Health & Wellness

We know that sitting for most of the workday is bad for our bodies, but what do we do when this is part of our job? Is there a way to “offset” the effects of sitting?

What is optimal?

According to Columbia University researchers Duran et al., 2023, walking 5 minutes for every 30 minutes of sitting is the optimal dose of movement to improve blood sugar regulation, mood, fatigue and blood pressure. Five different movement patterns were tested and the dose of 5 minutes of walking for every 20-30 minutes produced the greatest positive effect physiologically and mentally in participants.
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Can I “store up” my minutes and walk 80 minutes at the end of the day?

Although a long walk is great for our health, the point is that even small doses of movement have big effects! Ideally, we would break up the workday and add movement between meetings. This study tested participants actually getting up every 30 minutes to move for 5 minutes. This means that instead of “saving up” our 5 minute walking times to apply at the end of the workday, we should get up during the workday to walk and move.
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How do I apply this? It seems a little daunting…

This may seem like a daunting task, but with planning and intention, we can make this happen! Here’s how:

Start small

• If you sit all day and don’t currently walk or exercise to break up the day, you can start by setting a timer once per day to get up and walk for 5 minutes. Arrange your schedule so this actually happens.
• Alternatively, get up each hour for 1 minute and walk around. You can fit that in, right? Yes- you can! Even 1 minute of movement every 60 minutes has been shown to improve blood pressure.

Decide that this matters

• You can improve your health by moving more frequently and strategically each day. You work so you can enjoy your life and have the things you need. News flash- you will need your health to enjoy your life! So, get moving. Decide that it matters and do it.

Check in with yourself daily

• How close did you get to moving 5 minutes every 30 minutes? Write down each time you get up to move during the day. How many check marks do you have at the end of each day? Set a goal to maintain or improve everyday.
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Movement does matter! What you do each day consistently, even small things, add up to big results over time.

Everyone knows that exercise is good for humans.  But, did you know that exercise is one of the most effective ways to maintain brain health?  

Why is improving brain health important?

• 5.8M people in the United States over the age of 65 have dementia. 80% are 75 or older. Two thirds of them are women (Alzheimer’s Association, 2020).
• By 2050, a projected 13.8M people aged 75 and older will have dementia. (Alzheimer’s Association, 2020)

Incorporating exercise into daily routines is a foundational strategy to maintain brain health and improve quality of life with higher levels of energy, strength and brain function.  The best results happen when we combine cardiovascular, strength and mind-body exercise (cognitively challenging) exercise into our weekly routines. This is good news for Flostate members – we are already doing this!  You just have to show up for class (or planfully use the on-demand library).

Here are some benefits to each form of exercise:

Why do Cardio?

According to the work of John Ratey, in Spark, increasing heart rate to 60-70% of maximum heart rate for even 10 minutes positively changes the brain. 35 minutes increases cognitive flexibility and executive function.  This means faster thinking and better decisions!

Strength Training Perks:

Strength training builds not only muscles, but bones.  A stronger and more active body means healthier mitochondria and faster metabolism.  The boost in circulation and healthy cells enhances your brain health.

Yoga/Pilates and MindBody Fitness:

Practicing balance, connecting with one’s abilities, and challenging the mind and body to move in multiple patterns while learning new skills is critical to brain health.  Increasing body awareness, strength, focus, and balance all lead to a great sense of confidence, increase neuroplasticity (flexibility and growth of the brain). It also reduces the incidence of falls and fear of falling.

Your weekly exercise recommendation:

Strength Train: 2 times per Week.

Join Alice’s live Dumbbell Essentials class or grab other strength training classes from our on-demand library.

Cardio: 2-5 Sessions per Week.

Need a jolt of higher level thinking?  Do some cardio before your next important presentation.  Even 8-15 minutes makes a difference.  Challenge yourself to 25 minutes at least 2 days a week. Try our live Cardio Core with Arm Tone Blast or sample other cardiio classes from our ono-demand library.

Yoga/Mindbody: 2 Sessions per Week.

Try our signature Yoga Restore Flo or Balanced Body Method class live or on-demand. Any class that requires you to be breathing, and thinking carefully about your body movement while challenging your balance and concentration is key.

Questions?  Reach out to Rachel at info@theflostate.com.  See you in class!

Meditation. Many of you may already be deep into this practice and, dare I say, many more of you may be reluctant to try it  – for any number of reasons. But meditation might just be ALL it’s cracked up to be…and more. 

What if I said a few minutes a day is all you need to start reducing your stress and increasing feelings of well-being? Having a positive well-being is associated with being able to hold a state of positive emotion for a longer period of time and having more positive emotions in general. It’s finding yourself in a state where you are engaged, calm, and for the most part – happy. According to this article in INC. Magazine, “In other words, you feel good about what’s happening in your life, you feel a sense of connection to others around you and your life has meaning to you.”

Sounds pretty great, right? But can meditation help you get there?

What is Meditation?

Meditation can take on many forms, but it helps to think of it simply as a technique for learning how to redirect your attention to achieve a state of calm, relaxation and focus. Here, you are able to be present and align with the current state of feeling in your mind and body. Without distractions or worry of past and present, our mind is able to “let go” and just be. We aim to be mindful of what is happening without attaching judgment. 

Attention and acceptance are two main parts of the popular “mindfulness” style of meditation (like Flostate’s meditations), and are often achieved through a focus on our breath, the feelings we are experiencing, any sensations in our body and the adoption of a positive mantra or message. This is, however, easier said than done, and why meditation (not unlike yoga) is considered a “practice”. It takes time and practice to be able to arrive in this state of calm concentration in the present moment. But it’s worth it. 

Meditation Benefits

Meditation has many benefits that can have a positive effect on the well-being of the whole person – mind and body. According to a Scientific Reports article, large percentages of respondents reported that meditation helped to reduce stress or to aid relaxation (89.4%), to feel better emotionally (86.9%), to improve overall health and make them feel better (79.0%) and/or to sleep better (69.3%) Adults who used mindfulness meditation self-reported positive outcomes more frequently when compared to adults who used mantra or spiritual meditation practices.

Psychologists have found that mindfulness meditation actually changes our brain and biology in positive ways, improving mental and physical health. How? Meditation is shown to thicken the prefrontal cortex. This brain center manages higher order brain function, like increased awareness, concentration, and decision making. Meditation also helps increase the efficiency of brain pathways that process information coming in from the senses, and boosts the ability of the brain to direct attention down to the information of interest (aka helps participants focus without distraction).  

“Meditation is a cognitive technique that improves a person’s mind, body, and soul. Psychological aspects, like insight, attention, reflection, and self-regulation are deepened,” says Dr. Deborah Serani, professor at Adelphi University in New York. “Meditation can also increase physical experiences, such as increase relaxation, fortify healing, recovery and a stronger immune response, as well as decrease pain, anxiety, stress, depression and blood pressure,” adds Serani.

Also to note, by helping us calm down and focus, meditation deactivates our sympathetic nervous system (our “fight or flight” response), and switches on our parasympathetic system (“rest and digest” response). This is a huge benefit for us given the high-stress, overly-scheduled, fast-moving world that we live in. 

All of these benefits contribute strongly to an improved overall sense of well-being. In fact, there really aren’t any downsides or risks to a mindfulness practice! So why not open your mind and your heart to trying it out? P.S. It doesn’t have to take a long time and you can do it anywhere. 

Meditate with Flostate!

Flostate now has meditation sessions in our on-demand library! Make meditation a part of your daily or weekly routine, and we know you’ll start to realize the benefits! View Meditation classes on-demand at www.theflostate.com/on-demand. Sign up for a live class  www.theflostate.com/schedule.

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References: 

• https://www.apa.org/topics/mindfulness/meditation
• https://psychcentral.com/blog/surprising-health-benefits-of-mindfulness-meditation
• https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0272735813000731?via%3Dihub
• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5103185/
• https://www.nature.com/srep/about