Move the Body – Move the Mind
Have you ever had advice from your Doctor that you should take up some form of exercise? For some reason I imagine that this was the go-to prescription for many an ailment in the old days but I’m not so sure that it happens much anymore. Now that the Doctor has a vast arsenal of drugs at his disposal, this seemingly sound guidance has gone out of fashion. Instead we have new weight-loss drugs such as Ozempic, we have statins to lower cholesterol, many kinds of beta-blockers and ACE inhibitors to lower our blood-pressure and we have all sorts of anti-depressants to lift our mood. However in reality, a good regime of exercise would do wonders to help with all of these problems and more.
Human beings are not designed to be sedentary creatures. For over 99% of our history we have been hunter-gatherers continually on the move, looking out for food. We are not supposed to sit down at a computer screen for ten hours a day, or to be cooped up in an office block all week. And it’s even worse for children who most certainly should not be stuck behind a desk all day. In evolutionary terms it was only yesterday that we were chasing antelope across the Serengeti, but now, if we don’t show the aptitude for sitting still and staring at a screen then we are labelled with an ‘attention-deficit hyperactivity syndrome’ and given drugs to force us to focus and concentrate. Maybe the actual problem lies in what it is that we are having to focus and concentrate upon – or even that we are having to focus and concentrate at all!
The human brain is built around our capacity for movement and it is thought that up to 50% of its volume is used for the movement of the body. If the body isn’t moving then half of the brain has been left with nothing to do. This is why inactivity breeds depression and cognitive decline while exercise fuels well-being. We are literally hard-wired to move. It has long been known that exercise releases endorphins in to the blood stream to make us feel good but what has only relatively recently been discovered, is that when the muscles contract they release chemicals known as myokines. Myokines are signalling molecules that are produced by muscle cells in response to physical activity, and they play an important role in regulating many of the body’s systems, including the immune system, metabolism, and brain function. Some myokines, such as Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) and Irisin, have been linked to improved cognitive function and mental health. BDNF is known to play a role in the growth and development of new neurons in the brain, and it has been implicated in the beneficial effects of exercise on well-being and mood. In other words, exercise releases anti-depressants in to the blood stream – we are literally a walking pharmacy.
This mind-body connection has long been established in Chinese medicine and is one of the ways in which acupuncture functions. People often ask me what they can do for themselves between acupuncture sessions that will aid in their recovery, and I often answer ‘some form of vigorous exercise’. A stressful life can result in the Chinese medical diagnosis of Liver Qi stagnation. This can manifest as feelings of constriction, frustration, anger and depression. This stagnation of Qi in the Liver can result in the restriction of the flow of Qi throughout the whole of the body, which will further exacerbate many of the symptoms. We can very effectively move this Qi with acupuncture, but you can also do it yourself with some form of exercise. There is an ancient Chinese saying that states ‘Blood is the mother of Qi and Qi is the commander of Blood’. Therefore if we can get the blood to move with vigour around the body, then the Qi will follow. And the more that the Qi flows through the body, the more we may flow through life.
It doesn’t really matter what form the exercise takes, just as long as the blood gets pumping. It can be swimming, cycling, running, or walking up a hill, anything really as long as you are doing something that you enjoy and it gets you out of breath a little. This at least should be something that both old medicine and new medicine alike can agree upon.