MM#354--Foundations in Flourishing, pt.1 - Exercise

0:07 Welcome to the Theory to Action podcast, where we examine the timeless treasures of wisdom from the great books in less time, to help you take action immediately and ultimately to create and lead a flourishing life. Now here's your host, david Kaiser. Hello, I am David and welcome back to another Mojo Minute. Well, if there was anything, I've received more feedback over the last year, it was a series we just concluded called Pivotal Tuesdays all about our presidential elections every four years, which take place on the first Tuesday in November. Now, based on that feedback, you guys really liked it I mean really really liked it Certainly appreciate the feedback that we are receiving and, after giving it some thought about what could be our next series, let me ask you this what topics are you guys interested in?

1:09 Please share them with me on the text link in the show notes. That's a new feature we are going to be rolling out just out of beta testing and we think it's going to provide us excellent feedback. More to come on that. But as I thought about what topics we could discuss, it dawned on me and I shared this with some of the regular listeners and everyone thought it was a great idea. Let's get back to the basics. Let's answer the question that some of you have asked me.

1:49 After 15 years of reading books, david, after doing tons of research and finding these nuggets of wisdom, what do you say are foundational? What do you say are the fundamental nuggets of wisdom, what's the very best people saying about the fundies, as we're going to call them, across all the different domains. So with that, let me introduce you to a new topic, a new series we're going to be calling the Foundations in Flourishing, where we're going to tackle the best books in certain domains to provide you with those great nuggets of wisdom, and we'll share things like why we think exercise is an important fundamental, and then we'll give you some reasons why and the science behind them.

2:35 We'll pull from a variety of different books, not just one book, which has traditionally been our approach, and then we'll find some of those bonus nuggets of wisdom you know from the great authors, and we'll obviously give you that source information. You know the actual quotes themselves, which we think is golden and it sets us apart. There's many, many places that do book reviews and there's no actual quotes from the books. It's them interpreting the quote and then they tell you what it means. We don't like that approach. We like to go to the original source material. We provide you the quote so you can do it what you will.

3:19 We'll certainly put our interpretation on it, how we are reading it through our worldview, but we'll certainly give you the source material so you can make up your own mind. So we're going to talk about the fundamentals and exercise. We're going to talk about how to improve our mindset, which is another important topic, but also we're going to get into learning and personal development, and don't forget prayer and meditation. So what we are going to call the foundations in flourishing we're going to roll out here today and we're going to continue it for roughly, we think, probably the next three weeks.

4:00 We assumed, after talking politics for the last month or so and after that last presidential debate, all of us really needed to take a break, needed not lose sight of how we can make ourselves better and how we can help those around us to become better. In a word, we need to understand fundamentally how to flourish. So with that, we're going to transition to our first topic, this episode, and that is going to be exercise and why exercise and movement are important to our well-being and to creating a foundation for flourishing. So let's go right to our first pull quote, because it's super powerful and it's one of those golden nuggets of wisdom you always want to keep coming back to.

4:44 You want to underline it, highlight it, star it in the margin three times, so you never forget it. Let's go to the book. Oh, and this comes from the Joy of Movement From Kelly McGonigal. Going to the book, one of the first things I discovered is that the most common explanation of why exercise makes us happy is far too simplistic. The psychological effects of movement cannot be reduced to an endorphin rush. Physical activity influences many other brain chemicals, including those that give you energy, alleviate worry and help you bond with others.

5:24 It reduces inflammation in the brain, which, over time, can protect against depression, anxiety and loneliness. Regular exercise also remodels the physical structure of the brain to make you more receptive to joy and social connection. These neurological changes rival those observed in the most cutting-edge treatments for both depression and addiction. The mind-altering effects of exercise are even embedded in your musculature. During physical exercise, muscles secrete hormones into the bloodstream that make your brain more resilient to stress.

6:04 Scientists call them hope molecules. Most of you are commuting to work in your car or on a treadmill getting your exercise in, or perhaps walking your dog right now. But stop, rewind, because this is so very powerful Incredible, in fact. Actually. Don't rewind. I will repeat it again right now. Regular exercise also remodels the physical structure of your brain to make you more receptive to joy and social connection.

6:46 These neurological changes rival those observed in the most cutting-edge treatments for both depression and addiction. The mind-altering effects of exercise are even embedded in your musculature. During physical exercise, muscles secrete hormones in your bloodstream that make your brain more resilient to stress. Scientists call them hope molecules Hope molecules. Jot that down on your phone, in fact, tell your significant other about it too. Have them listen to this podcast episode. Why do we need to exercise and move more in our lives?

7:27 Because it literally, scientifically, brings us more hope. It's as if God said hey, please walk more, get outside your homes more, talk to your neighbors, and in doing so, the more you move, I will provide you in your very biology the underlying reasons to help your whole being improve, like actual graces coming from God when we move in our bodies and brains. Just fascinating stuff. Now we know how important exercise is for our brain.

8:07 Now we're discovering it for our body. But remember that incredible quote from Spark, the book Spark by John Ratty, which we don't quote enough here on the podcast. That's my fault. I'll take ownership of that. I will be reminding you and me and us of it constantly going forward. We need to bring that quote up more often so that we can never, ever forget it. But here's the quote Exercise is like taking a little bit of Ritalin and a little bit of Prozac. Again, that's John Ratty and Spark, in fact. Here's the further quote.

8:48 I tell people that going for a run is like taking a little bit of Prozac and a little bit of Ritalin because, like the drugs, exercise elevates these neurotransmitters. It's a handy metaphor to get the point across. But the deeper explanation is that exercise balances neurotransmitters along with the rest of the neurochemicals in the brain and, as you'll see, keeping your brain balanced can change your life. And Ratty says further in the book it's not essentially about running. Running is good, but exercise works.

9:29 Just walking works if you can elevate your heart rate up. Just super powerful stuff on how to help ourselves in creating a foundation and a flourishing life. We hope to move more and help others to exercise more, because it helps not only our brains but our bodies too. Hope molecules and balancing of all those neurotransmitters in our brain. That's good, good stuff. Let's go back to the book for some more golden nuggets. Again, this book is the Joy of Movement by Kelly McGonigal. Go on to the book.

10:11 Looking at the evidence, it's hard not to conclude that our entire physiology was engineered to reward us for moving, that our entire physiology was engineered to reward us for moving. But why would human biology be so finely tuned to encourage us to be active? A reasonable first guess might have to do with the health benefits of exercise. Perhaps the brain is looking out for the body, making sure we stay active enough to ward off a heart attack. Yet this notion takes too brief of a historical perspective on the value of physical activity to human survival. Now your doctor might encourage you to exercise to better control your blood sugar or lower your blood pressure or reduce your risk of cancer, but for most of human existence, the central purpose of movement was not to prevent disease.

11:02 Physical activity was how we engaged with life. As the neuroscientist Daniel Wolpert writes, the entire purpose of the human brain is to produce movement. Movement is the only way we have of interacting with the world. This is why our biology includes so many ways to reward moving. At the most fundamental level, rewarding movement is how your brain and body encourage you to participate in life. If you're willing to move, your muscles will give you hope, your brain will orchestrate pleasure and your entire physiology will adjust to help you find the energy, purpose and courage to keep going.

11:49 Whoa, that is fascinating, super powerful nuggets of wisdom there. Our biology helps us and rewards us when we move. Now, martin Luther King is not the banner child for movement, but boy. I just love this quote of his. If you can't fly, run. If you can't run, walk, and if you can't walk, crawl. But by all means keep moving. Amen, amen, dr King. Let's take that advice to heart. So in today's Mojo Minute, our first step in building a flourishing life is committing to one of the fundies of flourishing getting more movement in our day, every day, in fact.

12:36 Let's conclude with Dr King's wonderful advice to reinforce that commitment to ourselves If we can't fly, let's run. If we can't run, let's walk. If we can't walk, let's crawl, but by all means let's keep moving. Will we, will you, keep moving today? Will you keep moving today? Will we understand at a deeper level all of God's graces that happen when we indeed move? Do we understand the very biology that God has created us with? And will we keep in mind Dr Ratty's wonderful science that our brains will be more healthy right after we have gone for that walk or that run, because our neurotransmitters will be all rebalanced in our brains and will we keep in mind that, the hope molecules that happen to us in our bodies when we move and exercise.

13:34 Let's keep our commitment with ourselves today and start to create that flourishing life by exercising and moving more today. And, as always, let's keep fighting the good fight thank you for joining us. We hope you enjoyed this theory to action podcast. Be sure to check out our show page at teammojoacademycom, where we have everything we discussed in this podcast, as well as other great resources. Until next time, keep getting your mojo on. Thank you.