Movement Snacks: Two 5-Minute Flows to Make Movement Easier this Week
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quick note: in a week, I will be changing which email you receive these newsletters from. Starting next Sunday/Monday, you'll receive emails from naomi@naomigottliebmiller.com! Hey Reader, I spent the weekend mostly offline and mostly with my kids. I am soloparenting for a week and after a busy (but fun) Saturday, my oldest decided that for Mother's Day, she was going to create a spa in my bathroom. So the 4 of us soaked our feet in bubbly bath water, wore face masks, and then decadently moisturized our skin with several products. It was a delight. It also meant I was offline for pretty much the entire weekend. I did manage to sneak in a workout on Mother's Day and my youngest joined me. She did entirely her own thing but after every exercise, I heard her whisper, "Happy Mother's Day." Heart melt. When I my kids were littler and I was solo, moving my body felt nearly impossible. But daily movement felt essential to me for both my physical and mental health, so I always managed 5-10 minutes. Sometimes even those quick workouts were interrupted by a kid needing help with something -- needing food, needing help getting dressed, needing attention, needing a cuddle. But as long as I kept the workouts short, more often than not, I had the time to move my body and I was always glad I did. This leads me to my movement snack for the week. Now that my kids are older, they need me a little less in the mornings, so I'm usually able to manage a longer workout -- 30-45 minutes when I am strength training or running, less when it's yoga. But those quick movement practices are what allowed me to be able to do these longer practices now. Maintaining a daily rhythm has been the greatest gift I have given myself over the years. If you are struggling to make daily movement happen and you want to move more consistently (which is recommended for aging well), my loving advice is to aim for just 5 minutes to start. I have 2 movement practices that you can start with. First one is a 5 pose flow that doesn't require any weight bearing in your hands. It's simple and fun. You don't even need a mat. Try it here: The second video is a strength training workout. You'll do 2 sets of 2 exercises (squats and rows), with 1 minute of rest in between. Check it out here: I have a lot more where these came from, so if you need more 5-minute movement practices for those busy weeks or weekends or stages of life, you can find many of them here. Happy moving! I'd love to know what questions you have about strength training, movement in midlife, and how to create a more consistent movement practice. Please respond to this email with your questions and I'll answer them in a future newsletter or even in a YouTube video! Thanks for being a part of my community this year. I am so grateful for you. Warmly, Naomi Want to stay in touch during the week? Here are a 2 easy ways: Follow me on Instagram, where I share movement inspiration 3x a week as acts of resistance, connection, and strength. Follow me on substack, where I write about the intersection of movement, motherhood, and the culture that we are all moving through. Or better yet, subscribe so you have immediate access to regular essays, including my most recent substacks. There are many ways to support my writing on substack, which focuses on women's health and motherhood during perimenopause through an anti-diet and pro-science lens: 😍 Become a free subscriber |