Can you even imagine a tiger on an exercise machine getting a workout? It doesn’t make sense, because wild animals move the way nature intended. They become powerful, healthy and agile. Why is it different for humans?
In fact, humans need to get back to natural movement. In The Practice of Natural Movement, author Erwan Le Corre shows that we have an innate ability to perform practical and adaptable movements. These include movements such as crawling, jumping, throwing, climbing, striking, defending, balancing, lifting and swimming, all of which are performed in natural contexts. It is less about reps and sets and more about real-life practices. Moving the way nature intended is known as “real world fitness” and focuses on each individual’s capability to move.
Rafe Kelley is another movement guru. He created Evolve Move Play, an organization with the goal of helping people move in more human ways. His students work on joint mobility in parks, jumping across rocks at the beach, maneuvering through trees and trying to push each other off logs.
“We try to teach people to move the way humans evolved to. When you train like this, you’re going to be training more systems of the body. I think of natural movement like permaculture of the body. It respects the natural interplay between systems. And when you invest yourself in a board portfolio of movement, you produce something that’s able to sustain itself for much longer,” Kelley says.2
Daniel Wolpert is a neuroscientist. In his TEDx talk The Real Reason for Brains, he discusses how your brain’s first priority is to perform one important task: move your body. What better way is there to move your body than the way nature intended?
“Movement is the only way you have of affecting the world around you,” Wolpert says, noting that modern artificial intelligence can outsmart the world’s top chess players, but when it comes to basic movement, robots generally can’t keep up with the average five-year-old.3 In other words, children naturally move the way nature intended, but as we develop into adults, we are influenced by artificial and mechanical inventions that make us more robotic and less natural. In essence, we unlearn some of our natural instincts and rely on technology. Science itself is now moving us back to nature to re-learn what we were born knowing.
Want to prolong mobility the way nature intended? Try out the Core Principles of Natural Movement:4
• Fundamental Movements: Focus on foundational skills such as sitting on the ground, crawling, lifting, carrying, throwing and catching.
• Diverse Movements: Incorporate varied movements like walking, running, balancing, jumping, crawling, climbing and swimming.
• Real-World Application: Aim at training with practical, adaptable movements for daily life rather than just to achieve aesthetic results.
• Environmental Interaction: Encourage movement outdoors in nature.
• Mind-Body Connection: Emphasize mental well-being along with physical capabilities.
No equipment or gym memberships are needed when you commit to moving the way nature intended. See how getting back to your natural self can help you feel good every day.
1 https://www.victorybelt.com/the-practice-of-natural-movement
2 https://www.wellbeing.com.au/body/fitness/movement-culture-2.html
3 https://www.wellbeing.com.au/body/fitness/movement-culture-2.html
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