Practice: Move your body every day, throughout the day
Move your body every day, throughout the day. It doesn’t matter so much what you do, so long as you do, indeed, go move.
Walk. Run. Dance. Bike. Lift. Wander. Swim. Do yoga.
It doesn’t matter so much what you do, as long as you do, indeed, move!
Furthermore, do not just do this as a one-off. Make it a part of your day, throughout your day! Get in the habit of being in motion. Toss your sedentary lifestyle away!
As you move, there is an invitation to release distractions. Let go of external metrics and tech. In their place, turn inward.
Connect consciously with your body.
Move. As you do, go within. Connect with your body as you are in motion:
- Feel into your body – your muscles, bones, and other tissues in motion
- Ground into your body – feeling the support that your body holds (as well as the Earth as she holds you)
- Experience fluidity – breathe in sync with movement and get into the flow of life
Let this experience bring you joy, bring you healing, and bring you into sacred connection with all that you are.
A note to the reader: The following is the second practice in our series of 11 Embodiment Practices that Form the Foundation of Your Healing and Awakening. It follows Practice #1, an invitation to settle into Stillness, and in doing so sets up a polarity between movement and stillness (both of which are important aspects of a holistic life).
I created this series as an invitation to explore the top list of practices that I know to have a positive impact on the spiritual seeker – one who is seeking healing (as Self, and as a collective), as well as an awakening to higher truth, meaning, and purpose. With this piece, I invite you into the second practice, one that now brings our attention to the practice of movement.
Please understand that while this conversation will touch upon the physical health aspects of exercise (we all know these exist), I primarily write it to explore movement as an embodiment practice and a spiritual practice: an experience where we each may find the joy, fulfillment, healing, and other depths of experience that bring real meaning to this life.
A world that enforces sedation
When I was 24 years old, I began my first job in corporate America. I was invited into my cube. I was given my computer. I was told I needed to be there from 8 – 5. Internally, I calculated the extra hour that was required to sit in traffic to and from the office. 10 hours. Maybe split up by a brief interlude at lunch. That’s how much I would have to sit still and let my body disappear while my mind became one with the technology in front of me.
Forget this.
I lasted 3 years, each day planning my escape! Where I would go, I didn’t know! All I knew is that the system in which I was playing my role was not aligned with what it promised (that is, healthcare). Especially if I, as one of its workers, was being set into a role of sedation. How twisted was this!? I knew it had to change.
What I didn’t know was how deep I would have to go before I understood what was truly at play. Yes, healthcare needed a revolution. More than this, the entirety of the way we relate to Self would need to change.
Yes, this was a healthcare problem. More than this, it was a spiritual problem.
For, changing the way we relate to Self, and changing what lives within as Self, is a significant part of the spiritual path.
Where to begin? How about the step you are already in!
Given my extensive study of metabolic health, I knew that being healthy was far simpler than our society was making it. Really, in theory, all we needed to do was eat healthier foods and move our bodies regularly. This, and of course alleviate the extreme burden of stress that is placed upon us from this wild capitalistic and patriarchal world we are forced to live in. Well, that and also heal the systems that put toxins in the earth and in our food and in the water and air and… Yea, so in practice we have many steps to take: but in theory, the health of our bodies really boils down to this:
- removing toxins
- eating healthy foods
- moving our bodies regularly
- applying the right kinds of stress, and not doing so to the extreme that we know too well
I thought that my path would continue down the road of healthcare, but instead, it took a wild turn when the world around me showed me a deeper root of the problem. Perhaps the reason we eat so poorly, and exercise so little, and allow society to keep putting extreme stress not only on our own selves, but on this planet as a whole – perhaps the root of it all lives in the very narrative that is handed down from one generation to the next.
That is, our dis-embodiment.
Dis-embodiment. Disconnection from the whole of who we are:
- as biological beings
- as spiritual beings
- as beings that have the right to express ourselves, and to put our efforts into that which actually matters in this world
Dis-embodiment is telling us not to feel. Dis-embodiment is telling us that the answers we seek can best (or only) be provided by sources of wisdom outside of Self. Dis-embodiment is telling us not to trust our inner knowings (call it heart, call it intuition).
Dis-embodiment is telling us that we are separate from (and superior to) this Earth. It is the pull that takes us up and out of our bodies, ungrounding us from land and from the very tissue that houses us.
Dis-embodiment is making a nuisance out of the food we eat as we ignore the lands and animals from which it came. And, most importantly for our purposes today, dis-embodiment is making a chore out of what is a fundamental right and joy in this life: that is, movement!
Movement beyond exercise as just another “need-to-do”
This leads us into another piece to this puzzle – yet another tragedy alive in our world – and it has to do with the way our modern culture speaks to movement (and, even deeper, the whole of our relationship to movement). On the whole, when it comes to our relationship to movement, we tend to bottle it up and label it as “exercise”- another “to-do” on your daily checklist for healthy living.
The truth is that the benefits of movement extend far beyond the direct health impacts (as important as these are!). Yes, we can put metrics on these effects, and we can tie these to specific exercises and package it all up with clear benefit. We can plan and strategize and use our willpower to hold us to what we are told (and come to understand) as beneficial to our physical health. We can hold ourselves accountable to specific exercises to produce that benefit.
Still, what if, for the moment, we disregarded movement for its positive physical benefits? What if, instead, we stepped into a space of relating to body, and did so through movement in any form that brings prana, flow, and vitality into existence?
And, what if, for the moment, we guided our attention to the pure right that is a connection to the whole that we are – body included. For it is, indeed, a birthright to be in connection to your body!
Moving our bodies is freedom. It is a pure and authentic expression of Self in a holistic form. It may not be the answer to everything, but it is one powerful doorway through which your healing and awakening, as well as your fulfillment lies.
Movement is healthy for your physical body.
Movement is healthy for your mental and emotional bodies.
And, movement is a spiritual practice that connects you into flow, bringing joy and healing as well as the many other qualities that bring you into alignment with Life!
Best get to putting it into practice.
I introduced the practice of movement poetically at the introduction of this post. At this point, let us get clear on how you may best be in relationship, and be in practice. Because, let’s be honest: there are an infinite number of ways you could go practice this one.:
- go for a walk
- go for a run
- go for a hike
- go for a bike ride
- do yoga
- go swim
- go play a sport
- go to the gym and lift weights
- go lift your body weight wherever you are right now
- get on an exercise machine
- and on and on and on
Again, what matters is not what you are doing, but how you are doing it, as well as the feelings that you experience as you move. Let me explain, because this is when all of those embodied spirituality principles that I am always talking about come into the picture. Such as:
- presence
- grounding
- discernment
- alignment
- and so much more!
Practice – An Invitation
Try this:
Come into a standing position (or, if inconvenient at this time, remain seated). Place your arms at your side, palms facing up. Take a full breath, and let it go: One full inhale, then one full exhale.
Now, on your next inhale, lift your arms up. Raise them only as high as feels comfortable. No straining here. Find ease in this movement.
Exhale, lowering them down.
Repeat several times:
Inhale, lift.
Exhale, lower.
Try it. Seriously – do it! Invite in the simplicity of this movement, giving yourself several breaths to do so:
- What do you feel in your body – in your chest, in your limbs? In your core, in your heart?
- What do you feel in your mind?
- What do you feel as a whole?
Then, if you wish, take this practice and expand it into more complicated movement patterns:
- Go for a walk/hike, syncing your breath with the movement of your lower limbs. Perhaps you even bring in an arm raise. Inhale lift, exhale lower
- Take a full yoga class, continuing to sync your breath with your movement as you bring as much consciousness as you can to the whole practice (An invitation to try it out in this free 20-minute practice I offer for free on YouTube)
- Go do anything at all: bike, climb, swim, dance: bring your breath to your movement as you sync up, bringing deeper consciousness each step of the way
A second invitation for conscious connection in movement:
Come into a standing position (again, you can do this seated if standing is not safe, is painful, or is too uncomfortable).
Bring your feet together about hip-width apart. Press one foot down into the floor, then the other.
Begin a gentle rocking back and forth, either pressing down on one foot/leg, or bringing the whole of your body weight from one foot/leg to the next.
As you do this, feel into the bottom of your feet. Feel into the activation of the muscles in your leg.
As you move, you may invite in the following:
- sync your breath with your movement, inhaling and exhaling in rhythm
- try pressing different areas of your feet harder into the ground: your heal, your big toe, the ball of your foot
- bonus: invite in the first practice from today, lifting your arms in sync with breath and this rocking motion
Bring your full attention to the sensations in your legs. And, if it feels good to do so, perhaps even explore sensation throughout your body:
- what feels good?
- what might feel uncomfortable?
Note: we are not here to focus only on the good and ignore the bad. We are here to be in full relationship with that which is actually alive in our bodies. This being said, if you normally feel uncomfortable in motion, be open to deepening into those feelings and sensations that do feel good. Even if they are small and subtle at first, with time and attention, they often grow!
To finish up this post, there are two more points that I would like to make at this time. Of course, there are many other points I would like to make if we had the time, but considering what is most important, I invite you to leave this post holding the following:
- An invitation to bring more consciousness to your movement, including your exercise, but also any movement that you perform throughout the day
- An invitation to bring even more movement into your life! For some, this may mean more “exercise.” For others, this may mean more unstructured movement, and/or movement for the pure joy of it
- Motivation to go do the two practices above in the next 24 hours (try at least one of them before exiting this post!). They will only take you a couple minutes, and they do truly have the power to change your life
Lastly, there is an invitation to ensure you are subscribed to this blog so that you receive all other posts related to movement and to all 11 Embodiment Practices in this series.
Healing relationship to body, even through pain and discomfort
I’ve spent the majority of my adulthood in varying forms of healthcare. One loud complaint I’ve heard that reaches to my core and stabs at my heart and soul:
- complaints that speak to the body as an inconvenience
It makes sense. The body does bring pain and discomfort, and it is easy to be averse to this experience. The problem is that dis-embodiment (again, a movement away from present, conscious connection to body) is part of a feedback loop that progresses this pain and discomfort.
Healing doesn’t necessarily mean that all of the pain and discomfort goes away. Really, healing means that perhaps some of the pain goes away as we become more comfortable with what is here.
Sometimes, this is problem-solving. Sometimes, this is strengthening. Sometimes, this is tolerance.
No matter what exactly is unfolding, it begins with presence: that is, your conscious connection to what is.
Again, this is embodiment, which is your ability to be conscious of, and present with, the whole of who you are – most notably, your body, including the sensations and other feelings that are here.
Moving away from what is here is dis-embodiment, and it is a path that most often leads to more pain because of the loss of the ability to listen and discern based on what is truly unfolding.
Today I teach embodiment because I recognize this as the most empowering path to your spiritual freedom, as well as healing on all levels.
Yes, this has to do with your physical health and well-being. More than this, it has to do with a systemic set of problems that all arise from the same festering root system.
We must return to felt, present, conscious connection with our bodies. As we do this, we not only become capable of making wise and skillful decisions for our own well-being, but we also step into a remembering of who and what we really are.
That is, humans, embodied as biological beings.
Yes, this often requires that we come to peace with pain and discomfort. Because this is part of what we are, and what we are here to experience and know.
Perhaps once you leave this world, you will find yourself in spirit without a body to cause you pain. But, until then, you get to be here experiencing the fullness of what exists. And, that includes discomfort and sometimes it even includes pain. Best make peace with it.
I am what many would call an extreme mover
I run ultra marathons. I quit corporate engineering so that I could become a yoga therapist. Movement is a regular requirement for my body (else, I go mad!).
You don’t have to be like me, but what I do request is that you open up to a skillful, conscious, and even heart-centered relationship with movement in a way you never have before.
For most of us human beings, movement is a birthright (there are exceptions, and if you are one of these people, then you fall under the umbrella of “not all 11 practices in this series are for you”). With this comes the ability to sink into the joy of what it is to have life through your limbs!
There is no one best way to do it, other than to be open to the ways that call to you, and to say yes to them (even if it means saying no to other patterns that you have programmed into your life).
As movement becomes a regular part of life, you find that a list of problems seem to fall away (as other joys, opportunities, and intriguing challenges open up)!
A final note on this piece: This blog post was originally published on April 1st, 2026 on the We Are The Forest blog at katiehemphill.substack.com.
You may access my full blog through Substack or you may read through the updated blog as is being created since January 2026 here at ForestBody.com