In The Blue Zones: The Secret of Living Beyond 100 Years, Dan Buettner explores the lifestyles and habits of people in regions where exceptional longevity is common. During his Blue Zones research he found out that there are four pillars that we all can adopt to improve our likelihood of a long life and you will be surprised how easy it is to fulfill them. You only need to put your mind and body in use and create healthy habits.

The first pillar of four is Move Naturally – The Hidden Power of Everyday Movement

The first One of the four pillars of long life, is “Move Naturally.” Instead of structured workouts, the world’s longest-living people stay active through daily habits that naturally involve movement.

Take By Hand tasks like cooking, cleaning, and working around the house—these can easily add up to hours of light physical activity each day, gently strengthening muscles and keeping the body in motion.

Gardening is another core activity. Fixing, digging, planting, weeding, and harvesting in your own garden not only connects you to nature but also delivers hours of full-body movement—comparable to a light workout at the gym. Imagine you are gardening sitting in a Flat-footed (Asian/Yogi) squat and then move from one place to another. During a day that can easily add up to 50 squats from “simple” gardening.

Even walking becomes powerful when it’s woven into daily life. In Blue Zones like Sardinia, people often walk 3–5 kilometers a day, especially when going to and from places like church, often up and down hills. That can mean 45–90 minutes of moderate cardiovascular activity without ever stepping on a treadmill.

Altogether, these natural movements can quietly add up to hours of hidden exercise per day—keeping the body strong, the heart healthy, and the mind sharp, all without a gym membership.

In all of the Blue Zones, “Move Naturally” is a part of the daily routines providing hidden practice in the everyday life of both youth and elders. All of which has proven to be a very efficient way of staying in shape long up in age.

So never stop moving, and if you don’t have an activity built in to your existing behavior it is time to change and start moving naturally. Be creative and nice to yourself, because this change will be both lifelong and lifesaving.

More pillars will come so continue to watch this space it might be the most important lesson in all of our lives…