Live your empowered life

A short, one-minute exercise technique that can make a big difference.

Story: Ilchi Lee

Although I’ve been fit and healthy since my youth, as I started to get older, I naturally felt the effects of aging—declining physical energy, muscle strength, reflexes, eyesight, and more. Having to deal with a busy schedule of reading dozens of reports, meeting numerous people, and giving lectures from dawn to dusk every day, however, I didn’t have enough time to go to a fitness center and work out. I couldn’t afford to lose a minute of my precious time.

So I started exercising for just one minute at a time, wherever I was and whatever I was doing. For instance, after washing my hands in the bathroom, I do push-ups against the wall. When sitting in a chair and working, I use my fists or fingers to raise and lower my body repeatedly. Or I do bear walking, crawling on my hands and the soles of my feet.

As I’ve kept this up over time, my body has become lighter, more agile, and more vigorous. Even now, at 67 years old, every day I use the wall to do 10 handstand push-ups. And when I golf, I send the ball flying farther and more accurately than I did when I was in my forties.

One Minute Can Change Your Life

To make this One-Minute Exercise technique part of your day, at least once an hour do a minute of moderate to vigorous exercise that effectively works your muscles and raises your heart rate in a short period of time, such as push-ups, squats, sit-ups, jumping jacks, jumping in place, or bear walking. It’s a good idea to set an alarm to go off every hour to remind you. That means you’ll do a minute of exercise about 10 times a day. Excerpted with permission of the publisher, Best Life Media, from “I’ve Decided to Live 120 Years: The Ancient Secret to Longevity, Vitality, and Life Transformation” by Ilchi Lee, ©2017 by Ilchi Lee. All rights reserved. Learn more about the book at Live120YearsBook.com.

ABOUT THE WRITER → Ilchi Lee is a visionary, educator, and author who has penned more than 40 books, including The New York Times bestseller “The Call of Sedona: Journey of the Heart.” He founded the mind-body practices of body & brain yoga and brain education and established the Earth Citizen Movement. His principles and methods have helped millions of people globally expand their true potential. For more information, visit ilchi.com.