Currently as I write this we are in the third wave of the Covid pandemic in Bangkok and many of us are feeling a cocktail of emotions. Our offices are closed, our children are home learning and our summer travel plans to see family may well have been hampered for the second year in a row; potentially cancelled entirely or at the very least culminating in a period of quarantine in order to return.
As far as Pilates goes we had a good run of classes which sadly have also had to be temporarily halted, at least in person. A silver lining has been holding zoom classes for those people still keen to keep active during this period. However, zoom classes are not for everyone and not every sport we do translates well into the on-line setting. So, in the absence of our regular classes or our favourite activities the key piece of advice I offer to all of you is to keep active where you can. I try to add in some extra movement to my day as much as possible. As humans we are designed to move, we have not evolved to sit still and be focused on screens, which is inevitably what we find ourselves spending so much time doing during these lock down conditions.
I like to think of any extra activity as a little “movement snack” for my body. Many of us crave eating a little snack to make us feel better, however in reality reaching to food to try and bolster our mood often leaves us even more deflated after the initial sugar rush (I say sugar rush because we will most likely snack on chocolate, desserts or a glass of wine rather than some carrot sticks or cucumbers). However, a movement snack genuinely triggers our natural feel good hormones to lift our mood. So here are a few ideas to get you moving more throughout your day, the more you move the more feel good endorphins you will benefit from and the stronger you will exit this period.
Movement Snack Ideas:
Go up and down stairs. Especially when you have that item that needs to go upstairs instead of forming a pile on the bottom step to take up later, move and take it upstairs now. Try challenging yourself a little bit more and take two steps at a time as you go upstairs, really activate those gluteus muscles.
Do some elevated push ups at the kitchen worktop whilst cooking dinner.
Elevate and then lower your heels whenever you are standing waiting for something i.e. in the supermarket queue.
Do a few squats whilst waiting for the kettle to boil, place your hands on the worktop as you do them to help challenge how low you can go whilst keeping your spine long.
Lie on your stomach on the floor to watch TV, take a mini cobra pose and work your back/shoulder muscles (no slouching).
Test your balance by standing on one leg as you clean your teeth.
Stand up whilst chatting on the phone and take a walk around your home.
Whilst sat at your desk take a break to do a few seated exercises like circling your arms round in big circles, twist rotating your upper body to the right and then to the left, add a side bend reaching one arm up and overhead as you reach the opposite arm down to the floor.
Do some star jumps or try holding a plank whilst the adverts are on TV.
Sit on the floor to read or scroll your phone rather than on the sofa, it will cause you to move about more than if you are slouched in a chair.
Do some ankle rolls or massage your feet rolling them over a tennis ball as you sit at your desk.
Go for a short walk outside, get some fresh air, some daylight and allow your eyes to take in some longer distances. Don’t forget your mask!
Simply take a few deep breaths, expanding the lungs fully.
There are so many ways to move when we just look for the opportunities. These movement snacks may not seem like much and you may think why bother but I like to think of each bit of movement I can do as a deposit going into the bank, eventually it does add up. So although I maybe can’t take a whole Pilates class right now in person, go to the gym for an hour, swim in the pool or even visit the park (these too are closed in Bangkok), each little bit of extra movement I make does add up. It will leave me in a better mood and in better shape than if I just sit still.
Hopefully by the time you are reading this we will be waving goodbye to this wave 3 of Covid. However, please still keep snacking on movement, it will always benefit you. Also be inspired to move if you need to quarantine post some travel. And if we are still in the midst of lockdowns and pandemic pandemonium take a break to join me on zoom for a live streamed pilates or yoga session to really get those endorphins going and lungs breathing deeply.
