Do you know your "why"?
People sometimes ask me why I teach people to take care of their own bodies instead of just treating them. Honestly, it goes deeper than my clinical background. It goes into who I am outside of Surfside Somatics.
For the past several years, I’ve volunteered with Pascon, a palliative care organization. I sit with elderly clients, people near the end of their lives, and what I witness there has quietly shaped everything about how I think about movement and aging.
I watch people who can no longer get up off the floor. Who can’t carry their own groceries? Who are living with the accumulated weight of decades of not quite enough movement, not quite enough muscle, not quite enough attention to the body they are living in. I see it in my own extended family, too, the toll that obesity takes, how it sneaks up slowly and then all at once.
That's my why.
I ask myself the same question I ask my clients:
Can I get down on the floor and back up again, easily? This one matters more than most people realize. It's a real marker of functional independence as we age. So I practice it. On purpose.
Am I building the kind of strength that keeps my bones strong? Bone density responds to load, so I lift things, carry things, and move in ways that ask my skeleton to stay strong for the decades ahead.
Am I eating in a way that serves my future self? Watching the patterns in my own family, I know I can't take this for granted.
This is what I mean when I say this work isn't about pain relief; it's about function. It's about honestly asking yourself, what do I want my body to be able to do in 10, 20, 30 years, and am I doing anything today to make that possible?
Your why doesn't have to look like mine. Maybe it's hiking with your grandkids. Maybe it's getting through a workday without bracing against your lower back. Maybe it's just not wanting to feel like your body is working against you.
But knowing your why matters because when the alarm goes off and your morning practice is the last thing you feel like doing, your why is what gets you on the floor anyway.
This week, I'm inviting you to sit with this question:
What do I want my body to still be able to do, and what am I doing right now to protect that?
If you share a similar why, here are a few simple things you can start practicing today. Nothing fancy, no gym required.
Get on and off the floor several times a day. Just make it a habit. Sit down, get back up. Do it a few times while you're watching TV or before bed. It counts.
Next time you get up from a low chair or the couch, try doing it without using your hands. That single movement tells you a lot about where your leg strength and control actually are.
Practice standing on one leg while you wait for your coffee to brew or while you brush your teeth, 30 seconds on each side. It sounds small, and it genuinely is one of the best things you can do for balance and fall prevention as you age.
Please reach out to someone. Call an old friend. Make a plan for coffee or lunch. We don't talk about it enough, but loneliness is one of the most significant threats to aging well. Research continues to show that social isolation affects our health as seriously as other well-known risk factors. Connection isn't a luxury; it's maintenance.
Finally, try sitting quietly for just a few minutes in the morning before you reach for your phone. Let your nervous system wake up on its own terms. It doesn't have to be meditation. It can just be stillness.
Small changes may consistently have a big effect on your future self.
Know your why.