I am still following NPR's Body Electric, a series of short podcasts about how chronic use of technology is changing our bodies. I highly recommend checking it out!
In this episode, a researcher discusses his discovery that the motor cortex (the part of our brain that tells our muscles to move) is part of a larger network that affects our adrenal glands. This is a really cool discovery because we used to think only certain areas of the brain does this. Adrenal glands produce hormones to help our bodies function. One hormone that we hear a lot about is the stress hormone, cortisol. They specifically observed that the firing of muscles in our trunk, or the "core muscles", have the most influence over sympathetic neural output. In theory, the stronger our core is, the better we can control for stress. AMAZING!
A few years ago, I went to Shenandoah University to hear Lorimer Moseley speak for the weekend. He is a physio from Australia who has done a ton of research with pain science. One thing he said that stuck with me was when someone is feeling down and out, they needed to get their core stronger alongside some psychotherapy. I had never heard that before and never heard it again, until now!
This reminds me of an old blog post...
All I will say is this: our bodies and our minds need movement. Daily movement. Something as simple as going for a daily walk outside, if that is available to you, will do wonders for you and everyone around you because you will feel better. Remember from a previous Body Electric episode, if you work a desk job, it is advised to get up and move for 5 minutes every 30 minutes of sitting. This is the recommendation even if you exercised that morning or plan to that evening.
The paradox with feeling down is that you don't feel like moving. I will share with you what a therapist once shared with me. Don't wait until you feel like mo
ving to get out there because you might not ever feel like it. Just go.
What is the core, exactly, and how can you work on yours? Check out this YouTube video from one of my favorite channels by my colleague, a physical therapist in South Carolina.
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