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Dynamic Aging by Katy Bowman

Targeted primarily towards women, and targeted more toward the non-athletic reader, but still contains plenty of useful insights and meta-insights for anyone wanting to maintain or improve their mobility and physical robustness at any age. 

Chief among these insights is the book's fundamental philosophy of managing our health through natural movement and activity, rather than modernity's philosophy of symptom control via healthcare intervention with meds, painkillers, or even surgical interventions.

Further, adopting this philosophy will mean developing awareness and mindfulness of your "movement habits" and put you on a road to investing in future physical function now, before you age, in order to maintain those functions. The book is filled with inspiring examples from women who have recovered physical capacities they long thought they had lost by adopting and living this philosophy of working on healthy movement.

This book is a fast read, and the last third of the book is an appendix/summary covering stretches, exercises and movements already discussed earlier in the text. An attentive reader would find this wastefully repetitive, a less attentive reader would find it a convenient review. Note also: many of these stretches and exercises can be found in any basic yoga routine (e.g.: twists, many of the flexibility and range of motion exercises, etc.), and so might be too basic or obvious for some readers.

See also for further reading: "Whole Body Barefoot: Transitioning Well to Minimal Footwear" by Katy Bowman. 

Notes: 

Chapter 1: Feet 
Barefoot instead of walking on a "clump" inside "good shoes" (DK: I can't help but think of the phrase "you need good good shoes" in the same way as "breakfast is the most important meal of the day"... both are lies told to us so often that we collectively, passively, end up believing them).

The immobility cycle

Top of the foot stretch, bottom of the foot stretch

As we get older we avoid uneven terrain more and more.

Toe spreading exercises, toe lifts ("eventually, your toes will start listening") in order to recover balance, toe mobility and strength in our feet that we've totally lost by wearing modern footwear. 

2: Balance, Stability
"The moves we do with confidence are simply the moves that we do multiple times a day."

Instability due to not challenging your balance. The fear of falling, which changes the way we move.

Shuffling, "fearful" gait, an old person's gait.

3: Strong hips and balance
"Pelvic list" balance exercise: lift one side of hip, and pull other side down to balance (just lightly, barely) on one leg, observe your movements, is your ankle quivering, is your foot gripping the ground, do you feel unsteady, etc. 

4: Walking
Good walking form
Stairs are not hills
Walking on uneven and textured ground
Obstacle training
Take off your shoes
Recognize and relax common "fear of falling" reflexes

5: Reaching, carrying, lifting, and other functional movements
Many people are varying ages have lost the ability to rise from the floor with comfort.
Make mindful form a part of your life.
Comfy or cozy chairs as a "dessert" form of furniture, not good for you in excess
Start paying attention to how you're getting up.
Carrying things with good form
Swallowing is movement too, mind your posture while swallowing. 
The importance of reaching your toes.

6: Fit to drive
"Most frequently accidents were not the result of the driver mixing up, cognitively, the brake pedal for the gas pedal. They mistakenly sensed they had moved their foot over when they hadn't." (!!!)

Proprioception
Driver movements

7: Movement is part of life
Integrating movement throughout our day, by setting your life up in a way that requires more movement.

Telomeres (chromosomal protective caps) and your "biological age"

*******
Tips for moving more
As you dress, be aware of how you are moving. Use it as an opportunity to test your awareness
Mix up the furniture you sit on, heights hardness etc, also, sit on the floor!
Make your home movement-friendly: more space/less stuff.
Use the car less, walk more
More socializing/community
Active toe spreading, passive toe spreading (with fingers), toe lifts, big toe then each toe.
Finger stretches.

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