MESSAGE FROM MIRANDA ESMONDE-WHITE
I began my first book with a statement, “Every day, no matter what our current health status, we have a very clear choice: we can grow older or we can grow younger.” Some people might not see aging as a choice; I know it is!
With the reality of COVID-19 hitting the world, our health takes on a whole new meaning. Both health and youth are identified as being full of energy and vitality. As we age, we often lose those qualities, yet we do not need to. I am 70 and know that the virus takes a harder toll on those of us who are over 50 and 60, and greater still on those over 70. This confirms what we already know–that we must keep our bodies strong and healthy as we age to be capable of having the strength both to fight and to recover from any illness.
I am currently recovering from a presumptive case of COVID-19 (my doctors confirmed all the signs, but testing was not available). I had a fever, aches of a flu and trouble breathing. Although the fever has been gone for over two weeks, I have remained chronically exhausted, with an unrelenting dry cough. My doctor explained that about 80% of people will experience a relatively mild case like mine, that doesn’t need hospitalization. I also believe this is a testament to my general fitness level.
The second health factor of the current situation that is affecting us all, is the fact that we are all homebound as we practice social distancing. Most of us are spending a great deal of time sitting at our computers or watching TV. It has been scientifically proven in many studies that nothing is worse for our health than being sedentary. It has never been more important for us to maintain our full body strength and mobility as it is now. Yet as we sit for weeks at a time–our muscles, joints and connective tissue start to atrophy and age. To add insult to injury, any stress or anxiety we feel will exacerbate the damage to our health. So now is the time to move, to not permit any muscle of our body to atrophy or age.
NOW IS THE TIME TO MOVE
All thirty of us at the Essentrics headquarters are working from home. While talking in our Zoom meetings, we realized that we are all stuck inside, not moving enough and beginning to feel sluggish and unhealthy. So we decided that this is the time to start a 30-day Wellness Challenge both for us and for anybody who wants to join! This challenge, which is being hosted on our streaming site, will be an AM/PM concept with two 30-minute workouts a day. We have chosen low intensity stretch workouts that focus on your joints, muscles and connective tissue. They also focus on improving posture. Good posture creates more space for our lungs – we need maximum lung capacity to survive the Coronavirus. These exercises will open your chest and strengthen your lungs capacity to expand. Interestingly enough, gentle exercises are known to more effectively support the immune system than strenuous exercise – all topics we will be discussing in blog posts to come during this Wellness Challenge.
I encourage you to join us and know that in 30 days you will be feeling better than ever: both physically and mentally. We do have a choice as to how we age; right now as we are spending our days in the confinement of our homes that choice could not be more relevant.
To move or not move! Over these next months we can choose to move!
– Miranda –
THE WELLNESS CHALLENGE
Our 30-Day Wellness Challenge starts Wednesday, April 22nd on Essentrics TV!
AM workouts // PM workouts
Not already a streaming member, join our 14-day free trial here.
