I recently had a great conversation with “Nutritious Movement” leader Katy Bowman about her new book, Rethink Your Position (click here to listen). I also recently read a great interview with Katy where she reveals how she emphasizes movement, the outdoors, and joyful family time in her daily routine. Here is a glimpse of a typical Katy Day out on the beautiful Olympic Peninsula of Washington:
5:30 am: Wake up. Rooibos tea and 45 minutes of yoga or another kind of workout before the kids rise.
6:30 am: Farm chores.
8:00—8:30 am: Drop off kids and take a walk with the dog while answering work calls. “I try to get as much of my work done on foot as possible.”
9:00—12:00 pm: Work. Katy also teaches a weekly movement class, so she usually isn’t just sitting down doing work for most of this time.
1:00 pm: Lunch break and walk to the grocery store.
3:00 pm: Pick up the kids from school, deliberately parking ¾ of a mile (a 20–30 min. walk) away from school.
5:00 pm: Dinner time! Early dinner for early risers.
6:00 pm: After the kids have completed enough homework (about 45 minutes worth), next is an hour-long family walk. Even if you’re not a parent, there’s a great lesson here—if there is anything you have to do that can be done on foot (for Katy’s kids, it’s practicing spelling words, memorizing play lines, learning math facts, etc.), do it on a walk, as this minimizes any unnecessary sitting indoors time.
7:00 pm: Wind down by playing games. Kids prepare their lunch for the next day. If it’s Katy’s husband’s turn to put the kids down, she’ll take a bath and read a book.
8:30 pm: Kitchen clean up, and prepare for the next day.
Isn’t this such a refreshing contrast from the typical modern kid’s life where screen time and over-pressurized sporting, academic enrichment, music lessons, and other highly structured, performance-oriented endeavors dominate? Or the lack of family connection of any kind besides passing comments and logistics discussions? A widely-cited UCLA study revealed that a typical modern married couple talks for only 35 minutes per week, and that most of that precious time for connection covers routines and logistics (carpool, appointments, finances, etc.) instead of intimate personal conversation. I hope Katy’s account will compel you to examine your everyday habits and daily movement goals, and actually go through the exercise of writing out how you spend a typical day.
