Healthy as a Cat
Have you ever seen cats run around the house cutting 90 degree corners and jumping 5 times their height? They don’t go to sports performance coaches or personal trainers to learn this. These actions are instinctual to them. Their owners do not have to teach them how to climb a kitty tower or to perch on the back of a recliner. Cats nap, stretch, eat, play and repeat on their own.
We’ve all seen kitty towers like this.
Cats environments dictate their health.
As do human environments dictate our health.
Why are you reading about cats right now? Because they are a great example for humans. If we set up our homes to have relaxing furniture and huge televisions with superb surround sound, we may not move for hours on end. Imagine the opposite: large wooden boxes to climb over and under, cargo nets or hammocks that are constantly moving and even mini trampolines invite movement into our homes.
Conservative people are thinking about the safety issues right now. Yes, this type of home set up would involve more injuries over time. But, those people that do get injured playing on this type of equipment would be strong and versatile to bounce back quicker because they are more fit from using the equipment in the first place. This safety argument comes down to quality or quantity of years to live.
If you want to start being as healthy as a cat right now, try this. Make things more inconvenient for yourself at home. For strength, you can put your mattress on the ground and get rid of the frame. This will encourage you to use more muscles getting down and back up over the longterm. For flexibility, place targets around the house that you have to touch each time you pass. Some can be low and some can be overhead. For balance, have a piece of foam next to your sinks to stand on while doing dishes or brushing your teeth.
The purpose of this blog post is to encourage readers to make movement more instinctual in their homes. By switching traditional furniture for human-type cat towers, we could have less doctors visits, live more exciting lives and even have more energy for other things. Make your environment dictate your health level.
