Following a recommendation from a student, I picked up a copy of ‘The 4 Pillar Plan’ by Dr Rangan Chatterjee to read over the summer break. The book is subtitled ‘How to relax, eat, move [and] sleep your way to a longer, healthier life’. What a cracking read, full of great practical tips and backed up by scientific research.
Dr Chatterjee is a GP/MD in the UK health system with over 20 years experience. What’s refreshing about his approach is that he tackles the root cause of many medical issues, rather than simply treating the symptoms. He’s found, through his own personal experiences and that of his patients, that very often the underlying cause of many modern ailments is our lifestyle. Problems such as type 2 diabetes, anxiety/depression, insomnia, high blood pressure and irritable bowel syndrome can be addressed by simple changes in how we live. He calls this ‘Progressive Medicine’ and states that the majority of patients don’t need a pill but a lifestyle prescription. In turn, this means that they can take control of their health and wellbeing as individuals.
Amongst the many great suggestions in the book, one that stood out to me as a movement teacher is the idea of ‘movement snacking’. I love movement and I love snacks, so what a great combo! As my students and readers of this blog will know, I’ve been increasingly encouraging us all to think more about movement throughout the day rather than only exercising at a predefined time once or twice during the week. The simple reason for this is that we evolved as a species to move in a variety of ways over the course of the day.
Dr Chatterjee quotes George Bernard Shaw as follows ‘We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing’. Movement through play is not only good fun but it gets our bodies moving in unpredictable and varied ways. It often means using joints and muscles that rarely get moved in everyday life. We’ve been incorporating some play into class recently. I’m going to continue this to provide more ideas for movement snacking.
For more information, please visit Dr Chaterjee’s website. He also has a really interesting podcast called Feel Better, Live More where he interviews leading thinkers in Progressive Medicine and associated subjects. I’ve been listening to it in the van whilst travelling. He’s given a TEDx talk too, which is linked below.
Right, I’m off to have a movement snack.
Dr Chatterjee is a GP/MD in the UK health system with over 20 years experience. What’s refreshing about his approach is that he tackles the root cause of many medical issues, rather than simply treating the symptoms. He’s found, through his own personal experiences and that of his patients, that very often the underlying cause of many modern ailments is our lifestyle. Problems such as type 2 diabetes, anxiety/depression, insomnia, high blood pressure and irritable bowel syndrome can be addressed by simple changes in how we live. He calls this ‘Progressive Medicine’ and states that the majority of patients don’t need a pill but a lifestyle prescription. In turn, this means that they can take control of their health and wellbeing as individuals.
Amongst the many great suggestions in the book, one that stood out to me as a movement teacher is the idea of ‘movement snacking’. I love movement and I love snacks, so what a great combo! As my students and readers of this blog will know, I’ve been increasingly encouraging us all to think more about movement throughout the day rather than only exercising at a predefined time once or twice during the week. The simple reason for this is that we evolved as a species to move in a variety of ways over the course of the day.
Dr Chatterjee quotes George Bernard Shaw as follows ‘We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing’. Movement through play is not only good fun but it gets our bodies moving in unpredictable and varied ways. It often means using joints and muscles that rarely get moved in everyday life. We’ve been incorporating some play into class recently. I’m going to continue this to provide more ideas for movement snacking.
For more information, please visit Dr Chaterjee’s website. He also has a really interesting podcast called Feel Better, Live More where he interviews leading thinkers in Progressive Medicine and associated subjects. I’ve been listening to it in the van whilst travelling. He’s given a TEDx talk too, which is linked below.
Right, I’m off to have a movement snack.
