Movement 101: If You Don't Use It You Lose It (And You Can Get It Back Anytime You Decide To)

MindsetCancerPhilosophyEmotional IntelligenceMindfullness

Oct 21

What's up, respectful rebels? This is Dan, hoping you’re becoming warriors for your well-being instead of worrying about your well-being.

In today’s world, it’s easy to see how many people are sick, tired, diseased, and dysfunctional because they’re not actively engaging in their well-being. The way society is set up, it’s not really designed for you to take your health back. So, you have to become a warrior for your well-being. I like the phrase “respectful rebel” because you’re rebelling against all the nonsense.

A Framework for Movement

Today, we’re talking about movement and concepts. I’m giving you concepts because it’s crucial to understand them before you engage in movement therapy or protocols. Concepts are much more powerful than the actual activity at first. But with that said, if you don’t use it, you lose it—that’s true for anything in life. The good news is, if you’ve lost it by giving in to modern life - you can get it back. I’m living proof of that.

Our Bodies Are Like Cars

I’ve gone through extensive chemotherapy, radiation, bone marrow transplants, surgeries, and tumors in my spine and other places. I had to rebuild my body physiologically and structurally. So, I understand the principle that if you lose it, you can get it back. That’s my work with people: helping them get their life, soul, and body back so they can drive that vehicle again.

I often joke that I was born in 1965, and I compare my body to a 1965 Mustang that was totaled in an accident. But the spirit of the car is still there. Just like some people can take a car out of the junkyard and restore it, you can do the same with your body. Take it out of the junkyard of modern living, rebuild it, and get it back on the road.

Create A Healthy Miracle Today

One important thing to note: it’s going to be difficult to create the healthy future you want if you’re loyal to your past. If you’re stuck in the past, you can’t create a new future—you’ll just keep repeating the same patterns. To change the past, you have to move forward. If you have ongoing health issues, it’s because you’re still living in the past, and that’s where emotional healing comes in.

You can’t create a future self, especially in your health, if you’re loyal to the past. So, let’s shake things up a bit. Stop complaining, stop making excuses, and start moving. Create a healthy miracle today. It doesn’t matter where you are; what matters is the direction you’re going.

Everything Must Move

Understand this first concept: everything in your life, body and mind has to move. Your body of course, but also your bowels. Your tears. Did you know that when you cry from an overwhelming experience, cortisol leaves your body? Don’t shut them off.

Your creativity, your critical thinking, your love, your affection, your caring nature, your blood, your breath, your lymphatic fluid, your spinal fluids—even your sexual fluids all have to move. Life is movement, and movement is the expression of the vitality and gratitude you have for life. Your vitality is your greatest asset, and to get it back or improve it, you’re going to need a lot of love for yourself and for your future self.

I grew up in a household with five kids, and my mom and dad separated when I was about 15. My mom used to say, “If you’re in bed, you’re dead.” That really struck me during my cancer days when I was bedridden for long periods of time. I had to get out of bed and move my body. I remember being in the hospital with a 104.5-degree fever for a week. They put me on an ice bed to draw out the heat, but I knew I had to move. I’d get my IV poles and walk the hall, counting my steps to make sure I got a mile in every day, thinking - if you’re in bed, you’re dead. So, thank you, Mom—I hated this expression as a kid, but I found the gem in it later in life.

Start With An Honest Assessment

Now, when it comes to movement, there are many schools of thought, personal trainers, online classes, and opinions on what’s best. But I want you to start with an honest assessment of your life and how you want to live it. Consider your needs—where have you been? What potholes have you hit along the way? Where are you now, and what are the constraints of your reality? What do you want for your future self and your healthy lifespan?

When you get your true needs met, you can get what you want. But most people go into fitness or movement chasing what they want without understanding their basic needs, leading to a yo-yo effect with exercise, just like with dieting. So let’s get to some of the concepts I mentioned earlier.

The complexity of movement boils down to this: there’s energy going out and energy going in. If you’re exhausted underneath and relying on coffee, energy going out might not be the best thing—you might need more rest. But you can still move your body. You need both energy going out and energy going in, relative to your current level of health and well-being.

Do you have a healthy consciousness, or are you just conscious of your health? Many people know they have a problem but aren’t doing anything about it. That means they don’t have a healthy conscience—because they’re denying it. You’re not acting on it.

Understand Your Core

I learned from Paul Chek about the seven primal movement patterns: squat, bend, lunge, push, pull, twist, and gait (walking). Crawling, especially for babies, is vital for their development because it activates the core. All these movement patterns have one thing in common: the core. It’s where movement begins and ends. So, your core has to be understood.

There’s the sagittal plane of exercise, the frontal plane, and the transverse plane. All of these need to be included in your movement routine. You need to restore neuromuscular activity and blood flow to the muscles because sometimes the brain doesn’t even know where a muscle is due to injury or lack of use. If you’re not using it, the brain lets it go and uses energy for something else, leading to compensations.

Then there’s endurance training, Zone 2 aerobic base training, aerobic power training, VO2 max uptake, strength endurance, strength power, agility, active mobility, coordination, balance, and anaerobic training. All of these are important, but what you need depends on your current health and goals.

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Key Takeaways

Create a Healthy Miracle Today
Everything Must Move
Start With an Honest Assessment
Understand Your Core

Remember, movement isn’t just about doing what you used to do as a kid. You need to assess your needs and apply them to your everyday life right now, doing it daily. Consistency is our superpower, but if you don’t have love for your future self or a vision for a healthy lifespan, that’s where you need to start. And that usually begins in the spiritual and psychological realm—it has to move first for your body to get moving.

Person dancing in the woods at dusk. quote overlayed "The Body is aliving art. Your movement through time and space is art.

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CancerAlternative MedicineHealth CoachLife CoachHero's JourneyCancer Survivor

Dan Hegerich

I'm a holistic heroic performance life coach who empowers people dealing with cancer or chronic illness to find their own path towards healing.

As a 6x cancer survivor, I realized that cancer isn’t the disease - it’s the expression of the disease. Cancer was my body’s way of waking me up. And it became my greatest opportunity to awaken into my own conscious spiritual evolution. That’s why I became a holistic heroic performance coach focused on HOPE - Helping Other People Evolve into their true authentic selves.