Chapter 8: Environmental - The Practice of Natural Movement

“The future will belong to the nature-smart—those individuals, families, businesses, and political leaders who develop a deeper understanding of the transformative power of the natural world and who balance the virtual with the real. The more high-tech we become, the more nature we need.”

 

—Richard Louv

 

As a species, we weren’t designed in a lab and made from synthetic components just as we weren’t meant to be physically idle most of the time or to live in artificial environments. Over millions of years of evolution, nature is the cradle where early humans organically, intuitively, and empirically experimented, tested, developed, and transmitted to the next generation their human Natural Movement aptitudes. Wild, natural environments provided the greatest number of variables in terms of terrain, surface, texture, or weather. In the previous principle, “Adaptable,” I mentioned that animals have a brain for the primary purpose of solving the immense challenge that is adaptable movement to effectively and safely displace their bodies through complex natural environments. Our brains weren’t designed to help us navigate linear, sterile, predictable, artificial environments.

Compound—which might also be called multi-joint or multi-planar—or full-body movement patterns might suffice to make practice functional from an anatomical and physiological standpoint, to some extent at least, but they aren’t sufficient to make physical practice natural in the absence of contextual adaptability. Obviously, we must have anatomically functional bodies to effectively perform movement, but there is an enormous difference between anatomical function and practical function. Anatomical function relates to the functioning of the body and particularly to its basic movement patterns—pulling, pushing, twisting, and so on—regardless of the environmental or situational variables where such movement patterns are supposed to be performed. In short, anatomical functional exercise is “context-free.”

What that means is that although some functional patterns might look complex, they are performed without interaction with complex external variables. This is equivalent to a musician practicing without an instrument; they may move their fingers in a way that simulates how they interact with the instrument, but there isn’t any external sensory feedback to assess. To become a musical virtuoso, a person must practice on an actual instrument; otherwise, the person is just playing air guitar (or air piano or air violin), right?

The beneficial aspect of functional exercise is that it trains movement patterns rather than muscles. But should you train movements in isolation from the environment where they are normally done? My answer is no.

Simplifying movement performance to its core patterns irrespective of context may be a temporary strategy, which also is used in the MovNat method; the purpose is to isolate fundamental patterns to better assess and improve them. However, systematically practicing this way is heresy. If adaptable movement within complex environments is the original reason for Natural Movement, then what is the point of systematically dissociating the two?

Whenever possible, movement patterns must be “reintroduced” within the environment where they should be done. It’s vital to your central nervous system that you gradually practice motor control with exposure to diverse contextual variables, from simple to difficult. Doing so breeds adaptability, which enhances movement competency. Without exposure to realistic physical variables, the adaptability of motor control remains dormant, and low movement adaptability is not an expression of high levels of functionality.

Fortunately, this principle doesn’t mean that we need to practice Natural Movement only in natural contexts; clearly one can practice or use Natural Movement also in urban or artificial environments.

Evolutionary psychology hasn’t limited how we psychologically behave; it includes a natural instinct to move that’s irrespective of the naturalness of the environment. This is exemplified by children who crawl, jump, hang, and climb anywhere possible, including a living room or man-made playgrounds; by climbers who train indoors on artificial climbing surfaces; or simply by any wild animal that ventures through a city. Falcons in large cities perch on top of the tallest buildings as if they were high cliffs; they prey on smaller city animals the same as they do in nature. Our Natural Movement behavior doesn’t go away just because the environment becomes artificial. Even when a person’s conscious motivation for running on a treadmill in a gym is that they are doing it to “stay in shape” and to maintain their “cardio,” that person could very well be subconsciously expressing part of their Natural Movement instinct by running on a surface that simulates a long distance.

Because movement is contextual and the environment where movement takes place represents the primary aspect of context, the Environmental principle is strongly related to principle 7, “Adaptable.” Movement should adapt to the environment where it takes place.

From the practical standpoint of readiness, adapting to the environment makes sense. Do you want to be adapted only to clean, linear, non-slippery, reliable, and predictable environmental variables, or do you want to become adaptable to a vast array of random variables? Do you want to be able to walk easily on pavement but be in trouble when you’re hiking in nature? Do you want to do Pull-Ups on a pull-up bar but not be able to hang from and climb on top of a tree branch because it’s thick, slippery, and unstable?

As I’ve said before, greater levels of adaptability are necessary for a greater level of physical capability, and such adaptability is developed only with frequent exposure to diverse, complex environmental variables. Science has proven that complex movement in complex environments stimulates and increases brain function, which encourages the development of greater body intelligence and greater mind-body connection that can carry over to other areas of life. (Read more about the mind-body connection in principle 11, “Mindful.”) So, you should frequently move and practice Natural Movement in environments that encourage you to engage in complex motor skills in increasingly complex environments. Natural environments are often the most complex and least predictable environments; consequently, they’re both the most challenging and rewarding.

If you live in a city or simply haven’t had Natural Movement practice in a long time, you might not start in nature, but practicing your Natural Movement skills in nature should be your goal. Natural environments typically provide more variety than indoor environments—although this isn’t necessarily always true—and the variety in nature greatly stimulates adaptability, alertness, and reactivity. This is because nature is not an artificially “enriched” environment”: It inherently is—in most places—naturally rich. Only a dull environment, like an indoor setting, can be enriched. For example, modern zoos are now designed to replicate some of the natural variables the animals expect from their original biomes. Zoos are nothing but jails for wild animals, with each cell “enriched” enough to prevent absolute boredom, depression, and death. Wild animals need more than food and water; they need the environment that enables their natural behavior, which is a condition required to support both their physical and psychological health. Humans are no different.

The city is not a concrete jungle, it is a human zoo.”

—Desmond Morris

 

Urban environments are enriched with playgrounds that replicate some of the environmental diversity and complexity found in nature to provide city children with an outlet for their innate Natural Movement behavior. It is obviously beneficial to the children both physically and psychologically, even though the surfaces of playgrounds usually are made of metal, plastic, and other synthetic materials rather than wood and stone. However, we must reverse our thinking and consider whether it is a little supplemental environmental complexity (either artificial or natural) that is beneficial, or is it actually the near total absence of environmental complexity that is tremendously detrimental to us?

Do we want to regard our Natural Movement behavior within diverse and complex environments as something optional to human beings and regard the norm as being the extremely simplified modern physical behavior that we do within extremely simplified artificial environments? Or should we acknowledge that, biologically speaking, a Natural Movement behavior is a condition for optimal physical and psychological well-being and health? The Environmental principle is a reminder that a Natural Movement interaction with external variables, whether natural or artificial, is the behavioral context that our biology responds best to from a physiological perspective. In short, you need to move naturally several times a day, and you also need to interact with some degree of environmental complexity.

Environmental Stressors

 

The Environmental principle invites us also to consider the necessity of being more selective regarding what types of environments we interact with daily. Because we are evolutionarily shaped by nature and our interaction with it, the biological need for nature goes beyond Natural Movement. Even though modern humans are, for the most part, born and raised in artificial environments, our biological needs have not changed significantly. Exposure to nature, or lack thereof, has an effect on every aspect of our health: physical, physiological, psychological, and even spiritual. We still need the diversity and complexity of natural environments and the extremely diverse and stimulating sensory inputs only nature provides.

We all understand very common physiological adaptations—for instance, that muscle strength and size increase by lifting heavy weights but decrease by staying in bed for weeks, or that we suntan if we spend time in the sun but become pale if we never step outside and take off our clothes.

The causation—direct cause to effect—in those cases is evident, yet most people tend to be unaware that other physiological adaptations take place in our bodies because of a multitude of other influences, such as the quality (or lack thereof) of what we eat, the air we breathe, how we breathe, how we sleep, and how we think, to name only a few. All these variables have at least a short-term—and in some cases a long-term—influence on how we feel, perform, or look simply because adaptability to environmental stressors goes beyond our movement; it takes place physiologically depending on the diverse variables of the environments that surround us. Whereas we have been taught for decades that our individual genetic code determines pretty much every aspect of who we are, we now know that other variables, called environmental stressors, can have a more powerful effect on how we feel, perform, or look than the genes we’ve inherited.

Epigenetics is a biological science that studies how the environment influences our cells and genetic expression. Epigenetics explains how consistent exposure to stressors affects us at a cellular level (including bones, muscles, brain, blood, organs, hormones, and so on), alters our physiological functions in a beneficial or detrimental fashion, and moves us toward greater or lower health, strength, vitality, well-being, resiliency, and even happiness. Again, our genes certainly play a big part in our health, but so do the environments and behaviors we consistently choose for ourselves.

Stressors induce stress, but it’s a mistake to think that all stress is negative. Living and working in a city and living and working in nature both expose us to a great number of environmental stressors, but the types of stressors in the two environments are different and have different effects on our energy and health levels.

Everything growing wild is a hundred times stronger than tame things.”

—Forrest Carter

 

Imagine spending one day being exposed to stressors such as gentle natural sounds, pure air, natural light and surfaces, unprocessed food, Natural Movement, and activity that demands effort but that you enjoy doing. The next day you’re exposed to loud or constant noise, “conditioned” or polluted air, artificial lights and surfaces, small and boxy spaces, windows and views with no horizon, places crowded with people or cars, heavily processed food that contains chemicals, physical idleness, and a job that makes you feel tense or anxious. Both days will have a significant effect on you physically, physiologically, and psychologically depending on how you respond to the diverse stressors. If you can feel the difference after a single day, what do you think the result would be if you spent decades of living a given lifestyle, even if you get accustomed to it? The effect of the environmental stressors that you are consistently exposed to is undeniable and unavoidable.

Epigenetics is not restricted to our direct environment. We can’t look only at the influence of external environmental variables without also paying attention to our movement behaviors and how they affect our bodies. If we can understand how our food choices alone can significantly affect how we feel, perform, and look for better or worse, it shouldn’t be too difficult to understand the relationship between our movement behavior or our day-to-day environments and how we feel, perform, and look.

Vitality and beauty are gifts of Nature for those who live by its laws.”

—Leonardo da Vinci

 

Our choices (both conscious and unconscious) about our movement behavior—including the kind of positions we hold and movements we do, the level of intensity, and duration and frequency—are part of those “environmental stressors” that switch our genes on or off. Clearly, the cells of your muscles don’t self-modify to get stronger and potentially bigger just because your home or office is packed with barbells and weights, and you don’t increase your cardio-conditioning just by looking at a vast outdoor expanse. The environment is not the only determining factor of your physiological adaptations; there must be a particular movement behavior to generate a beneficial modification of your physiology. In short, without your physical participation and engagement, the environment alone can’t give you the maximum benefit. Nobody becomes an adept, strong, adaptable, and resilient “natural mover” just by sitting against a tree. Your physical behavior is an extraordinarily important pillar of your “environment.”

Nature Is Healing

 

Many scientific studies support the idea that, from a human biological perspective, frequent contact with, or immersion in, nature is a requirement rather than an option for optimal physical and mental health. Nature is not a mere “jungle gym” where “zoo-humans,” who live in artificial environments (which are to some extent comparable to the zoos where animals that have been displaced from nature live), can find temporary relief and reconnection to their roots.

Without exception, nature is where we all come from, but we’re also made of nature. Every one of your cells is made of natural elements. This reality has a tremendous impact on who we are and on our biological needs.

Because nature contains all the environmental stressors that have contributed to the construction and evolution of our species-specific biology and the very structure of our brains, a lack of nature can lead to sensory-processing, cognitive, or mood disorders

Research has shown that simply looking at scenes of man-made urban environments produces a significant increase in activity in an area of the brain associated with fear and stress. On the other hand, exposure to natural environments has been shown to reduce anxiety, lift mood, and enhance one’s ability to focus and perform other cognitive abilities. When healthy adults view nature scenes that are rich in vegetation, areas of the brain associated with emotional stability, empathy, and love become immediately more active. Nature scenes even enhance brain-wave activity in ways that have benefits like the effects of meditation.

Being in nature tranquilizes the mind—including for children who suffer from attention-deficit disorders—boosts the immune system, increases energy levels, speeds recovery from illness, and reduces mortality risks. But did we really need science to tell us this, or do we already know, at least intuitively, that nature is LIFE! The Romans had a term for this, vis medicatrix naturae, which means “healing power of nature.” The Japanese also have a term for it—Shinrinyoku—which is the practice of going into nature to improve one’s mental and physical health.

The cities may cover it up . . . but deep underneath is an inherent urge for naturalness.”

—Sigurd Olson

 

Modern, urban, indoor, artificial environments are loaded with toxicity. It’s not that they aren’t stimulating; as a matter of fact, they’re overly stimulating in an unhealthy way that’s stressful. Air pollution, noise pollution, light pollution, food and water toxicity, electromagnetic radiation, constant flow of information that is mostly negative or superficially entertaining—not to mention some of our so-called “normal” physical and mental behaviors that are ill-adapted to our evolutionary hunter-gatherer bodies and minds—all contribute to wrecking us.

The mere absence of symptoms of illness doesn’t mean that we’re healthy. How many people are lacking vitality and are unhappy or depressed? Millions. Antidepressants and energy drinks are not the cure to these ailments. They provide only artificial alleviation of them; they mask the symptoms. Just because we have been led to accept artificial environments as a “normal” part of our lives and have accustomed ourselves to them doesn’t mean that we have biologically adapted to them. Being optimally strong (physically, mentally, and emotionally), healthy, and happy when you live in a city is a daunting challenge.

So, consider again whether it’s momentary exposure to nature that is beneficial to us, or it’s constant exposure to artificiality that is detrimental to us. Removing our body from the natural world has consequences just like disconnecting our mind from our body has consequences. We can’t have most people spend most of their time indoors where everything is artificial and looking at screens then expect physically and mentally healthy populations.

The value of time spent in nature and the cost of not spending time in nature are equally and vastly underrated. If you want to become a force of nature, you need to interact with the forces of nature.

Yet most people nowadays feel much safer in artificial environments than in nature, which leads them to avoid nature. You have to be disconnected from the natural world to see nature as an “environment,” and you’re even more disconnected if you see it as a place to systematically avoid.

Embracing Natural Movement as a normal, daily behavior and practice is the first step in reconnecting to our nature and in nurturing it, respecting it, and honoring it. Moving naturally in nature is the logical next step in remembering our interconnectedness with the natural world.

Despite a constant improvement of medical technologies, health levels in the modern world are decreasing. Maybe the solution to our most common health issues is not found in more or better pills and treatments but in “naturalizing” ourselves to natural environments and physical behaviors. Could the solution to most of our health issues be that simple? Even the fitness gym of the future might not have to be futuristic after all.

So, go back more often to where you truly belong, and become healthy again. Natural Movement is to exercise what organic is to food. Get out in nature and move! You might not need to move intensely. Start with remembering your true nature, your true self. It may make you feel cold, hot, dirty, or insecure; it may rough you up and give you scratches, cuts, and bruises. But it’s also guaranteed to make you feel fully alive, maybe to the point of exhilaration. Natural Movement in nature is no less than a physical experience of your spirit and a spiritual experience of your body. Simply be in nature, feeling the wind in your hair, the light on your skin, seeing the colors, hearing the sounds, witnessing the movement of trees and animals around you, taking in the smell of the rain and of the Earth. The Earth! Remember the Earth!

Keep close to Nature’s heart . . . and break clear away, once in a while, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean.”

—John Muir

 

RESPECT YOUR NATURAL ENVIRONMENT

 

Biophilia is the innate tendency to affiliate with other living creatures and processes. It is, simply put, the love of the natural world and life.

I’ve explained that the first environment that you should respect and protect is yourself. Yet you want to cultivate a sense of yourself that extends to and includes the whole natural world. If you can develop this perception, then the concern for the preservation of nature becomes as logical, natural, and important as self-preservation.

The environment is in us, not outside of us. The trees are our lungs, the rivers our bloodstream. We are all interconnected, and what you do to the environment, ultimately you do to yourself.”

—Ian Somerhalder

 

It starts with “treading lightly,” or moving and practicing with as minimal an impact as possible. You are absolutely entitled to be in nature, but you can’t act like a jackass just because you think that you are on top of the food chain. You must respect and care for nature as you respect and care for yourself.

We know that human activity is responsible for the worldwide alteration and destruction of nature. If we ruin all of nature, what would be the point of having a very fit, athletic, healthy body?

We cannot have freedom without wilderness . . .”

—Edward Abbey

 

We need to create a culture where “humanism” is no longer the progress of mankind at the expense of the natural world but the progress of humans together with the natural world. We need to create a culture of “Nature law-abiding” earthlings.