movement – MoveWell

Bruins Step To It Part 3: 24 Ways to Walk the Walk

June 18, 2019/in MoveWell /by uclahci

People often underestimate the power of a simple walk. We not only walk to get to where we want to go, we walk to clear our heads, get exercise, and enjoy the scenery. This blog is part 3 of Bruins Step To It, a three part blog series on walking. Part 3, the last of our series, will explore easy ways to make walking a part of our lives!

Walking at work

Want to make a dull meeting more active? Have a walking meeting! Studies have shown that divergent thinking, such as brainstorming new projects, coming up with creative solutions to problems, and exchanging ideas, is increased when walking.
Have a break? Take those 10 minutes to refresh your mind and take in fresh air outside.
Experiencing jet lag? Walking outdoors will help you adjust to the time zone.
Tree hugger? Help the planet by using a combination of public transportation and walking for your commute.
Need to call or send a quick memo to a coworker? Head on over to their workspace and talk to them in person!
Drive to work? Park your car farther away in the parking lot and get those steps in.
Long call scheduled? Walk and talk!

Walking for clarity

Binge-watching a show? Break the cycle and walk around the block to restart your productivity.
Feeling upset? Walking will uplift your mood and calm you down!
Need inspiration in the kitchen? Stroll around the grocery store rather than having groceries delivered.
Cluttered house? Set aside 30 minutes a day for house work or chores and increase your steps without leaving the space.

Walking for engagement

Catching up with a friend? Go for a walk rather than sitting for coffee at a shop.
Weighed down by the concrete jungle? Go on an adventure to find green space near you.
Love podcasts? Increase your walking and listening time in one go!
Passionate about cleaning up the environment? Walk around looking for and picking up litter. Bruin style #trashtag!
Dog lover? Ask a neighbor if you can walk their dog. Put some extra money in your pocket and become a professional walker on the Wag app.
Looking for new friends? Join a hiking group and explore nature.
Dinner date? Instead of picking a restaurant ahead of time, walk around downtown to scout out something new.

Walking with Tech

Have a competitive spirit? Download the StepBet app and bet on yourself to reach your walking goals.
Feeling charitable? The Charity Miles app will donate to your chosen organizations for your walking efforts!
Love globetrotting? World Walking gives you virtual walking routes from around the world.
People person? Help someone with social anxiety or someone who wants a walking companion while getting paid with the People Walker app.
Data driven? The Walkmeter measures time, distance, calories, steps, heart rate, pace, split times and elevation while flexing your stats.
Goal oriented? A variety of tracking apps can help you reach your walking goals.

And that’s a wrap on Bruins Step To It! We hope you enjoyed the series and learned more about how to make walking a part of our busy lives. Do you have any ideas, tips, or strategies on how to walk the walk? Reach out to us on social media @healthyucla or send us an email at livewell@ucla.edu

Karan Ishii is an undergraduate student at UCLA majoring in Biology. She is a blogger for MoveWell of the UCLA Healthy Campus Initiative, as well as the Chief of Staff of the Student Wellness Commission and an intern at the Counseling and Psychological Services. She is passionate about dogs, curry, and skiing!

Bruins Step To It Part 2: Resources to Step it Up

April 17, 2019/in MoveWell /by uclahci

People often underestimate the power of a simple walk. We not only walk to get to where we want to go, we walk to clear our heads, get exercise, and enjoy the scenery. This blog is part 2 of Bruins Step To It, a three part blog series on walking. If you missed Part 1, we discussed some surprising ways walking can boost your productivity. Part 2 will explore some beautiful walking paths you may not have noticed right in your UCLA backyard. Stay tuned for Part 3, the last of our series, which will be exploring ways to implement more walking into our lives!

Walking resources abound at UCLA! Here is the whole collection:

1. UCLA 30 x 30 Nature Challenge

For the whole month of April, UCLA Recreation FITWELL is encouraging the community to activate their lives through the Nature Challenge. The array of daily challenges includes low intensity walking excursions on the beach or barefoot on grass. Fitwell highlights the various benefits of activity in nature. Read about it and follow the daily challenges here!

2. UCLA Walks App

Track your walking with UCLA Health’s UCLA Walks App! The app tracks your path, time, and distance and rewards walkers with points. Connect your walking routes and progress with your friends and keep each other accountable for wellness! The app is available for iPhone and Android devices.

Image from: https://www.uclahealth.org/ucla-walks-app

3. Bruin Commuter Club (BCC) Walk Benefits

Graduate students, Staff, and Faculty can receive benefits for commuting to campus via walking! Members can receive their $50 in annual benefits by choose between a $50 The Walking Company Gift Card or a UCLA Commuter Passport and $25 The Walking Company Gift Card. Apply here!

4. FITWELL Bruin Walkers Guided Walking Maps

Interested in finding new routes to walk around campus? The maps identify key landmarks on and around campus for your to find! Download the maps here!

5. UCLA Transportation’s Benefits of Walking

For those who can, walking as a means of commuting is incredibly beneficial for the mind and bo dy. UCLA Transportation also provides tips to get started to pull the best from your walking commute. Read about it here.

6. Bruin Run/Walk

In its 20^th year, the Bruin Run/Walk is a 5k benefitting the Chase Child Life Program at the UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital. UCLA and its surrounding community will gather on Saturday, April 27^th to enjoy live performances, free food, and, of course, the run/walk route. More information here!

Bruins Step To It Part 1: Scoot Over, Let’s Walk!

March 6, 2019/in MoveWell, Uncategorized /by uclahci

People often underestimate the power of a simple walk. We not only walk to get to where we want to go, we walk to clear our heads, get exercise, and enjoy the scenery. This blog is part 1 of Bruins Step To It, a three part blog series on walking. Part 2 will explore some beautiful walking paths you may not have noticed right in your UCLA backyard. Stay tuned!

Uber. Lyft. Lyft Scooters. Bird. Lime. Jump. Spin. Wheels.

Bruins now have more and more options of traveling around campus on vehicles small and large. Dock-less electric scooters started popping up around campus in Fall of 2017 and have dramatically shifted campus transportation. Even Razor, the company that manufactures traditional kick-scooters, now has a fleet of EScooters available for minute-to-minute rental via an app. Injuries from crashing or falling off EScooters have led to a significant increase in student emergency room visits. UCLA’s partnership with Lyft and the cultural popularity of Uber results in 11,000 carshare rides from one part of campus to another each week. Though rideshare companies fund initiatives to offset the carbon impact of their cars, Westwood is directly polluted with emissions from these trips. For these short distances, many students turn to vehicles instead of walking and, in doing so, miss out on some of the positive impacts of the mind-body connection, experienced through walking.

Here are 5 ways walking instead of scooting can benefit your productivity:

1. Refresh your study session:

Walking is correlated with an improvement in work attitude! 30 minutes of walking during the day is correlated with an overall significant uptick in mood and outlook pertaining to work! Even a 5 minute lap around Powell or Young Library will drive your study session towards productiveness!

2. Writer’s block? Go around the block!

Walking was shown to increase creative divergent thinking during the walk and continued creative output when seated. Walking outdoors produced greater creativity compared to walking indoors or sitting outdoors. Take a stroll to a different study spot when stuck writing an essay!

3. Enter a meditative state:

The rhythmic motion of walking can put the walker into a meditative state. Create a mobile, personal meditation space by being present and mindful of the sights, sounds, and smells embedded within our beautiful green campus. A study on university student cognitive task performance found that mindfulness practice increased concentration, reaction time, and working memory.

4. Shake off that fatigue:

Regular low-intensity leisurely walking has been shown to reduce fatigue symptoms by 65 percent in individuals and increased energy levels by 20 percent. A daily 40 minute walk from one side of Westwood to another and back is the perfect walk for increasing daily energy for those who don’t already do so!

5. Improve memory and attention:

Walking outside, even on gloomy or frigid days, benefits memory and attention. There is a correlation between walking in nature and greater memory and attention performance as compared to urban landscapes, so consider hiking to class along green paths rather than along the shortest route!

The mind-body connection is dramatically illustrated in hippotherapy (i.e occupational, physical, or speech therapy on horseback). For some young children with delayed walking, speech is also delayed. Hippotherapy can be used to work non-leg muscles associated with walking and aid in helping develop speech! The forward/back, lateral, up/down movement of a horse is the only known method of replicating the sensation of walking in the torso without using legs. The three dimensional movement compels the rider to use their core muscles to adjust to the changing center of gravity with each step. Torsal organs settle in the body, allowing the diaphragm to lower more easily, increasing respiratory ability. Abdominal muscle stimulation allows for neural signaling the promotes the development of facial muscles and the jaw.

Stay tuned for a blog on some routes and commutes to and around campus that can add a little more green into your life!

Karan Ishii is an undergraduate student at UCLA majoring in Biology. She is a blogger for MoveWell of the UCLA Healthy Campus Initiative, as well as the Chief of Staff of the Student Wellness Commission and an intern at the Counseling and Psychological Services. She is passionate about dogs, curry, and skiing!

YOGAtta check this out!

December 15, 2017/in MoveWell /by uclahci

Hello, Bruin Movers and Shakers! Hope your quarter is wrapping up nicely as we make it to the end of finals. But just because our brain is getting a workout doesn’t mean we should forget about our bodies! And what better way to get some movement into your day than some free mindfulness yoga? Courtesy of the Healthy Campus Initiative, UCLA offers *FREE* yoga (yes I did say free!) on Fridays, both on campus and on the Hill!

The Flexible Fridays classes I attended were an absolutely refreshing experience! The instructor, Marco, is positively wonderful and makes the whole yoga session relaxing. After signing in, Marco verbally checks in with everyone and then gets on with the show! He does a marvelous job at guiding the participants through different poses and yoga movements. He uses a very positive and cheerful tone that simply encourages students to do their best, while still pushing their yoga limits. The classes, in my opinion, are magnificent, even if yoga is not typically your preferred movement!

Last Friday, I also had the opportunity to speak with a few of the Flexible Friday yoga students about their experiences. Some have been coming for years, while others have only dropped in once or twice. Here is what some Bruin yogis had to say:

“I love that it is good exercise and it feels good after. I like that it always leaves you less stressed than before. It is definitely relaxing and is a time where I can be with my own thoughts. It helps me to feel happier, along with relaxed too. Yoga is also really amazing because along with mental benefits, it definitely has physical benefits, such as preventing injury and strengthening the core.”

“I think that [yoga] helps me become more flexible and less stressed. This class is especially helpful with reaching relaxation because the class is outside, which makes me feel even better. It helps with my mood but also keeps me more active by encouraging movement that is not so work intensive.”

“Definitely helps that UCLA offers free yoga! I don’t want to pay a lot of money when I’m still unsure about the class. Also, if the price is too high, I might not be able to afford it, as the class could be $40/quarter from the Wooden Center. It’s really helpful that I can try out yoga more, without having a huge strain on my budget.”

(All quotes are from anonymous testimonies.)

So if you want to feel the amazing effects derived from yoga (like feeling happier, relaxed, and less stressed) or just want to take your first *FREE* yoga class, please swing by and check out Flexible Fridays!

The classes are:

12-1pm at the Court of Sciences
2:30-3:30pm at Sunset Rec Lower Lawn/Pool
3:30-4:30pm at Sunset Rec Lower Lawn/Pool
5-6pm at Hedrick Movement Studio

For more information about Flexible Fridays, check out the Facebook page here!

Tiffany Hu is an undergraduate student at UCLA majoring in Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics. She is a blogger for Move Well of the UCLA Healthy Campus Initiative. She is the Assistant Commissioner of the Student Wellness Commission. Tiffany is also the Special Projects and Alumni Coordinator of the UCLA Care Extender Internship.

Funtastic Benefits to Taking Breaks

December 11, 2017/in MoveWell /by uclahci

Hello, Bruin Movers and Shakers! Everyone here at MoveWell hopes that you are hitting those finals out of the park and keeping up with a healthy lifestyle!

Those of you completely invested in studying may feel like you can’t bear to take a quick break, but breaks will definitely help your studying process in the long run!

Here are some benefits to taking breaks:

Gets the brain moving again

Photo via Google Images

Regardless of what kind of break you are taking, whether it’s to watch that fifteenth (fiftieth if we’re honest) cat video or eating a snack or getting up to dance to your favorite song, these breaks help rest our brains and get you back on track. Although that sounds counterintuitive, it definitely works! Recent studies have shown that by taking a break, we’ll have renewed focus because studying straight for a long time causes the brain to numb and check out. So take that break to get back on track!
Taking a movement break helps us physically and mentally

Photo via White House Archives

What’s even better than a snack break? A movement break! If you are feeling the inevitable slump of studying, get up and start moving! Movement will not only help your body, but also your mind. As the Scientific American states, moving for even a few minutes, whether it’s dancing to your favorite song or doing some jumping jacks, helps circulate blood around your body and brings more oxygen to the brain. Help your body and brain out by making sure to move around a bit after sitting for awhile!
A change of scenery can help you both refocus and recall better

Photo via Flickr

Heading outside or just moving to a new place to study helps you refocus by giving your brain a new place to feed off of. Completely new stimulus will help bring your brain out of its lull. Also, by studying in new places, the brain will be able to form connections to the information quicker and better. The brain is constantly making connections between what you are studying and the environments where these connections were made. By changing your scenery, you will help your brain make better connections with what you are studying so that, by the time test day comes, your brain will be able to recall the information faster.
Fresh air can help with stress and boost your immune system

Photo via Google Images

Did you know that a simple walk outside could help boost your immunity? (And who wants to get sick during finals?) Whether it’s a short walk or a full exercise regiment, some light movement outside will build your immunity. According to Ather Ali, ND, MPH, exercise can help create an increase in the body’s creation of natural killer cells, which increase immune function. Strolling outside smelling fresh air, especially near some greenery, helps reduce stress and increase happiness- as studies have shown. And as winter (finally) hits us with some rain, the smell of the downpour can help relieve stress as well. According to Smithsonian Magazine, we associate the smell of rain with the color green, which could be linked with the growth of things we eat. Regardless of the reason, taking a stroll outside helps for loads of reasons so get out and start walking!

Remember all this next time you feel guilty about taking a break. They can only help you!