, Fitness & Injury Prevention in New York City — The Complete Guide
The human body was designed to move. It wasn’t designed to sit all day, at a desk, on the bus, in cars and on sofas. Sure, we all need to slow and rest sometimes but we’ve made rest a way of life in our society.
And it’s making us sick.
Moving around is what your body craves. You may feel you have no time to exercise or maybe the thought of it just makes you blanch with terror. (If it’s been a while, that’s perfectly normal). The point is that you need it. It’s not just for the sake of appearances or fitting into your clothes for another year. It’s for the sake of your health and mobility.
Some say, “If you don’t use it, you lose it” and that is the case with your body. Body’s accustomed to a life of indolence start to fall apart.
So, this post is about finding a balance: move your body to wellness by changing the way you approach life.
Sedentary Culture
US society has become increasingly sedentary. This began with the introduction of labor-saving devices. The push to make our lives easier became a commercial imperative and before you knew it, your were sitting on the couch with a remote control in your hand, drinking a soft drink (or a beer) and nibbling on the unholy trinity of salt, fat and sugar – junk food. Not even hungry, you consume because it’s what you’re used to doing.
Sedentary culture is comfortable. We feel we work so hard that we’ve “earned” our inactivity. We think of being sedentary as a reward. That’s a little twisted because a sedentary lifestyle is the birth of illness, disease, joints which complain when we move and muscles in advanced atrophy (shrinkage mode).
The first thing it’s necessary to do, in order to restore balance to your life is to stop thinking about sitting around as a lifestyle. It’s not a lifestyle. Rather, it’s the absence of one. Mushrooms sit around – in the dark. Are they really living life to the fullest?
Are you a mushroom?
Tiredness
A big problem with being sedentary is that it makes us feel more tired than we need to. When we exercise, we feed our cardiovascular system, muscles and organs with needed oxygen. Even better is sweating which helps us rid our bodies of toxins. And toxins are stored in fat cells. It’s they’re favorite home, so the fewer fat cells you have, the less likely you are to develop unwanted illnesses due to the retained toxicity in your body.
You’re not going to restore balance overnight. But what you do need to get on top of is making small changes in your life, creating room for exercise. You don’t need to hit the gym. There’s much you can do without that. Walk more. Go to the rec center and swim. Take a Yoga class but get moving!
Back & Body Medical is an award-winning clinic in Manhattan. We can help restore balance and wellness in your body. Contact us.
Dr Shan Sivendra MD is the founder and medical director of Back and Body Medical in Midtown Manhattan. A board-certified medical doctor, certified acupuncturist, and Director of House Physicians at St. Barnabas Medical Center, Dr Sivendra has been practicing in New York since 1995.
He completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Saint Barnabas Medical Center (affiliated with Mount Sinai School of Medicine) and received the Resident Research Award for three consecutive years.
Dr Sivendra has a background spanning internal medicine, pain management, and conservative spine rehabilitation, and was licensed in both the US and the UK.
At Back and Body Medical, he leads a multidisciplinary team of chiropractors, physical therapists, and acupuncturists dedicated to helping patients recover from pain without surgery or unnecessary medication.